Watkins is one of those "training ground players". When zero pressure on, his finishing in training is top draw. It just doenst flow into games for whatever reason. He seems to get flustered and his touch horrendous. Archer should get a run now imo
I just watched all of his goals at Brentford from the 19/20 season on YouTube (26 in total) and the majority were from crosses/pull backs, not many from through balls, so I don't think we help him by playing without wingers. A lot of them didn't rely on any first touch at all, they were just instinctive finishes. I remember some good solo goals for us in his first season but most were from crosses again I think.Apart from the fact we probably don't have a system that suits him, I also don't think he's ever recovered from the slow start to last season. Injured for the first few games, then struggling to play with Ings, his confidence seemed to drain quickly. Then a new manager coming in who he knew didn't have the same faith in him. Then dropped by England. With the whole team struggling there is a lot of pressure on him now and it seems like it is too much. I'm hoping he will come good again in the long run but for now it would be crazy not to give Archer a run.
Quote from: caster troy on October 04, 2022, 04:40:35 PMI just watched all of his goals at Brentford from the 19/20 season on YouTube (26 in total) and the majority were from crosses/pull backs, not many from through balls, so I don't think we help him by playing without wingers. A lot of them didn't rely on any first touch at all, they were just instinctive finishes. I remember some good solo goals for us in his first season but most were from crosses again I think.Apart from the fact we probably don't have a system that suits him, I also don't think he's ever recovered from the slow start to last season. Injured for the first few games, then struggling to play with Ings, his confidence seemed to drain quickly. Then a new manager coming in who he knew didn't have the same faith in him. Then dropped by England. With the whole team struggling there is a lot of pressure on him now and it seems like it is too much. I'm hoping he will come good again in the long run but for now it would be crazy not to give Archer a run.The Championship is a much, much lower standard than the Premier League, it's why you get players like Matej Vydra, Chris Wood and Teemu Pukki scoring 25+ goals a season, and then not doing it in the Premier League.
He works hard and presses well, but he can’t finish instinctively or when he has time, and he has very clumsy feet.
Benteke rarely smacked the ball and usually made good decisions when in a goal scoring position. He was much more of a placer than a blaster.
I think it's worth remembering what Watkins in form and in a team that has a working attack looks, in the premier league: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=147130090783454Yes some players can get found out or perform on a confidence high for their first season but a lot of criticism on here doesn't really match with what we've seen him do for us in the past and things like him blasting it straight at the keeper when one-on-one is quite clearly something that has changed in his game. If you ignore this season and just judge the player in that video there's no way you'd say he can't finish. As a club we need to help him and get him back to that player, anything else is wasting him.
Get a coach in that bans Ollie from looking at the ball when he takes a chance. He’ll vastly improve then.