Ollie Watkins

[pablo_picasso]

His form since last November has been exceptional and he’s topping the goals/assists chart in that period. That’s a long time to be in form. I wouldn’t say that’s inconsistent.

But on the flip side, he has scored in 2 out of 8 Prem games so far this season.

So that, along with what we all see regarding some of his touches & some of his misses, I would call that inconsistent.

And I think thats part of what is frustrating, for me personally.

Because when he is good, he is really good.

But when he isn't, he really isn't.

I 'know' he can be devastating up front.

So when he isn't, it frustrates me & makes me question 'why'?

Theres no real answer other than thats who he is & Emery has helped his game ten fold, but he still frustrates me personally.

But then again, if he was as good as he could be all the time, he probably wouldn't be playing for us, where we currently are in our progression...

As for the age old question of who could replace him, right off the top of my head I think of Jonathon David. There are players out there. I liked Beto before he moved to Everton. I liked Isak before he moved to Newcastle. The lad from Arsenal, etc etc, etc...

Im still wondering if the club see Tammy Abraham as that player though...

[LeeB]

I'm going to put this out there:

Tammy Abraham is nowhere near as good as Ollie.

[PeterWithesShin]

Isak may score a few more than Ollie but he rarely gets assists (Ollie already has more in the PL this season than Isak has in all comps since he signed for Newcastle), his work rate can be a lot iffier and he misses more games than Ollie.

Tammy isn't a patch on Ollie imo.

[Pat Mustard]

I'm going to put this out there:

Tammy Abraham is nowhere near as good as Ollie.

Yep - all of Watkins' limitations (erratic touch and finishing) without the benefits.

[chrisw1]

I think it's hard to say with Tammy.  I'd like to see him have a consistent run in the PL before writing him off.  I think it's easy to forget just how good he was for us.

[Drummond]

I think it's hard to say with Tammy.  I'd like to see him have a consistent run in the PL before writing him off.  I think it's easy to forget just how good he was for us.

At a lower level.

[Dave]

I think it's hard to say with Tammy.  I'd like to see him have a consistent run in the PL before writing him off.  I think it's easy to forget just how good he was for us.

At a lower level.

He got thirty in two seasons at Chelsea before he went to Roma.

I wouldn't be looking at him as our new striker either, but I don't think a season in the Championship 4-5 years ago would be the evidence I'd use, either for or against.

[Clampy]

I think he'd take a few more of the half chances Ollie gets but you wouldn't get the running off the ball. 

[brontebilly]

Difficult to see us getting a striker that's better than Watkins without CL football.

We won't get one..we have other glaring problems in the squad that we need to prioritise. Watkins first touch is, and always has been, average at best.

But look at his second half performance the last day of everything else he brings...brilliant shot from McGinn cross, forces great save. Cracking assist for Torres. Fouled for a blatant peno not given and hits post in last play. Aside from that he's putting in a shift without the ball. Someone like Zaniolo could learn a lot from him.

[Percy McCarthy]

He and we are missing our two best providers of chances from last season. If and when they come back he and we will be unstoppable against most teams.

[Toronto Villa]

Nice pic

[Rigadon]

Difficult to see us getting a striker that's better than Watkins without CL football.

Don't really see who it is, even with Champions League football.

There are players out there who could potentially be better, but the list in his postition who definitely would be is what, Haaland, Kane and Osimhen?

There are far more teams who need a great striker than there are great strikers at the moment.

Fair shout, especially in our team.  The better player would be Watkins with clinical finishing.  Whether that player actually exists (even in the upper echelons) I wouldn't actually know, because I don't watch other football that much anymore. 

Maybe it's upgrades on supporting players. 

[Mister E]

]

There are players out there who could potentially be better, but the list in his postition who definitely would be is what, Haaland, Kane and Osimhen?
There are far more teams who need a great striker than there are great strikers at the moment.

I think, with Ramsey, Moreno and Buendia missing as providers, judging Watkins is kinda hard. Yes, he misses stuff. But there aren't many strikers in the sub-£100m market that will do much better.

Fair shout, especially in our team.  The better player would be Watkins with clinical finishing.  Whether that player actually exists (even in the upper echelons) I wouldn't actually know, because I don't watch other football that much anymore. 

Maybe it's upgrades on supporting players. 
[/quote]

[Dave]

Difficult to see us getting a striker that's better than Watkins without CL football.

Don't really see who it is, even with Champions League football.

There are players out there who could potentially be better, but the list in his postition who definitely would be is what, Haaland, Kane and Osimhen?

There are far more teams who need a great striker than there are great strikers at the moment.

Fair shout, especially in our team.  The better player would be Watkins with clinical finishing.  Whether that player actually exists (even in the upper echelons) I wouldn't actually know, because I don't watch other football that much anymore. 

Put it this way, Man Utd are still a massive draw for players - but even when they had £80m to spend, they still had to drop it on a guy who has never scored more than ten goals in a season before.

If the sort of obvious upgrade for Watkins existed, I reckon that player would be at Man Utd right now instead of Hojlund.

Also if Watkins keeps up anything like his current form, I think it's more likely someone tests us with a £80m bid, than us being keen to move him into a sub role.

[john e]

Remember Kevin Philips he played for a few clubs including us scored goals at them All
was considered a very good striker, but not world-class and there would be other strikers about at the time similar

He’d be worth 100 million now because those sort of natural finishing strikers are not about anymore