Ollie Watkins

[Gareth]

Particularly after he’s indulged Kane to get to the record, give the other guys proper chances to play…plenty of qualifiers etc we could have started Toney / Ollie etc and brought Kane on

[pablo_picasso]

BBC have a live Q&A thing with Phil McNulty going on and 1 question on there is this:

Anon: If anything was to happen to Harry Kane before the Euros is Ollie Watkins a natural replacement? He seems to score goals for fun with Villa but never seems to replicate it for England.

I think this is probably something England manager Gareth Southgate does not even want to think about but I do still think Ollie Watkins has to prove he is good enough at international level.

He is, however, a very fine player and is doing his chances no harm – still a bit to prove for England, though. His winner in the friendly against Australia should lift his confidence.

For context Watkins has 3 in 8 and 4 of those were less than 10minutes and there are only 2 starts. This is the biggest problem I have with Southgate. Behind Kane we have Watkins, Wilson, Toney and (unbelievably) Nketiah but he doesn't trust any of them to play in important games so they all look inexperienced and have question marks over them. The only way to fix this is to give 1 or 2 of them some fucking gametime in games that actually matter.

One, Phil McNulty is an absolute bellend. Anyone remember his "return to the dark days" because we celebrated a cup win by running onto the pitch. And while a bit of an overreaction by some our fans, nowhere near as much of an overreaction by McNulty, who has previously praised the fans of some clubs who have celebrated a cup win by running onto the pitch. Twat.

Two, how can Ollie Watkins, or any other player not a Southgate favourite, "prove themselves at international level", if the bellend in charge & his cronies in the media, say that they don't have enough experience to challenge the first choice favourites. Isn't that just the type of catch 22 that pricks like Southgate love in order to continue picking his favourites?

[LeeB]

Particularly after he’s indulged Kane to get to the record, give the other guys proper chances to play…plenty of qualifiers etc we could have started Toney / Ollie etc and brought Kane on

Given we walk through most of the group games you'd think so.

[Toronto Villa]

As much as we love Ollie he’s not Harry Kane. Kane is simply at a different level even now at 30. And not just his natural goal scoring ability, he is one of the top penalty takers in the world. Ollie, as we all know, isn’t.

[Gareth]

Don’t think anyone has suggested he or any of the others are Kanes level but he’ll never know who his back up is if Kane gets crocked week before Euros if he doesn’t test them.

[paul_e]

Don’t think anyone has suggested he or any of the others are Kanes level but he’ll never know who his back up is if Kane gets crocked week before Euros if he doesn’t test them.

Exactly, we've relied on Kane for a long time now and Southgate done nothing to mitigate the risk of him being unavailable. The 4 obvious backup options have bene given scraps spread thinly over years and then get questioned on why they haven't done more and whether they can be relied on. That's all on Southgate and he's creating similar issues in defence and midfield but there it's more desperate because Maguire, Henderson and Phillips are starting to let us down but he's got no options to repalce them with experience because he's just stuck with them game after game and will need to pretty much start from scratch to replace them.

[LeeB]

That's because he's a boring twat.

[rob_bridge]

Calvert-Lewin when fit is Kane understudy. Watkins probably next now.

[Risso]

Exactly, we've relied on Kane for a long time now and Southgate done nothing to mitigate the risk of him being unavailable.

Although you could make a very similar argument for us with Watkins.

[paul_e]

Exactly, we've relied on Kane for a long time now and Southgate done nothing to mitigate the risk of him being unavailable.

Although you could make a very similar argument for us with Watkins.

and many people have, many times. Can't really compare us choosing not to commit fees and wages to England just not bothering to give the backups any gametime.

Calvert-Lewin when fit is Kane understudy. Watkins probably next now.

Please tell me you're joking and don't seriously think a guy who's barely been fit for 2 years is a viable option. Even ignoring that he's just another one who proves the problem ~400minutes across 11 appearances, mostly as a sub.

[Somniloquism]

Calvert-Lewin when fit is Kane understudy. Watkins probably next now.

Nah Wilson* would be my pick for direct understudy as his finishing is better then Watkins. Watkins brings more to the play though but probably needs to ensure the midfielders are on the same wavelength (Grealish used to be). And obviously someone would need to be picked to take the Pens in Kane's absence.

*However he is as injury prone as Calvert-Lewin.

[rob_bridge]

Calvert-Lewin when fit is Kane understudy. Watkins probably next now.

Nah Wilson* would be my pick for direct understudy as his finishing is better then Watkins. Watkins brings more to the play though but probably needs to ensure the midfielders are on the same wavelength (Grealish used to be). And obviously someone would need to be picked to take the Pens in Kane's absence.

*However he is as injury prone as Calvert-Lewin.

Kane is a lot more than just a finisher, which is also extrordianrily good. Depends on situation.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Some finish for his goal today and at a crucial stage in the game.

Indeed or put another way, who on here thought he was going to thunderfuck the ball on the near post for his goal? I know for a fact I didn't. He's far from a top footballer but give him a ball to chase and there's few better.

He’s the main striker for a team challenging for the top four in one of the top league in the world, his goals and assists are behind only Salah and Haaland, considered two of the best players in the world.
Ollie Watkins is a top footballer and not just a ball chaser.

What I meant was technically he's not a top player, it's still his biggest weakness though it is showing some signs of improving. Give him a ball to chase like McGinn did yesterday, a beautiful though ball and Watkins thrives on it. It's playing to his strengths, his speed, running with the ball on goal and his determination to have a shot, there are few better.

Emery obviously realises his strengths and we are set out to maximise them. Having Diaby next to him gives defenders somebody else to worry about. It's potentially a fantastic partnership. Andy Gray was never a technical player but alongside Brian Little scored for fun because we played to his strengths. First time round Gray scored 54 goals in 113 appearances whilst Sir Brian got 40 during the same period. Together they were the best Villa partnership of my Villa days. In Watkins and Diaby were have the potential to have the third best - after Gray/Little and Withe/Shaw.

[LeeB]

I'd have said Wilson was a better all round player but not anymore, Watkins has gone flying past him in the last 12 months.

[Risso]

Wilson is a better finisher as his stats suggest, but is way too injury prone and doesn't work as hard as Ollie. But then if he did, you'd probably have a £100m player. Like wise if Ollie had his finishing ability.