Ollie Watkins

[eye digress]

He is showing all the signs that he is done at this level sadly.

Yep not physically 100% (Tuchel already confirmed this) and my worry is he's lost a yard of pace as towards the end of the Man. City game he wasn't reaching some throughballs he'd have got to no problem last season.

Yes. I generally find that phrases like “he’s lost a yard of pace” are typically rather meaningless, but not in this case! There have been quite a few clear recent examples (City, Bournemouth and today) where he was literally half a yard short of a cross or a through ball.

But Tuchel was quite enigmatic in his comments, saying something like Watkins was “playing with discomfort” (which isn’t actually to say that he is injured). Similarly, Unai didn’t describe him as being injured when referring to him in the Leeds pre-match interview.

Also, Unai went out of his way in the post match comments today, to say that like Rogers, Ollie will get his numbers this year.

All a bit mysterious.

[Chip Butty 111]

I said in the post match thread that now his athleticism is going it is exposing his limitations. He has been incredible for us over the years, but his legs are no longer there, and he can't play off the shoulder of the CH any more and skin him. He had a face like an England cricketer for most of the 1st half, and looks completely lost. Sad to see.

[PeterWithesShin]

We've won 9 of the last 11, are 4th, and yet some want to spend their Sunday evening posting endlessly about how shit one of our players is.

How did you write that and click post and think you were making some sort of point? No critical posts allowed because we won a game? You can't defend his form so you try and attack me for posting about it.

You've got almost 80,000 posts, you're the last person on here who should be shaming someone else for "endlessly posting".

I typed and then clicked "post". That's how I posted it.

You criticised him before the game, during the game and after the game. You've posted about him far more today than you have about our win that's taken us 4th. And you don't hide how happy it makes you that he's struggling.

Most of us can see he is struggling and wonder if it's temporary or more long term. Either way it makes us sad but still appreciate the massive role he played in us going from shit for years to a club no one is surprised are 4th. And we hope it is temporary. You celebrate him not scoring more than you do a Villa win and hope it's permanent so as you can gloat to people you don't know on the internet.

And you don't seem to see why people comment on that.

[Smirker]

We've won 9 of the last 11, are 4th, and yet some want to spend their Sunday evening posting endlessly about how shit one of our players is.

How did you write that and click post and think you were making some sort of point? No critical posts allowed because we won a game? You can't defend his form so you try and attack me for posting about it.

You've got almost 80,000 posts, you're the last person on here who should be shaming someone else for "endlessly posting".

I typed and then clicked "post". That's how I posted it.

You criticised him before the game, during the game and after the game. You've posted about him far more today than you have about our win that's taken us 4th. And you don't hide how happy it makes you that he's struggling.

Most of us can see he is struggling and wonder if it's temporary or more long term. Either way it makes us sad but still appreciate the massive role he played in us going from shit for years to a club no one is surprised are 4th. And we hope it is temporary. You celebrate him not scoring more than you do a Villa win and hope it's permanent so as you can gloat to people you don't know on the internet.

And you don't seem to see why people comment on that.

That's all in your head.

You take criticism of him as all of those things because you can't accept he's been shit.

[Monty]

Good grief.

[PaulWinch again]

So weird.

[PeterWithesShin]

Plenty of people are questioning his form, only one criticised him 15 mins before kick off, and for something he hadn't done.

[Smirker]

Plenty of people are questioning his form, only one criticised him 15 mins before kick off, and for something he hadn't done.

That's a very dramatic interpretation of what happened. It wasn't even a criticism. It was a prediction. But true to form he didn't score so we'll never know now.

[PeterWithesShin]

If he scores I bet he does that shit celebration and runs round with his fingers in his ears as if it cancels the last 18 months of abysmal form.

You really don't think that's inventing a scenario to criticise him 15 mins before kick off?