I read an interesting point over the weekend, though can't remember where, that talked about Watkins and Buendia (and maybe Bailey) as being really good in training, putting in loads of effort and being rewarded with starts.
I think with Watkins it's the yips. With Buendia, he looks a bit lost sometimes, isolated out of possession and not sure who to close down, and crowded off the ball when in possession.
Guardiola made a good point about Haaland being off form this calendar year, scoring 3 in 12. It's the hardest position on the pitch, being marked by defenders and central midfielders, and I think Watkins is struggling with that, and panicking. Bailey just gets two defenders on him, if we moved the ball with pace (or had Tielemans back to play through much faster) I think Bailey would find himself with more space and would do better (not that it's difficult to do that).
We're on a poor run, because we have had our three best midfielders out and now have arguably our player of the season, Cash, also out. It's been a perfect storm and one that we're trying to stay afloat in.
