Ollie Watkins

[villa4europe]

1 hour ago, DJBOB said:

Given the lack of prolific center forwards in the market - I think it makes more sense to try and replace the back line and creativity than at striker - especially since we have a potential youth backup in Archer.

That's where I'm at too

If you look at who's scored more PL goals than Ollie this season 11 of them aren't out and out strikers, was 13 last season

Its not completely unrealistic to say that Ings will end up our 2nd top scorer this season and the problem isn't so much that he left in Jan it's that he's only got 6 league goals, we have 15 games left and Ollie will be the only player to get 5 goals or more in those games

Ollie return of 12-15 is perfectly fine, it's the rest of the team that's lacking imo and the answer to that is at least 1 but preferably 2 wingers who back Ollie up with 8-12 goals themselves

[CVByrne]

He needs a good partner up top though, this winger/forward who is more consistent than Bailey

[Zatman]

17 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

That's where I'm at too

If you look at who's scored more PL goals than Ollie this season 11 of them aren't out and out strikers, was 13 last season

Its not completely unrealistic to say that Ings will end up our 2nd top scorer this season and the problem isn't so much that he left in Jan it's that he's only got 6 league goals, we have 15 games left and Ollie will be the only player to get 5 goals or more in those games

Ollie return of 12-15 is perfectly fine, it's the rest of the team that's lacking imo and the answer to that is at least 1 but preferably 2 wingers who back Ollie up with 8-12 goals themselves

Where I am at, was expecting around 30 goals between Ramsey, Bailey, Coutinho, Buendia and McGinn to go with 25 for Ollie and Ings

Them 5 combined have just 10 in the league

[DJBOB]

Yes at this point, your options are limited.

The league leaders had Nketiah up top and was he any better than Ollie on Saturday? City have Haaland of course but that's out of our price range. Spurs have Kane - out of our range. United have Weghorst of all people - would never take him over Ollie. Newcastle have Isak and Wilson which is more or less a swap. Then you have Toney, Mitro, Nunez, and then not even going to bother mentioning the other strikers.

Then you have overseas striker options, but it's a high gamble. Anyone who thinks the likes of Thuram or Jonathan David can come in and start tearing it up need to look over at Bailey to see how it doesn't always translate to the prem. The prem is more physical, more pace, and more complex defensive structures and defenders thrown in almost every match, not just at the top half.

And then the key really is Watkins iron-man like ability to play almost every match. 37 matches in 2020, 35 matches in 2021, and 21 of out 23 matches this year. All while keeping up the hard running and being banged up as a lone striker.

We are missing the equivalents of Odegaard and Saka.

Edited February 21, 2023 by DJBOB

[ChesterDad]

4 hours ago, DCJonah said:

The last two goals were finishes I didn't really think he had in his locker. 

If he can score those sort on a more consistent basis, he'd be a top Premier league striker. 

I agree - I thought his goal on Saturday had the hallmarks of an assured striker - something he has looked anything but for most parts.

I can only assume UE is working him very hard at BMH and in all fairness it seems to be having a positive impact. I have been critical of Ollie I won’t lie - but if current progress continues then I will hold up my hand 

 

[WHY]

Always makes me laugh when fans say if only players could do this and do that. My stock answer to this is, if they could they wouldn’t be playing for us.

Ollie isn’t perfect but we would have to spend a small fortune for not much of an upgrade. The gaffer said he’s his no.9 and since that Ollie has been fantastic, fair play to the lad! 

[Keyblade]

I don't see us upgrading on him for a long long time. As others have said, with the general dearth of quality strikers in European football right now, Ollie is right up there. His energy and industry is also among the best in the game and appear to be massively important in Unai's system. He's here for the long haul, and I have no qualms with it. 

[Zhan_Zhuang]

I like Watkins, always have...

One point to consider is that he played as a main striker for only four seasons, wasn't he mostly employed as a winger for Brentford? 

OK he's 27 but he can improve under better management coupled with experience.

[Villan_of_oz]

As is being well said before, Ollie is not the problem...

Not at the moment and he'll be our no.1 striker for at least the next 2-3 seasons... Why? Because we will need to spend something like 80 million and/or have champions league football to get a 10 goal a season improvement on Watkins. 

Even then it's not guaranteed...

We need more goals from our other attacking forwards and few more from the rest of the team.

The only players I have faith in to score are Watkins and Bailey - and I don't really rate Bailey (personal opinion) so what does that say about the rest of our team?

We have zero goals from central defenders this season, so why do they even bother going forward for set pieces...

Somewhere there is a new fandangled stat for creativity and I bet we are crap. 

For some reason when Ollie misses and we don't get the result we want, it's all his fault...

Poor guy is probably going to end up our highest scorer in the PL..

 

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Villan_of_oz

[RichW]

Wouldn’t be surprised if the club have started talks over a new contract. Will have 2 years left in the summer which is the time either sell or offer new terms. Playing really good under Emery, looks like confidence is high the way he took his goals against Arsenal and Man City. 
 

Just wish we had somebody more consistent starting next to him. 

[Sulberto21]

His performances under Emery have been impressive and I’d say better than his first season. Discuss.

[bobzy]

33 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said:

His performances under Emery have been impressive and I’d say better than his first season. Discuss.

"All" he's added are goals.  His performances this season under either Gerrard or Emery have been good IMO.  He's been the lone striker, constantly battling against 2 centre backs and constantly running into channels to create space for the midfield.

Of course, adding goals is a rather huge "all" () but I don't think he's done much that different.  Maybe they've worked on his positioning a bit?  It may well just be the rest of the team working a bit better, though.

[birdman]

39 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said:

His performances under Emery have been impressive and I’d say better than his first season. Discuss.

Yes he's upped his game big time and under Unai he has increased his football IQ in terms of movement and finishing. Last few goals must have boosted his confidence no end.

[ChesterDad]

I think we all need to take a slight rain check here, Ollie has been poor as much as he has been good in a Villa shirt and I am a believer that one swallow does not make a summer.

I am very pleased with his current form and not just the goals, he seems more composed and assured on the ball which is great to see and fair play to him for applying himself to UE’s coaching.

Fingers crossed this is not form but the birth of a new striker 

[blandy]

1 minute ago, ChesterDad said:

we all need to take a slight rain check

A pedant writes: “Get a ticket for re-admission to a rescheduled fixture, because the first game’s rained off part way through?”

[nick76]

1 minute ago, ChesterDad said:

I think we all need to take a slight rain check here, Ollie has been poor as much as he has been good in a Villa shirt and I am a believer that one swallow does not make a summer.

I am very pleased with his current form and not just the goals, he seems more composed and assured on the ball which is great to see and fair play to him for applying himself to UE’s coaching.

Fingers crossed this is not form but the birth of a new striker 

Yep I agree.  Not just Ollie but many of the players we need sustained levels over a greater period than a couple of months after two or more years of poor to average performances from them.  Ollie is playing really well and scoring currently, and I’m delighted but I need to see that over a sustained period and the same from others before I think that’s the norm from them individually and this isn’t just a positive blip of form.  It’s great, just need to keep it up.

[Tom13]

On 21/02/2023 at 18:49, DJBOB said:

Yes at this point, your options are limited.

The league leaders had Nketiah up top and was he any better than Ollie on Saturday? City have Haaland of course but that's out of our price range. Spurs have Kane - out of our range. United have Weghorst of all people - would never take him over Ollie. Newcastle have Isak and Wilson which is more or less a swap. Then you have Toney, Mitro, Nunez, and then not even going to bother mentioning the other strikers.

Then you have overseas striker options, but it's a high gamble. Anyone who thinks the likes of Thuram or Jonathan David can come in and start tearing it up need to look over at Bailey to see how it doesn't always translate to the prem. The prem is more physical, more pace, and more complex defensive structures and defenders thrown in almost every match, not just at the top half.

And then the key really is Watkins iron-man like ability to play almost every match. 37 matches in 2020, 35 matches in 2021, and 21 of out 23 matches this year. All while keeping up the hard running and being banged up as a lone striker.

We are missing the equivalents of Odegaard and Saka.

I'd take Isak over Watkins, great player.

[FLVillan]

I think the only time when Watkins has been poor for any sustained period was from shortly after the arrival of Gerrard until the end of last season.  I think he struggled to adapt to the "coaching" he was getting and looked quite unhappy.  There was some speculation that there was off-the-pitch issues, but I think it was just poor coaching/man-management.  Since leaving Exeter he had almost always been playing under Dean Smith (or his former assistant), so an adjustment was inevitable really.

The thing that I like about him is that he's always contributing, even when he's not scoring.  The pressing, defending from the front, work-rate and tracking back are always there.  He's incredibly fit and far more intelligent than he gets credit for. His pressing/movement always has a purpose, not just a headless-chicken chasing shadows.  Not many strikers in the league that can give his level of energy for 90+ minutes.

[CVByrne]

When he has a top quality player alongside him next season he will get more space and more opportunities. There is a great article in Athletic about him today. His is the most lethal Striker in the league in terms of shot conversion rate. 28.57% of shots are goals, compared to 27.78% for Haaland and 27.53% for Rashford. Only Mahrez has a higher shot conversion ration in the League. 

His current Goals per 90 is at the level of his first season 0.35. Plus he's in better form now than ever. He's a great chance of getting 11 or 12 this season and that would eclipse his goals per 90 rate of 2 seasons ago. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

I think he’s even been decent. Yes he’s had bad games or patches of bad form but generally he has been fine. Really don’t get the eagerness to replace him from some.