Ollie Watkins

[WallisFrizz]

28 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

It was interesting what he said about the Ings situation to confirm what some supporters were saying. But we can't run a football club where we only have one proper forward because it might cause a downturn in form of Watkins. 

I thought that when I read the article. He actually said he felt more confident when Ings left and I thought “cmon mate, deal with your insecurities, we need a back up forward!”

[Adam2003]

6 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

I thought that when I read the article. He actually said he felt more confident when Ings left and I thought “cmon mate, deal with your insecurities, we need a back up forward!”

I agree, but I also think a man with the mental strength to make it as a Premier League footballer would probably laugh at our opinions. It’s a funny situation/balance…

[Xela]

10 hours ago, Jas10 said:

 

I've got Astley and Capewell as joint 10th highest Villa goalscorers, with exactly 100 goals each.

[romavillan]

3 minutes ago, Xela said:

I've got Astley and Capewell as joint 10th highest Villa goalscorers, with exactly 100 goals each.

That looks like a premier league only list! Obviously no football existed before 1990...

[tinker]

31 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

Good self awareness from him. His finishing is the only thing holding him back from elite.

Everything else is so good. Can he develop the killer instinct inside the box? I struggle to name forwards who all of a sudden developed that talent. Most either had it or were other types of forwards.

I agree......He needs to be taking penalties to get there. He must realise this, he wants 20 goals and they would help him, he's not confident enough to take them.

To be a top level striker he needs the arrogance to take the penalty and not worry about missing them. Its the worrying that's making him miss and that's what's stopping him scoring more goals in open play.

If, and its a big IF,  he was to move to manure , lpool type club it would play into his weaknesses, confidence or lack of it.

If he doesnt sign a contract  by next summer.......Emery has worked with plenty of top strikers and understands what it would take to replace Ollie, I wouldn't want him to leave but would feel confident in his replacement.

As for competition this season, I suspect Zaniolo will play as a forward, lone striker no, but with support, Diaby, yes. 

[Pinebro]

Watkins is one of those rare players who is basically never injured.

Watkins played 40-50 games when he was playing in the championship. It wouldn't be an issue for him to add 10-15 games

[ferguson1]

5 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

Watkins is one of those rare players who is basically never injured.

Watkins played 40-50 games when he was playing in the championship. It wouldn't be an issue for him to add 10-15 games

Oh no, you’ve jinxed him now mate! I need to go and find my lucky heather now for Sunday!!

[luckyeddie]

1 hour ago, Pinebro said:

Watkins is one of those rare players who is basically never injured.

Watkins played 40-50 games when he was playing in the championship. It wouldn't be an issue for him to add 10-15 games

This is a great point, especially as he gets through an extraordinary amount of work up front. We could play a better finisher, or someone who works harder, but we cannot attract or afford someone who does both (yet). 

[JPJCB]

11 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

It was interesting what he said about the Ings situation to confirm what some supporters were saying. But we can't run a football club where we only have one proper forward because it might cause a downturn in form of Watkins. 

Yeah tbh that’s disappointing.

Beyond the insecurity point, I always got the sense that when ings and Watkins played as a two, Watkins wasn’t interested in making it work as a partnership (unlike ings who could be quite selfless) which also chimes with what he’s saying. Not great form and a bit unprofessional tbh 

[eholm]

11 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

It was interesting what he said about the Ings situation to confirm what some supporters were saying. But we can't run a football club where we only have one proper forward because it might cause a downturn in form of Watkins. 

Agree. I find it concerning that he admitted he felt more comfortable having no other striker available as he was always worried about being subbed after 60 mins if not playing well/scoring (paraphrasing a bit there). We all know that he is a comfidence player but we simply cannot have a first team player NOT WANTING direct competition or else we will never improve as a squad etc. Really like Ollie but those comments are a worry, imo.

[JPJCB]

Perhaps I should be happy about this as a villa fan but if he’s insecure about the likes of Danny ings challenging his place than he can wave goodbye any chance of playing for any established CL club where the pressure and competition for places is on another level

[mikeyp102]

13 hours ago, JPJCB said:

He also has the helpful habit of never being injured! 

Is this your first day as a Villa fan? You don’t say stuff like that, it’s like actors never saying the Scottish play name 

[jimmygreaves]

2 hours ago, JPJCB said:

Yeah tbh that’s disappointing.

Beyond the insecurity point, I always got the sense that when ings and Watkins played as a two, Watkins wasn’t interested in making it work as a partnership (unlike ings who could be quite selfless) which also chimes with what he’s saying. Not great form and a bit unprofessional tbh 

That's an incredibly strange take. Watkins is the epitome of a selfless striker. His workrate, hold-up and link-up play is off the charts.

Contrast to Ings who, in my opinion, flatters to deceive. Ings rarely works the defence. A one season wonder taking a wage far in excess to his contribution.

[JPJCB]

23 minutes ago, jimmygreaves said:

That's an incredibly strange take. Watkins is the epitome of a selfless striker. His workrate, hold-up and link-up play is off the charts.

Contrast to Ings who, in my opinion, flatters to deceive. Ings rarely works the defence. A one season wonder taking a wage far in excess to his contribution.

Actually read what I said. I don’t think Watkins is a selfish striker in general (although, I wouldn’t describe his link up play as “off the charts” either). My point is that he didn’t work as hard as ings to make the partnership work.He showed less evidence of wanting to link up with him. And his comments in the article show why- he was insecure and didn’t want ings to outperform him. Look back in this thread from around that time and you’ll see plenty of posters noticing this about Watkins’ performances at that time 

 

For all that you say about ings before he joined us he showed clear evidence of being able to play effectively in a 2 while at Southampton alongside che Adams

[DJBOB]

Did I not read something correctly? I don’t think he ever mentioned Ings or playing second fiddle. 
 
From what I read, it was more that Unai was confident he would score goals despite only having 2 so far that season and not performing well. 

[Tom13]

16 hours ago, DJBOB said:

Good self awareness from him. His finishing is the only thing holding him back from elite.

Everything else is so good. Can he develop the killer instinct inside the box? I struggle to name forwards who all of a sudden developed that talent. Most either had it or were other types of forwards.

It's not just finishing though. Wish it was.

[Tom13]

2 hours ago, jimmygreaves said:

That's an incredibly strange take. Watkins is the epitome of a selfless striker. His workrate, hold-up and link-up play is off the charts.

Contrast to Ings who, in my opinion, flatters to deceive. Ings rarely works the defence. A one season wonder taking a wage far in excess to his contribution.

Ings was a proven quality striker at his peak.

[Tom13]

2 hours ago, JPJCB said:

Actually read what I said. I don’t think Watkins is a selfish striker in general (although, I wouldn’t describe his link up play as “off the charts” either). My point is that he didn’t work as hard as ings to make the partnership work.He showed less evidence of wanting to link up with him. And his comments in the article show why- he was insecure and didn’t want ings to outperform him. Look back in this thread from around that time and you’ll see plenty of posters noticing this about Watkins’ performances at that time 

 

For all that you say about ings before he joined us he showed clear evidence of being able to play effectively in a 2 while at Southampton alongside che Adams

His link up play is a weakness, not a strength. He's too often too slow to see the picture and the right pass, and sticks out like a sore thumb when he tries to get involved with intricate moves. However, so far this season, his linkup play does seem to have improved. Hopefully that continues.

[DJBOB]

5 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

It's not just finishing though. Wish it was.

Yes, we all know how you feel .

Out of curiosity - who would you take over Watkins?

Edited August 25, 2023 by DJBOB

[KentVillan]

15 hours ago, tinker said:

I agree......He needs to be taking penalties to get there. He must realise this, he wants 20 goals and they would help him, he's not confident enough to take them.

To be a top level striker he needs the arrogance to take the penalty and not worry about missing them. Its the worrying that's making him miss and that's what's stopping him scoring more goals in open play.

If, and its a big IF,  he was to move to manure , lpool type club it would play into his weaknesses, confidence or lack of it.

If he doesnt sign a contract  by next summer.......Emery has worked with plenty of top strikers and understands what it would take to replace Ollie, I wouldn't want him to leave but would feel confident in his replacement.

As for competition this season, I suspect Zaniolo will play as a forward, lone striker no, but with support, Diaby, yes. 

I think the best penalty taker in the side should take them, and we shouldn’t worry about individual player stats. There have been quite a few great strikers in the Premier League who didn’t take pens (Andy Cole springs to mind).