Ollie Watkins

[Zatman]

19 hours ago, Keyblade said:

We're 3rd in Europe for expected goals. Our attack is firing on all cylinders right now. I couldn't give a toss if the goals are scored by Ollie, Moussa or Nicolo.

Them TifoFootball clowns will be fuming. Our XG was our weakness

[Oaks]

20 minutes ago, Farlz said:

He is one of the worst finishers in the league quite comfortably. No matter how good the rest of his game can be, that's what drives me mad. His miss against Palace is just so bad but that's what I expect from Watkins unfortunately.

After the Chelsea and Brighton games though we're about to hit a very nice run of fixtures where you'd hope he hits one of his scoring streaks and gets his confidence up. Said it before as well, no matter how much he annoys me it would cost way too much for a club like us to replace him. 

Hes done quite well to score 40 premier league goals in 3 years being "one of the worst finishers in the league". 

 

Hyperbole like this is just ridiculous as much as i agree with the end of the post.

[MotoMkali]

19 hours ago, Keyblade said:

No, they're league stats. Here are the PL stats. Same figure:

 

And we are still 3rd in npxg. And first by a mile in terms of xG per shot. 

[Oaks]

1 minute ago, Zatman said:

Them TifoFootball clowns will be fuming. Our XG was our weakness

Tbf its the difference between the positive and negative xg which is still an issue but certainly getting better.

[MotoMkali]

Honestly his finishing is perfectly fine. That's not the issue with his game. He's frustrating at times with it but generally speaking he will have roughly equal goals and xG.

No the big issue is him squandering chances without getting a shot off. Taking an extra touch, miscontrolling, creating an impossible shooting angle etc. 

That being said we couldn't sign a striker better than him so it doesn't really matter. 

[nick76]

22 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I bet Unai would choose Ollie if he had that choice though

I couldn’t disagree more, I’m convinced he would pick Diaby.

Edited September 19, 2023 by nick76

[Vive_La_Villa]

On 18/09/2023 at 12:10, nick76 said:

And yet if in a hypothetical, in the next league game we were only allowed to play Watkins or Diaby the majority of fans would choose Diaby I’m guessing because the performances and impact has been very different this season.  

Purely relying on stats starts the conversation of the El Ghazi effect where stats give a difference impression on the player’s ability to reality

They play in different positions though?  

[IrishVilla10]

37 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I bet Unai would choose Ollie if he had that choice though

No chance 

[Zatman]

3 minutes ago, IrishVilla10 said:

No chance 

Well.Watkins has already played more minutes this season and is one of the last players subbed

[Oaks]

He would choose Watkins as we have other players that could fit Diaby's role easier. Diaby however is a better player. Another silly argument.

[villarule123]

Ollie will be fine, the goals will come and he should definitely still be our starter right now. If he was available for £40m every club in the league would bite your hand off to sign him. Even City would use him from the bench. 

I've got a West Ham supporting friend and I've heard all the horror stories of the majority of their strikers not even scoring a single goal for them. We're so lucky that we have one and another who is only 19 and looks to be one of the best teenage prospects in his position. 

[DJBOB]

Think Chelsea would trade Nicolas Jackson for Ollie in a heartbeat. 

I think asking questions about Ollie's finishing is okay.

But it's a very short list of CF's that are ahead of him and a nonexistent list of those we can afford without a major investment.

All this other gash about being the worst finisher and can't link up play and is responsible for us not getting up the field - just baffling to be honest. 

[nick76]

40 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

They play in different positions though?  

Well I keep being told that Diaby can play that role if needed so we don’t need to buy another striker…so my hypothetical is based on that.

[DJBOB]

Diaby and Watkins do not play the same role and I think only a major injury crisis would precipitate Diaby playing the Watkins role.

It would be akin to asking Buendia play Watkins role when they were both played up top.

We have Watkins and Duran.

I suppose Zaniolo if the pair above were injured but if you thought Watkins linking up play was bad, you're in for a treat if we ever have to play with Zaniolo at CF.

[Marka Ragnos]

17 minutes ago, villarule123 said:

Ollie will be fine, the goals will come and he should definitely still be our starter right now. If he was available for £40m every club in the league would bite your hand off to sign him. Even City would use him from the bench. 

I've got a West Ham supporting friend and I've heard all the horror stories of the majority of their strikers not even scoring a single goal for them. We're so lucky that we have one and another who is only 19 and looks to be one of the best teenage prospects in his position. 

I mostly agree. I won't pretend to be as confident about Ollie (but it's early days in the season), but I wouldn't want him anywhere else but Villa for now, and Duran seems like his perfect understudy. Definitely agree that many other clubs around the world would snap up Ollie in a heartbeat. I mean, as of today, Duran and Diaby and Cash have each all outscored Rashford -- and to think Ollie will likely be pouring in a few more goals or 15, wow, we are in such a better position than last year at this time!

Edited September 19, 2023 by Marka Ragnos

[Rightdm00]

50 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

Think Chelsea would trade Nicolas Jackson for Ollie in a heartbeat. 

I think asking questions about Ollie's finishing is okay.

But it's a very short list of CF's that are ahead of him and a nonexistent list of those we can afford without a major investment.

All this other gash about being the worst finisher and can't link up play and is responsible for us not getting up the field - just baffling to be honest. 

Besides Halaand wouldn't trade Watkins for any other CF in the PL. 

Honestly think we play better when Ollie isn't the main goal provider. I remember last season once he went on his streak we became very dependent on him scoring.  Also, because he was our main outlet it became much easier to frustrate our attack.

If you are game planning for Villa right now you're in a right pickle. The goals are coming from everywhere. Wouldn't want to play us, especially at home. 

[Tom13]

1 hour ago, DJBOB said:

Think Chelsea would trade Nicolas Jackson for Ollie in a heartbeat. 

I think asking questions about Ollie's finishing is okay.

But it's a very short list of CF's that are ahead of him and a nonexistent list of those we can afford without a major investment.

All this other gash about being the worst finisher and can't link up play and is responsible for us not getting up the field - just baffling to be honest. 

See I find it baffling that you can't see his technical shortcomings in the build up phases. But there we go. I'll reiterate again that he does have certain strengths, no doubt about that.

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

Well I keep being told that Diaby can play that role if needed so we don’t need to buy another striker…so my hypothetical is based on that.

Oh ok. I suspect he could play that role if we really needed him, i.e. Watkins and Duran both out. Doubt he would ever play it otherwise and nor should he.

[Ray of the West]

The issue with his finishing is that it seems to take a couple of “beats” too long to get his shot off. It doesn’t came naturally to him at all, he’s fast in a straight line but oddly slow in his other movements. 

He’s a big asset to the team though, he’s an absolute machine and his build up play can be pretty decent.

 

 

[beasley14]

5 hours ago, Zatman said:

Them TifoFootball clowns will be fuming. Our XG was our weakness

What's the next XG column, is it expected goals against?