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Ollie Watkins


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I know it can be done with a poll, so I'd really like to see a sticky post with updated stats on Watkins at the top of each page on this thread, ideally with a countdown to beat *that* record.

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7 hours ago, Keyblade said:

Let's say he gets like 20 goals and 15 assists and we get top 4. He'd have to be in the running for PFA POTY surely? Just off that alone you'd have to consider him our best ever striker in the PL era. 

Ollie wins it as long as Liverpool don't win the title. Salah will get it then along with klopp winning manager of the year. 

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One thing that I have been critical of Ollie in the past about is his intelligence / movement in the box.  He's had a habit of finding himself in positions where either there are defenders between him and the ball or between him and the goal.  I watched his opener yesterday and although it looks like Bailey does all the hard work to give him an absolute sitter - if you watch it back then Ollie's movement is great.  He drags his defender towards the near post as Bailey is nut-megging his way into the box, then gives the defender a little nudge so the defender thinks he knows where Ollie is and then cleverly drifts towards the centre of the goal.  He's then in a great position for the rebound if Bailey shoots and hits the inside part of the near post or shoots to the far post and the keeper makes a block.  Or if Bailey plays him the perfect square ball.  It looks like an easy chance created entirely by Bailey's brilliant run and great pass.  But actually Ollie's movement / positioning was SO much better than it has been in the past.

His movement has always been very good outside the box (although I still think he's better moving towards their goal rather than towards our goal) but that incident and a few other runs that he made / positions he found in the box showed me that this is something that I think he and the coaches have really been working on this season.  It's a sign of a genuine striker /centre forward.  Very impressed.

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One of major things I’ve been impressed with this season is the fact that he’s been bang in form despite new arrivals in his family. I remember when he had his first child he was a bit woeful, which is understandable I guess with a new born in the house. 

To hit this form with a baby crying, vomiting, pooping and not sleeping in the house is bloody amazing. I remember with my two I was like a zombie at work. 

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Im over the moon with the comradery and chemistry Leon and Ollie have.

Watkins has been incredible and while im not currently watching outside of Villa i wonder if theres a better striker outside of Haaland?

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Watkins is the perfect striker for us. Maybe he could be more clinical, maybe he could be slightly sharper in the box (I'm really stretching here) but in terms of what he's good at, he's like 7 or 8 out of 10 at absolutely everything. I cannot wait for him to break Agbonlahor's record and I really hope he hits the 20 goal mark in the league this season too - he's right on course as it stands. 

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34 minutes ago, wict01 said:

Watkins is the perfect striker for us. Maybe he could be more clinical, maybe he could be slightly sharper in the box (I'm really stretching here) but in terms of what he's good at, he's like 7 or 8 out of 10 at absolutely everything. I cannot wait for him to break Agbonlahor's record and I really hope he hits the 20 goal mark in the league this season too - he's right on course as it stands. 

He's outperforming his xG this season quite considerably.

He's very very clinical this season

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24 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

We only paid £29m for this man remember a few o us thinking it was a steep price to pay at the time but what an investment it’s been.

i thought it was 28m, up to 33m with add-ons, with a sell on percentage?

i cant remember what the sell on percentage was, although, as he signed a new contract, doesnt that invalidate any sell on percentage initially agreed?

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30 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

i thought it was 28m, up to 33m with add-ons, with a sell on percentage?

i cant remember what the sell on percentage was, although, as he signed a new contract, doesnt that invalidate any sell on percentage initially agreed?

34m euros . Either way good business 

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Ollie is i think going to be one of those players that will go well into their mid thirties before slowing down. He will get better and better f0r another 5 years or so. He has been blessed with a physique that is equal parts explosive and stamina. So his tecnical skills have another 5 years to get better and better

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Look up his comp on twitter and some of his hold up play is just high confidence right now. Granted - it's against Forest but he's really developed a lot of confidence with his touch. When he first played for us - there was a bit of Gabby-ish shielding and just using his body and not trusting his touch on the ball but he's taking it down with some aplomb now and picking the right lay offs. It was a strength before, but now it has become a more mature link up play instead of just holding the ball to get us up the pitch.

The goals and assists will come if he's in the right position, but Unai is always first to comment on his other work to get us up the pitch in the first place. He works particularly well with JJ back on the left because JJ can take his lay offs in stride and really run at the opponent.

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21 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

Look up his comp on twitter and some of his hold up play is just high confidence right now. Granted - it's against Forest but he's really developed a lot of confidence with his touch. When he first played for us - there was a bit of Gabby-ish shielding and just using his body and not trusting his touch on the ball but he's taking it down with some aplomb now and picking the right lay offs. It was a strength before, but now it has become a more mature link up play instead of just holding the ball to get us up the pitch.

The goals and assists will come if he's in the right position, but Unai is always first to comment on his other work to get us up the pitch in the first place. He works particularly well with JJ back on the left because JJ can take his lay offs in stride and really run at the opponent.

100% - everyone on VT knows how I've highlighted certain parts of his game in a negative way in the past. I probably was being overly harsh but I just called things as I saw them. Right now - I genuinely cannot question anything about his game, not a single thing. His touch has become superb, his footwork at times is immense, and crucially, he's really helping our build-up with some really intelligent passing. He had a lot of aggression about his game on Saturday as well, and was unplayable. Not to mention his two finishes away to Fulham - different class.

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3 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

He's outperforming his xG this season quite considerably.

He's very very clinical this season

Where is this? The website I checked has him slightly underperforming his xG. Not that I've noticed it myself, I think he's been brilliant this season.

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1 hour ago, MWARLEY2 said:

Ollie is i think going to be one of those players that will go well into their mid thirties before slowing down. He will get better and better f0r another 5 years or so. He has been blessed with a physique that is equal parts explosive and stamina. So his tecnical skills have another 5 years to get better and better

As a player that relies on pace and workrate going into his mid 30's will be tough. But at 32 - 33 he will still be a very good player.

He can certainly maintain he current level for another 4 or 5 seasons so long as he stays injury free. But he will have to start changing his game a little once he hits 32.

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22 minutes ago, villan95 said:

Where is this? The website I checked has him slightly underperforming his xG. Not that I've noticed it myself, I think he's been brilliant this season.

on Fbref - this is Ollie's year by year G-xG and you can see that since he's been at Villa - he's typically underperformed his xG. Now - there is a bit of noise in this data because xG is a very broad metric to be applied and he generally played in a side that didn't create a lot of chances.

But this season, he's clearly been overperforming his xG and showing his clinical touch. Though - it's probably helped by the occasional empty net that he scored against Forest. 

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