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Watkins or new CF?


Jas10

Watkins or new CF?  

96 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Watkins continue as our main CF?


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  • Poll closed on 16/06/23 at 23:00

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Just now, Zatman said:

The continuing trend on here of trying to sell Watkins at any opportunity is getting more disturbing

It’s not trying to sell him, it’s whether he should be our number 1 CF or not. It’s just a question or debate.

If he’s happy to compete/rotate or even be a backup then there’s no need to sell. The only reason to sell would be if he became unsettled and wanted out…

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1 minute ago, Jas10 said:

I really messed up the original poll/question 🤣🤦‍♂️

I’ve edited it since.

So, would you like to see Ollie continue as main CF?

In which case, your answer would be Yes. Sorry 🤦‍♂️🤣

Haha, got ya...I'm a Yes then. LOL had a busy day!

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100% we should continue with Watkins.

Archer should be number 2

fix other positions in the team and upgrade next summer 

edit - I would only sell him this summer if we got a stupid bid like 60m

Edited by paul514
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Yes, Watkins will be our main CF next season and rightfully so imo.
 

There are a few reasons why I think this.
 

1) Needing Better - It’s a never ending debate within football about the need for these mythical 20 goal per season strikers, other than the truly elite strikers it’s been shown time and time again that these are as rare as rocking horse shit. 
 

Few would argue that Danny Ings is more clinical thst Watkins in front goal, but he didn’t offer half as much as Ollie does to the team.

 

2) Finding Better - look I’m old enough to realise that you can’t be sentimental in this game, so if we had the opportunity to sign a clear upgrade I’d be all off it, but honestly what’s that going to cost? And would that be our best use of funds at this moment in time? I would argue not. 
 

Still relatively young strikers that offer as much as Ollie in terms of work rate that are much more clinical are going to cost the earth. If we sold Ollie I’d be gutted if we got less than £60m, so what are we going to pay for someone much better? £80m/£90m? And without sounding like I’m taking our club down, are £80m strikers joining us ATM? - probably not. 
 

A big chunk of our budget should go on guys to support him (Bailey replacement) not replace him. 
 


 


 

 

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45 minutes ago, paul514 said:

100% we should continue with Watkins.

Archer should be number 2

fix other positions in the team and upgrade next summer 

edit - I would only sell him this summer if we got a stupid bid like 60m

60m isn't really a stupid bid.

I went with no, on an assumption that if he was made second fiddle/ moved on,  it would be to a better striker.

I like Watkins, he's a great player, but I think he got a little lucky during his scoring run, and then unlucky during his drought periods. In short, i think he got an expected return and I'm not sure I see him improving on 15 ish goals. 

Whilst that's fine, and if he had help from the rest of the team it would still probably be ok for us to finish top 6, I'm hoping for more.

All that said... I'm not sure there's a better striker out there we could attract, so maybe it's a moot point.

 

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Ollie has the capability to score 20+ next season, how much would someone similar cost? I can see the arguments against Ollie, lacks that composure great strikers have and his technique could be better, however his other attributes make up for this.

Have a watch of the latest avfc video on YouTube of all our goals in 22/23 season and look how often Ollie is involved even when he's not scoring with either the assist or pass before the assist.

We do could do with another type of forward or at least 2 wide forwards who can play central.

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i wouldnt be adverse to Watkins being part of the squad, but we 100% need a new high level striker, Watkins is a good/very good striker, but he isnt elite by any stretch of the imagination.

Whether we could attract a striker above the level of "very good", who knows.

Watkins is great in many ways, but he also has some huge holes in his game.

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Strengths:

- Energy and durability - rarely injured, will battle for everything until the last minute.

- His energy means he'll run the channels all game.

- Determination - launch a ball up to him and there's a good chance he'll win the battle for it.

- His touch has improved, far from perfect still, but I'll put this as a strength for now.

Bonus: He's likeable, hasn't got a deceptive bone in his body, unlike sly Harry Kane for example.

Weaknesses:

- His passing at times is downright awful (weight and direction of pass rather than choice of pass), and I think it hinders a lot of our attacking momentum.

- He doesn't make the dangerous runs that a lethal striker would often enough (one thing Ings had over him).

- His football intelligence is still a little lacking, and he's often slow to react/make a key pass or decision, it is improving though and I assume will continue to do so.

- Inability to beat a man. Finishing after beating Saliba aside, his attempts to dribble past a man are often really poor. He had two awful attempts just against Brighton for example. It's as if he over thinks it and ends up dribbling right into the defenders feet.

Not even gonna put finishing as a weakness as he's improved on that and although it could be much better, I don't think it's that bad.

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2 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Should Watkins continue as our main CF or a new signing?

How about we keep Watkins as he has proved himself under Emery, whilst also sign an additional CF/ST if Archer is deemed not ready to step up yet?

Loan out Duran regardless.

50 minutes ago, romavillan said:

both

Beat me to it sir.

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1 hour ago, Tom13 said:

We need better

That would mean shopping in the Haaland, Lewandowski, Benzema, Kane tier. We need better players along side him , upgrades on Traore ,Bailey and Dare I say Buendia this isn’t me saying that Bailey and Buendia don’t have a crucial part to play at the club going forward but we certainly need a second striker/attacking mid/ winger that can score and create on a regular basis to complement Ollie.

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8 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

That would mean shopping in the Haaland, Lewandowski, Benzema, Kane tier. We need better players along side him , upgrades on Traore ,Bailey and Dare I say Buendia this isn’t me saying that Bailey and Buendia don’t have a crucial part to play at the club going forward but we certainly need a second striker/attacking mid/ winger that can score and create on a regular basis to complement Ollie.

I don't agree tbh. There are players inbetween the level of Watkins and the elite.

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5 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

That would mean shopping in the Haaland, Lewandowski, Benzema, Kane tier. We need better players along side him , upgrades on Traore ,Bailey and Dare I say Buendia this isn’t me saying that Bailey and Buendia don’t have a crucial part to play at the club going forward but we certainly need a second striker/attacking mid/ winger that can score and create on a regular basis to complement Ollie.

Yeah I reckon Ollie can net 20+ in a full Emery season, He isn't a total footballer but he's potentially our first 20 goal a season striker for **** knows how long. Shopping for better means looking for a player who can score 20 goals a season and has a better all round game than Ollie. That costs an enormous amount of money if you are going for someone proven at this level. 

Soooo, I'd buy someone who has the potential to be that player if we don't think that Archer or Dhuran are going to play much as strikers. Gives competition to Ollie and we get to watch Ollie hopefully net 20+ goals too.

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