03 Oct 2023 12:02:20
Watkins a decent striker but I agree with Lineker and Shearer in that good as he is he is not a natural finisher
03 Oct 2023 15:00:56
He may not be a "natural" finisher but he is the 5th highest scoring player in the league since he joined us. He's behind only kane, son, salah and haaland in that time so he's not doing too bad. Considering we spent most of that time battling relegation I'd say he is a good striker
03 Oct 2023 15:19:57
Agree i wouldn't sell him, because he gets you 10/15 goals a season and he can play on wings aswell, i still think we should of tried for vlhoavich we maybe could of got him, he's different class in my opinion
03 Oct 2023 15:25:05
LOTM, most honest villa fans would agree to a certain extent, however he only struggles with his finishing when he has time to think especially one on ones. Shearer and Lineker were two of the best and obviously people listen to their honest views, however in the current climate how many premier league strikers at the moment are natural finishers. Kane was one, he's gone, Harland, Saka, spring immediately to mind, how many in their class are there. So in terms of strikers that would be welcomed by almost all premier league teams Ollie is definitely up there as a quality striker, yes he doesn't tick ever box (very few do) , but he has enough tools in his box to get goals regularly.
03 Oct 2023 19:51:19
I think both Toney and Wilson are both more natural finishers than Watkins. Don’t get me wrong I like Watkins he works hard and doesn’t give centre backs a minutes peace but if we want to compete at the top table then in my opinion we need a striker who is more clinical particularly given we like to hit teams on the break and it appears that in a lot of games we will have less possession than our opponents and in those circumstances taking your chances becomes ever more critical.
03 Oct 2023 20:13:47
LOTM, Toney maybe, Wilson definitely not, Eddie has him as a bench warmer, can't be that good.
03 Oct 2023 21:01:08
Look at his numbers Scotty, 18 goals and 5 assists from 31 games last season, and 9 of those appearances were from the subs bench that sounds like a pretty good strike rate to me.
03 Oct 2023 21:05:38
Toney would be immense for villa if we got him he's the complete striker in my opinion can do everything, if we got him in jan wed get top4 he's that goodv
03 Oct 2023 21:18:37
Watkins from under Unai Emery is 21 goals and 7 assists in 37 games.
Then you also have to agree this is an equally good strike rate and kinda mute your own point…
03 Oct 2023 21:32:44
LOTM, the debate was about natural finishers not goals and assists, lots of top goalscorers aren't always natural finishers, Wilson isn't a bench warmer for no reason.
03 Oct 2023 21:51:21
I’d like to see your list of “lots of” top goalscorer that aren’t natural finishers.
03 Oct 2023 22:09:41
Only Haaland has more Premier league goals excluding penalties this calendar year so I really don't see what more he can reasonably do. Scoring penalties would be nice but if someone else can do that consistently then the team still benefits.
Maybe he is more 'instinctive' than 'natural' but that just means he converts chances that others don't while missing ones they do. He's better than most at finding the smallest of gaps between defenders to poke the ball home.
I think maybe Emery pushed for Diaby so that he could be the one to take those chances Watkins misses. Diaby is that little bit quicker so that he's closer to goal by the time he is in that 1-on-1 and doesn't overthink it.
04 Oct 2023 07:29:12
As I say it’s not that I don’t like Watkins I do, as I have said he has a lot of great attributes but with the style of football we are playing under Emery where we aren’t looking to control possession but hit teams on the break which means we don’t have a lot of the ball then taking those chances we do create becomes ever more critical. If you look at those sides who either win or compete at the top end of the premiership they have all had a clinical striker. City - Haaland. Liverpool-Salah. Utd -Cole Spurs- Kane. Leicester - Vardy all 20 goal plus strikers. I fully appreciate these guys are hard to find but I really think that’s what we need to regularly push for the top 4
04 Oct 2023 09:34:37
I think you can forget about Toney. Despite his suspension, at best we’d be about 5th in the queue and, given the choice, I suspect he’ll stay in London.
04 Oct 2023 11:47:05
I think you are probably right Menace, but it’s someone of that ilk we need to be looking at in my view.
04 Oct 2023 22:18:56
Lots Is the point that your making that Ollie does not suit our style of play? The same was said about ings who is a natural finisher and he still didn’t work out for us? For me I’m happy with Ollie, I’d like another option there but keep Ollie aswel, any striker who is scoring 20+ in the league will only want the biggest clubs, if we did manage to bring in a striker who will score 20+ in the league he would only be there for a year and the money bags clubs would come sniffing, if Ollie scores 15-18 a year I’d be happy with him, I’m sure Duran might nab another 10 and we have lots of goals in our midfield to compensate. personally I think Ollie suits Emery 100% and I can’t see him replaced anytime soon
05 Oct 2023 00:33:43
I’m confused by the accusation that Watkins doesn’t suit our current style, when he’s currently having the best form of his life playing under UE and playing this exact style that he apparently doesn’t suit?
If he wasn’t scoring goals I’d half understand the concern, but from his point of view I literally don’t know what more he can do than what he is doing?
05 Oct 2023 07:19:04
I also don't understand why some focus on the few times he fluffs an easyish chance and pretend like Kane, Salah, Haaland don't miss just as many.
As a team we are 6th highest number of shots, 2nd highest number of goals and 3rd in conversion rate. Those numbers don't scream a lack of chances.
05 Oct 2023 12:15:06
My point re Ollie is simply to challenge for the top 4 you really need a clinical striker particularly if you don’t play a possession based game which often means you don’t create numerous chances and therefore you need a striker who is going to take advantage of those chances that are created. I think Ollie will get you between 12-15 goals in the premiership, but personally I don’t think that return will of itself be enough to get us in the top 4. Maybe if we get another quality no 9 that will push Watkins on he will improve and that may be worth a try but given the best strikers tend to be instinctive finishers I’m not sure add to that given the contract situation I’m not sure how committed he is to remaining with us.