Michael Owen has claimed that Ollie Watkins has ‘virtually everything’ to his game for Aston Villa, other than the ability to finish.
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes agreed with Owen and added that ‘all the qualities’ are there for Watkins, but his finishing lets him down in Villa colours.
That was showcased at the weekend when Steven Gerrard’s side recorded a goalless draw against ten-man Leeds United at Elland Road.
Even before Luis Sinisterra’s sending-off early in the second half, Watkins was missing a number of guilt-edge chances to open the scoring.
Well, all of that became worse as Villa tried to batter the tough-tackling door of ten-men Leeds, with Watkins continually fluffing his chances when put through on goal.
During his peak years, Owen was one of the best finishers around and he expressed what he likes about Watkins and why his end product is so poor, as he told Premier League Productions (02/10/22 at 7:15 pm).
“I really like Ollie Watkins,” said Owen. “He’s their main man. Yes, Danny Ings is probably their best goalscorer, but he doesn’t offer them what Ollie Watkins offers.
“He offers virtually everything bar being a good finisher and that’s a problem. When he’s on it, he’s great because he looks like the complete player.
“But he’s not a consistent finisher. His final touch, before he finishes, is sometimes average. His decision-making. Tiny things. Both chances (against Leeds), he should have dinked it. It’s not just about arriving and dinking it over him (Leeds keeper) though. It’s how fast you run towards the ball, if you are thinking the defender is going to get back onto the line, then you need to sprint as fast as you can and then dink it.
“If you want the goalkeeper to dive at your feet, and he is a little bit further back, then you go a little bit slower, entice the dive and then you dink. There are lots of tiny nuances about finishing and he doesn’t seem to get it and does what presents right in front of him. Everything else I really rate.”
Scholes added: “There’s not much a coach can do. Once you are in that situation, one v one, I think for Watkins it’s not clear. It’s not clear in his mind what he is going to do or how he’s going to do it.
“For all the qualities that he has, I think he leads the line brilliantly and he is a real handful, but he should be a goalscorer and he isn’t a goalscorer. I don’t think he will get that into his game. You almost need a blend of both Ings and Watkins, it would be perfect.”
GERRARD SHOULD STICK WITH WATKINS
Villa will make the short trip across the Midlands next Monday when they take on bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Steven Gerrard might make changes for that game, including possibly dropping Watkins from the XI.
But the under-fire coach should stick with the £28 million man (BBC Sport) because he is doing most of the things right.
Yes, it’s frustrating for Villa fans that he is missing chances that should be winning them games, but he’s doing so many other things right that he is worth sticking by.
You would rather be in a situation where you are missing so many chances, rather than being anonymous and not even getting into those situations at all.
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