Paul Merson has been speaking about how the absence of Jack Grealish affects Aston Villa, and he made an interesting point about Ollie Watkins.
Speaking ahead of the clash with Wolves, the ex-Villa man said the following on Sky Sports: “When Jack Grealish plays, Ollie Watkins is going one-on-one with the keeper, I don’t see too many runs by Watkins when Grealish isn’t playing.”
In truth, Merson makes a fair point – this is something we’ve noticed as well.
The £28 million man hasn’t scored in the three games where Villa have been without their talisman.
Since Watkins joined the Villans back in the summer, he and Grealish have combined for six goals in claret and blue, as Transfermarkt shows.
Furthermore, Dean Smith doesn’t have another player similar to the Villa No.10 in his squad.
If he did, then perhaps the £75,000-a-week Watkins might still feel like it’s worth making runs in behind.
However, while playing without a creative source such as Grealish, he’d probably prefer to conserve his energy.
After all, the former Brentford attacker does a lot of running down the channels and also when pressing opponents, so he needs all the energy he can get.
To find a way of scoring scrappy goals without a player of Grealish’s quality behind him may be the 25-year-old’s next step in adjusting to life in the Premier League.
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