Ollie Watkins has grafted his way up from the Conference South to the European Championships. Johnny Nic eulogises over a striker whose fight for the spotlight continues...
Ollie Watkins has grafted his way up from the Conference South to the European Championships. Johnny Nic eulogises over a striker whose fight for the spotlight continues…Oliver George Arthur Watkins is a 5’11” Torquay-born, Newton Abbot-raised striker who plays for Aston Villa. He scored for England last week and is an important player in Villa’s push for a European trophy this campaign.
In 2021 he made his England debut scoring against San Marino. He’s got eight caps and scored his third goal against Australia last week. Were it not for Harry Kane, he’d probably be a regular starter for England with seven goals in 13 appearances for Villa to his name. Of his 135 goals 34 have been game winning goals, which is probably the most important stat on his CV.
While now playing for Unai Emery means he’s playing for one of Europe’s top coaches, it has also meant he’s had to develop his game significantly. While playing for Brentford he was perhaps a more traditional centre-forward using physicality and speed to gain an advantage but for Villa he’s scored more goals in less games, again this suggests a player who is developing his game. This season could be his best ever.
Whereas Kane is that much valued ‘two-players-in-one’ Watkins is more a front-facing, stretch-the-defence striker and certainly isn’t a man-for-man replacement for the Bayern Munich striker, all of which means England would have to play a different sort of game tactically to get the best out of Watkins. There doesn’t seem to be a place for him alongside Kane, so his international appearances may remain few and far between.
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