Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has revealed a key discussion he had with Alex Moreno that ultimately helped lead to our goal at West Ham on Sunday.
Watkins is in excellent form currently as he has scored six goals in his last seven Premier League appearances, and he has certainly raised his game and adapted well to Unai Emery’s demands since he arrived at the club to continue to lead our line impressively.
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While he’ll hope to continue that run and hit double figures in the league again this year, he’s scoring in different ways and looking a real threat in and around the box, and so it’s vital that we continue to provide quality service for him to thrive on and to ultimately keep scoring important goals.
Speaking after our draw at West Ham on Sunday, Watkins revealed that he had a chat with Moreno prior to the game about getting him that said service, and with the Spaniard providing the assist for his goal against the Hammers with a brilliant delivery into the box, it was seemingly well planned out by the pair, to an extent.
“I was saying to Álex, sometimes take a touch and look for me in the box early,” Watkins said, as per VillaTV. “He’s done that and it’s nice to score again.
“It was an unbelievable ball from him.
“It’s nice as a striker to score goals, that’s what you want to do at the end of the day. I’ve been working hard to do that; I always work hard. I’m looking forward to these last 12 games to keep scoring and help the team.”
Moreno has undoubtedly made a positive impact since arriving in January, as the Spaniard has added an important new dynamic to our attacking play with his ability to get forward down the left flank and provide quality and creativity in dangerous areas.
He bagged an assist against Arsenal last month too, and it’s hoped that he can continue to offer a real threat on that side and his teammates can make the most of the service he offers with his deliveries into the box.
Specifically in relation to Watkins though, it would be a big boost for him if he can strike up that understanding and chemistry with Moreno on a consistent basis given how often the Spanish left-back gets forward, and so Sunday’s link-up between the pair was hopefully the first of many.
That said, while it’s great to see Watkins continuing to shine, it’s important that others help out and contribute more too, as we need to see goals and assists come from different players to make us more dynamic and dangerous for opposition defences.
Ollie Watkins: “I was saying to Álex [Moreno], sometimes take a touch and look for me in the box early. He’s done that and it’s nice to score again. It was an unbelievable ball from him.”
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— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) March 14, 2023