After a difficult start to the season, it was a huge boost for Aston Villa to see Ollie Watkins get back on the scoresheet in our win over Everton this weekend.
It’s been a complicated couple of months for the 28-year-old. After a busy summer with England at EURO 2024, he missed the entirety of Villa’s pre-season schedule having had an extended break.
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Further, it was later revealed that Watkins had been struggling with a knee issue over the summer, and subsequently missed our last pre-season outing at Borussia Dortmund as a result.
Not having that build-up to a new campaign to sharpen his match fitness and get back up to speed is disruptive for any player, and having returned early from international duty last week with ongoing fitness issues, it’s clear that Watkins still isn’t quite right physically.
He even admitted so after our 3-2 win over Everton on Saturday evening, as he conceded that he’s still not at 100 percent after picking up a couple of knocks over the summer, but he is determined to avoid missing games and to continue to make an important contribution to the team.
Through all that, the pressure has been mounting as his goal drought continued, and two big misses in our loss against Arsenal magnified concerns in front of goal as our misfiring frontman was desperate for a bit of luck or a confidence boost to get back on track.
It finally arrived this weekend as he struck twice to draw us level against the Toffees, and that in turn set the stage for our super-sub Jhon Duran to come on and deliver the knockout blow to seal all three points once again.
While it’s brilliant to see the Colombian international shine so far this season with three winners in just 103 minutes on the pitch, it’s absolutely imperative for us that Watkins starts to fire consistently as he will be our leading man when available.
His work ethic and importance from a defensive perspective with his pressing from the front hasn’t dipped, and the key point that Emery was keen to emphasise in the first few weeks of the season was that Villa were still creating chances, and Watkins was getting into positions to put them away. In time, he was convinced that the goals would follow.
That proved to be the case this weekend as Watkins took his goals really well, and such is his mentality and desire to improve, he bemoaned missing other chances to register a hat-trick in his post-match interview.
The important thing for now though is that he’s back on the scoresheet and that should hopefully give him the confidence boost to go on a run, as we’ve seen him do so previously when he finds his rhythm, goals typically follow when he breaks his duck.
Naturally, it’s hoped that his injury or fitness issues don’t linger and continue to bother him, as once he’s back to feeling as close to fully fit as possible, he’ll no doubt continue to be a decisive figure for Emery and Villa this season who will be fundamental in our pursuit of success.
Calmly tucked away by Ollie to bring us level 🙌 pic.twitter.com/jJYXSvEpdp
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 14, 2024
