After playing a pivotal role in Aston Villa’s 5-0 win over Sheffield Utd, Ollie Watkins was once again singled out for praise by Unai Emery.
The 28-year-old scored one and provided two assists in our comprehensive victory, a result that moves us back into the top four of the Premier League table and ends a mini slump in form given the high standards set since Emery was appointed.
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For Watkins, that’s now 11 goals and 10 assists in 23 league appearances, making him the first player in Europe’s five major leagues to register 10+ goals and 10+ assists in the current campaign.
With quality service to feed off, most notably from Douglas Luiz who played a delightful through ball for Watkins to bag his goal at Bramall Lane on Saturday evening, the Villa frontman thrived as we raced into a 4-0 lead after just 30 minutes and ultimately went on to comfortably seal all three points.
Unsurprisingly, just as he has done on many occasions previously, Emery had nothing but positive words on his striker when asked about the impact made by Watkins.
“Ollie Watkins is a player with high commitment to the club, and high commitment to the work too,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “His behaviour is completely focusing on football and Aston Villa. His wish to win and desire to improve is always a good example for everybody.
“Then, the result is the performance on the pitch, scoring goals and getting assists. Even when we were analysing the match we played away in the league against Everton, he had four very good possibilities to score and create chances, but he was not clinical.
“But this is good work and this is the way, to be consistent and trying to improve and be demanding every day. This is Ollie Watkins.”
Emery and his coaching staff have done an impressive job in improving and developing Watkins’ game and his effectiveness in the role, as he himself noted in his post-match interview on Sky Sports that he’s no longer making too many runs wide and coming away from being a goal threat, and he’s being smarter with his movement and positioning on the pitch.
Still, his movement off the ball in the final third was crucial to how we were able to pull Sheffield Utd apart this weekend, as he not only created openings for himself with his pace and running off the centre-half, but he stretches the opposition’s defence as a whole and creates space for others to exploit.
Add in his relentless work ethic to press and apply pressure up top, he is a pillar of this Villa side and how Emery wants us to play, and he is becoming increasingly decisive and clinical in and around the box.
Watkins bagged 16 goals and six assists in 40 appearances across all competitions last season. He’s already on 16 goals and 12 assists in 32 outings in this campaign, and long may his exceptional form continue as he will have to fire us towards achieving our ultimate objectives for this season.
With Morgan Rogers added to the squad last month, coupled with the quality that is already in the group in midfield with Emiliano Buendia still to return from injury, it’s hoped that Watkins is able to maintain his current form and continues to feed off the service that we’re capable of providing.
While he’s had his detractors over the years and there are of course still areas of his game that he’ll want to improve, we have one of the most impactful strikers in the league given the numbers, and he’ll hopefully stay fit and continue to lead our charge towards Champions League qualification.
Perfection from @DGOficial. 💫
Precision from Ollie Watkins. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/p6j6uShxwN— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 3, 2024
