While we’ve seen improvement across the squad since Unai Emery was appointed as Aston Villa boss, Ollie Watkins has undoubtedly been one of the main beneficiaries.
Following his brace and assist in our superb 3-0 win over Newcastle Utd on Saturday, the 27-year-old took his tallies to 12 goals and four assists in 17 Premier League games under the Spaniard. Prior to his arrival, he had just two goals and two assists in 13 outings.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Newcastle Utd: Watkins leads superb performance in win
The level of composure and ruthlessness that Watkins is starting to show in front of goal is leading our charge towards Europe, but he’s contributing so much more than just finding the back of the net.
While he’s always been praised for his work ethic and defensive sacrifice as he presses from the front and tracks back as our first line of defence, Watkins is now becoming smarter and more efficient with his movement and the timing of his runs.
Additionally, it’s evidently something that has been worked on intensively at the training ground as his connection and chemistry with our attacking players is so much better, as they know when and where to find him to put us in threatening positions to score.
Emery was keen to stress the importance of the all-round contribution that Watkins is making for Villa in both phases, as he has seemingly raised his game in every area as he also offers more effective hold-up play to link things together in the final third too.
“We are happy for Ollie Watkins as well because his best performances are about how he works defensively to assist the players,” Emery told the media in his post-match press conference, as per BirminghamLive. “We are very happy because both boxes are important. Today was the perfect day. Ollie was fantastic.”
Watkins improved movement, timing of runs
Speaking to BT Sport prior to the game, Watkins discussed how he’s using his energy and movement more effectively now to be more of a threat and how he’s been studying video analysis of strikers that Emery has worked with in the past to understand what the Villa boss wants from him.
Well, it appears as though he has certainly done his homework and has adapted to those tactical demands and positional awareness brilliantly, as we can see in the images below how he was a constant headache for Botman and Schar on Saturday.
While our midfield players deserve plenty of credit too for their ability to turn and find space between the lines to then set Watkins free, the Villa frontman’s movement and the timing of his runs is superb as he beats defenders for pace while attacking spaces and thus creating goalscoring opportunities.
We’ve seen it time and time again in recent weeks, and even though the BT Sport pundits analysed exactly this before the game this weekend, which Newcastle would have been prepared for, they simply couldn’t stop him.
Prior to Emery’s arrival, we weren’t seeing Watkins used in this way where his qualities and strengths were both maximised and importantly, utilised.
Under Steven Gerrard, Watkins would often find himself in 1v1 duels with defenders in deeper positions trying to hold up the ball and was ultimately being nullified while also wasting his energy in all the wrong places.
He’s clearly a striker who loves to make runs into the channels and in behind defences as that is where he is most threatening, and Emery has done a brilliant job with him to make sure we see that consistently and that it has a decisive impact.
Watkins inside the box
Another impressive aspect of the improvement from Watkins is his movement and composure inside the box. As we saw with both of his goals against Newcastle, he’s finding that instinct of being in the right place and finding space in key areas to be able to score so consistently.
It’s a crucial trait for any striker to not only have that awareness of when to make runs to the near post or drop off and wait for the ball to come, but it’s also another sign of the understanding and chemistry that’s been built up between him and his teammates.
Villa have been so impressive in recent months, and we’ve significantly improved in both phases of the game given how we’re now racking up clean sheets more consistently while also scoring in every game.
Watkins has been integral in that by scoring in so many different ways, and it’s been wonderful to see him flourish under Emery as we hope it continues for a long, long time.
