Aston Villa Watkins Merson
Paul Merson has shared his verdict on Ollie Watkins at Aston Villa (credit: Imago)
Max Wilkins
Fri 13 December 2024 10:20, UK
Paul Merson has urged Unai Emery to start Ollie Watkins ahead of Jhon Duran despite a poor substitute showing for Aston Villa against Southampton.
The Colombia international has captured the headlines in the past week after his long-range strike against RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday (10 December).
This has sparked a conversation about whether the 20-year-old should start ahead of his English counterpart who scored himself against Brentford.
Former Villa star Merson has had his say on the debate with Sportskeeda (12 December), saying: “Personally, I would still prefer to use Ollie Watkins as a starter on this Villa side.
“It’s simply because he doesn’t have the same impact as Jhon Duran while coming off the bench. He came off the bench against Southampton and did not leave a great impression, looking slightly lackadaisical up front.”
Unai Emery must avoid Ollie Watkins mistake at Aston Villa
The England international has been one of the Villans’ most important players since signing for the club from Brentford in 2020.
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This is arguably the toughest spell in his career in B6 given the pressure that is coming from behind him as Duran continues to score goals.
The 28-year-old needs to perform well when given the chance to prove himself but this was far from the case as a substitute against the Saints on 7 December.
Watkins came on with over 20 minutes to go but was only able to take 16 touches while maintaining a pass accuracy of just 57 per cent [FotMob] which won’t impress Emery.
The forward did create one chance and was able to take four shots on goal but in typical fashion recently, he missed one big chance and had a 0 per cent shot accuracy.
Ollie Watkins
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins [Credit: Imago]
This truly isn’t good enough, especially considering that his 20-year-old replacement scored and kept up a 100 per cent accuracy.
The Villa manager certainly has a decision to make ahead of the trip to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday (14 December) but it is a positive choice to have to make.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery must be wise about one young gem who is out on loan, he can’t get carried away.
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