Ollie Watkins must start to deliver and stop looking so comfortable after going five Premier League games without a goal this season.
That’s according to former Watford striker Troy Deeney, who ripped into Aston Villa following another poor result on Sunday.
Villa were held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light – despite the hosts being down to ten men for over half of the game.
Unai Emery’s side took the lead through Matty Cash, who finally scored the club’s first top-flight goal of the season in their fifth game, but saw their first win slip away as Wilson Isidor equalised.
It meant that their winless streak to start the campaign extended to five matches, and at the same time, so did Watkins’ goalless run.
The England striker has not scored or provided an assist this season so far across his six outings in all competitions, following his 24 goal involvements last term.
And during the game against Sunderland, he failed to have a single shot despite playing the full 90 minutes.
A huge chance fell his way in the match, but he was unable to get his head on a cross whilst free in the Black Cats’ box.
It has led to criticism of his performances from ex-Watford front man Deeney, who believes Watkins needs to do more.
From his five Premier League matches this term, he has had just six shots and only made four key passes, showing his lack of involvement.
What has Troy Deeney said about Ollie Watkins?
Deeney was asked on talkSPORT’s Final Word what he thinks is going wrong for Aston Villa and Watkins this season.
In reply, he explained: “The biggest problem is lack of goals, lack of goals from Ollie at this moment in time.
4
“I’ve stuck up for Ollie on a number of occasions where they brought in [Marcus] Rashford and had [Jhon] Duran, and they are were trying to move on from him.
“But at this moment in time, you’re the only striker there, you’re the one they’re looking towards and for the start of the season, you’re not delivering.
“Whether it’s goals, whether it’s performances – at the moment it’s both.
“I always think as a striker you can’t guarantee you’re going to score.
“But you can always guarantee that you put yourself about and give the opposition something to think about.
“At the moment in time, he just looks off it, he looks comfortable.”
4
‘An ego thing’
Deeney also delved further into Aston Villa’s problems, labelling their poor performances so far ‘an ego thing’.
He continued: “It’s a weird one. I thought maybe with [Jadon] Sancho and [Harvey] Elliott coming in, there’d be a bit more dynamism to it.
“But they must not be fit enough as he’s not putting them anywhere near the starting line-up.
“It’s an ego thing now, a player-driven ego thing.
“I think the manager is a very, very good manager, but you have to start looking now and saying: Why are the players trying to play inside the pitch? Why is Morgan Rogers not the focal point?
“He’s not away from any level of criticism, by the way, he needs to raise his game a little bit more. You can’t go and do it for England and not do it for your club.”
4
In the drop zone
Aston Villa were playing Champions League football last season and now they find themselves 18th in the Premier League table.
It’s a far cry from their success in recent years and Deeney thinks the club being in the relegation zone is not acceptable.
He remarked: “Villa are ending this weekend in the bottom three…
“It’s not good enough, not good enough at all. Not with the talent that they have, not with the squad they have.
“Yes, it’s a bit lopsided, yes, PSR is an issue, but you can’t be in the bottom three.”
Next up, Emery’s side have their opening Europa League clash against Bologna on Thursday before taking on Fulham on Sunday.
4