Aston Villa journalist Gregg Evans has been sharing some criticism of Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
This comes after Evans recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s Villa-themed podcast 1874, where he reflected on the club’s 3-0 defeat to Leeds United on Friday night.
On the topic of Watkins, who played the entire match at Villa Park against Marcelo Bielsa’s side, Evans had this to say on the Englishman.
He said: “If I’m being brutally honest, he’s been Villa’s worst attacking player for the last two games, which is difficult for him probably to take.
“I think maybe we were getting a little bit carried away with his hat-trick [against Liverpool]; the fact that he’s still developing into a Premier League player.
“I think those goals would have certainly taken the pressure off him, but [there’s] probably still a little bit more to do for him.”
Villa signed the striker back in September from Championship side Brentford for a club-record fee of £27.72 million. Since then, the 24-year-old has made eight appearances for Dean Smith’s side across all competitions in which he has managed to score five goals.
Watkins’ three Premier League goals so far this season all came in Villa’s 7-2 win over Liverpool earlier in the month, in which he also grabbed himself an assist (per Transfermarkt).
In Villa’s recent defeat to Leeds, Watkins earned himself a match rating of 6.85/10, making him Villa’s highest-rated outfield player for his performance (per WhoScored).
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TIF Thoughts on Gregg Evans’ comments on Watkins…
It may seem harsh to criticise Watkins now when he is still in the early stages of his Villa career. However, even though he managed to score three against Liverpool, there have still been four Premier League games where he hasn’t managed to register a goal or assist for his new club.
Moving forward, everyone at Villa will undoubtedly be hoping that Watkins, who is now valued at £27 million (as per Transfermarkt), can get on a more consistent run of goalscoring form.