View: Aston Villa must keep Ollie Watkins central to get best out of him
Aston Villa are currently blessed in having two Premier League quality strikes at their disposal that can form a formidable partnership.
Danny Ings arrived at Villa Park last summer in a big-money move from Southampton and that has subsequently put the position of Ollie Watkins under serious threat.
The 26-year-old had led the line for Villa in their first season back in the Premier League but the England international found himself being shoved to the left wing for a portion of the season when Steven Gerrard took charge in the Midlands.
Despite his ability to play in both roles very well, Watkins needs to be playing as central as possible for him to make the most of his ability and maximise his goal-scoring abilities.
In terms of positional knowledge, there are few strikers more aware of their surroundings than Watkins as he proved away at Burnley last season.
Here, he managed to subtly drift away from the Clarets’ defender and into that ever-dangerous space between the central defender and his full-back where strikers are at their best.
He’s not just a movement merchant though because once he creates space for himself he has the quality to turn a chance into a goal like it’s second nature to him.
In this instance, his brilliant aerial prowess is on full show as he dives forward to meet a great cross and not only gets contact with the ball but he has the composure to direct it below the Burney goalkeeper, giving him no chance of saving it.
That pinpoint accuracy was on show for England too when they beat San Marino 5-0 at Wembley and Watkins dropped off to find himself a yard of space and fired a bullet effort into the bottom corner to complete the scoring.
He could do all of this on the wing as well but he is not nearly as effective so even if Gerrard needs to change his system, Watkins simply must be the central striker for Aston Villa next season.
In other Aston Villa news, John McGinn is a man who needs to find his international form to keep his place in the Villa side next season.