Ollie Watkins: Manchester City draw one of best Aston Villa performance of 2022
Ollie Watkins believes that the Manchester City performance was one of the best one for his Aston Villa side in the year 2022.
The Villans have not enjoyed the best of starts to the season, but they went unbeaten throughout September, including a draw against City and a win against Southampton.
They will now be looking to build on their unbeaten run post the international break amid pressure on Steven Gerrard.
Watkins told the club’s Twitter handle, “It’s probably one of our best performances this year.
“We didn’t have the ball much, but whenever we did, we did something with it.
“We ran a lot and put that effort in and collectively, we were unfortunate not to nick a goal at the end.
“That’s massive, coming up against a team like them.”
Build on it
Gerrard knows that he needs results to get the critics off his back even though he appears to have the backing of the club.
They gave him the players and the money he needed in the window to rebuild his squad and while he’s been unlucky with injuries, they should not be anywhere near the relegation zone.
However, it is not fair to attach the entire blame to him as the players also need to step up and improve their game.
The likes of Watkins, Danny Ings, Philippe Coutinho, and Lucas Digne, among others, have not been anywhere near good enough.
Unfortunately, it’s Gerrard who will pay the price so he’s the one who’s got to get them up to the mark or bench them for young and hungry players.
After Southampton, they now have Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur waiting in line and five points from the next three games should be their target.
In other Aston Villa news, John McGinn admits to the Villa v Southampton Premier League clash being a boring affair.