Aston Villa: Gary Lineker hails ‘great’ Ollie Watkins as verdict dropped in accolade debate
Gary Lineker has suggested that he doesn’t see Ollie Watkins winning Premier League Player of the Year despite a stellar season for Aston Villa.
It has been a near-perfect year for the Villans, who have been on the rise ever since Unai Emery was instated as manager in October 2022.
Having arrived with Villa battling at the wrong end of the table, Villa this season still have Champions League football as their primary target.
There have been plenty of top performers at Villa Par this season. Pau Torres has excelled at the back, Douglas Luiz has marshalled the midfield and Leon Bailey has been a star on the wing.
But standing out among the pack at Villa is Watkins, who has impressed with his goalscoring prowess and his ability to provide goals for his teammates.
While he has hugely impressed, Lineker – speaking on The Rest is Football podcast (8 April) is not quite sure he should be included in the Player of the Year debates.
He simply said: “Ollie Watkins has had a great season- not quite player of the year.”
Should Ollie Watkins win Premier League POTY for Aston Villa?
Ask yourself this, if Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah etc. had 28 Premier League goal involvements would they win Player of the Year?
The answer is yes. There would be no doubt in anybody’s mind.
Watkins perhaps isn’t as fashionable a name as some of the others involved in the question, though his industrious performances mean he should be more involved in the equation.
He has 18 goals (second most in the league) and 10 assists (most in the league) according to FotMob.
The England international is only second in the scoring list to the brilliant Erling Haaland, who is unlikely to be among the frontrunners with his Manchester City teammates Phil Foden and Rodri more heavily fancied.
Watkins has missed 19 big chances so far this campaign [FotMob], which suggests his return should have been significantly better than what it has been.
It isn’t like he is playing for a team that aren’t succeeding either. Emery’s side are fifth in the table and well in the hunt for Champions League football.
His most recent performance against Brentford (6 April) was very positive in spite of the negative result for the Villans.
The Englishman had a 100% conversion rate against his former side. He managed to score two goals while only having 29 touches across the full 90 minutes, according to FotMob.
Across the last 365 days, per 90, he has registered some impressive stats such as 2.72 shot-creating actions and 0.28 assists [Fbref].
All these stats point towards a superb season. Villa have registered 66 league goals so far this campaign meaning Watkins has impressively contributed to a top-class 42% of those through his combined goals and assists.
Given his importance to the Villa cause and the overall success of the team, it does feel a little baffling that Watkins isn’t being talked about more prominently by Lineker and Co.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery is eyeing up a “well-known” striker after an Ollie Watkins development.
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