Unai Emery has lost his mind at Aston Villa as he shares baffling Ollie Watkins claim
Ollie Watkins will surely be left scratching his head in confusion at Aston Villa after their 2-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The B6 outfit continued their strong start to the Europa League with a comfortable victory over their Israeli opposition, and they now sit sixth in the league phase table.
Goals from Ian Maatsen and Donyell Malen secured three points for Aston Villa, on a night where they could easily have stretched their lead further in the second half.
However, it was matters away from the pitch that hit the headlines, as Unai Emery appears to have lost his mind with a simply baffling comment after the game.
Unai Emery makes staggering Ollie Watkins goalscoring claim
Watkins has struggled badly for Aston Villa of late, and he was named among the substitutes for Thursday night’s European clash.
The 29-year-old has just one goal from 15 games in all competitions so far in 2025-26, and he would surely have fancied the chances of boosting his confidence against his team’s lower-ranking opponents.
However, the striker was made to wait until the 64th minute before he was introduced by Emery, which was clearly a bid to try and ensure that he is adequately rested for this weekend’s clash with Bournemouth.
After the game, the boss delivered his take on his team’s goalscoring ability, which included a mind-numbing moment where he praised Watkins’ form in front of goal of late.
“We need players who are scoring goals,” the Spanish chief said, via John Townley on X.
“Malen is scoring, Watkins is scoring, and Maatsen is adding his quality in the opposition box and scoring goals.”
The sentiment behind the boss’ comments is certainly understandable, but it is simply staggering for him to have taken such a clear, public stance considering the form that Watkins is in.
Ollie Watkins is hugely underperforming his 2024-25 campaign at Aston Villa
Watkins has been the talisman for Aston Villa for several years now, and you have to go back four seasons before you find a campaign when he didn’t surpass 15 league goals.
However, it’s been a long time since he last experienced a struggle of this magnitude in terms of his individual form.
| 2025-26 | Stats | 2024-25 |
| 1 | Goals | 16 |
| 1.74 | xG | 15.38 |
| 789mins | Scoring Frequency | 163mins |
| 0.3 | Shots on Target per game | 1.1 |
| 7% | Conversion Rate | 19% |
| 0.3 | Big Chances Missed per game | 0.71 |
The former Brentford frontman has a conversion rate of just seven per cent in the Premier League so far this season, a far cry from his tallies of 19 and 18 per cent respectively from the last two seasons.
Watkins is underperforming his xG by almost one entire goal at the 10-game mark in the league, and he has outperformed his xG for the last two seasons, highlighting his clinical finishing ability.
The England international isn’t quite being presented with the same volume of chances as he has in previous years, but that still provides little explanation for his recent struggles.
Emery’s comments were likely an attempt to boost his confidence ahead of the weekend, but instead, they just came across as him being oblivious to the current reality.
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