Micah Richards let down by Ollie Watkins – he could have been the difference vs Chelsea
Ollie Watkins continued to frustrate Aston Villa fans with his performance against Chelsea on Wednesday.
No one in claret and blue covered themselves in glory at Villa Park as Liam Rosenior’s side secured the easiest of 4-1 wins.
The frustration is that the England international arguably could have changed the tide entirely if he were on top of his game.
He has struggled in recent weeks, and that lack of confidence showed, even while Unai Emery stood by him yet again.
The B6 faithful couldn’t quite believe Watkins was in the starting XI, and he went on to prove them right as Micah Richards felt he should have done better against Chelsea.
Micah Richards wanted more from Ollie Watkins vs Chelsea
Tammy Abraham watched from the bench once again as his striker compatriot continued to stink things up in the Midlands.
The 30-year-old had plenty of chances but failed to breach Filip Jorgensen in net for the away side, other than when he was offside.
Watkins was caught ahead of Jorrel Hato, when he really should have been able to keep himself in line before going on to score.
He couldn’t do that, summing up his recent run of form that doesn’t look like it’s changing any time soon in claret and blue.
The frustration is that if he had been better, Villa could have secured a better result on the night, and that wasn’t lost on Richards.
Speaking on Match of the Day on Wednesday night, he said: “Watkins had a lot of chances. He could have had two or three, which would have made a difference.”
Why Watkins needs to be taken out of team after Chelsea shocker
The Englishman somehow remained on the pitch for 72 minutes at Villa Park before Abraham was finally brought on.
In that time, the striker failed to score with any of his two shots as Jorgensen was able to make two relatively comfortable saves.
Those count as two big chances missed in B6, while being caught offside on the occasion of his only goal-bound strike of the evening.
Watkins didn’t make up for that with his work rate as he contributed to just three defensive contributions while winning just three of his six attempted duels in a frustrating 50 per cent ratio.
There is nothing positive to say about the forward who really needs a stint out of the starting XI after a number of terrible weeks.
To read more matchday stories, visit Football Insider for extra updates.