‘He doesn’t do it enough’ – Ian Wright exposes worrying Ollie Watkins problem at Aston Villa
Ian Wright has criticised one particular aspect of Ollie Watkins’ game amid his struggles to find the back of the net for Aston Villa at the start of this season.
Ollie Watkins netted double figures in league goals for the fifth successive season in 2024-25 to further cement his place as one of the best strikers in English football in recent times.
Football Insider revealed in May that Arsenal were planning to reignite their interest in Watkins after the Villans rejected a £50million offer from the Gunners for him in January, while Man United were also linked with a move for Watkins in the summer as Ruben Amorim aimed to overhaul his attacking options.
Watkins was also targeted by Newcastle up to the end of the window, but he remained at Villa Park, and thus has failed to build on his impressive form so far this term.
The England forward is yet to score in seven appearances at the start of 2025-26, and legendary Premier League striker Ian Wright has picked out a particular area of his game that he must improve on right now.
Ian Wright says what Ollie Watkins must improve at
The club’s former senior scout, Mick Brown, has told Football Insider that Watkins is not happy at Aston Villa, and he looked slow and lethargic in the Europa League against Bologna on Thursday (25 September) as he saw a penalty easily saved by the visitors’ goalkeeper.
Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast on Thursday, former Arsenal striker and current pundit Wright expressed his disappointment at Watkins’ form and picked out a particular area of his game that he needs to work on to become a better player.
He said: “What’s happened with Ollie, Ollie Watkins, as well? People say that a lot…’I do like him,’ but I don’t care if you like him…as a player, I think that he should be doing more for what he is capable of doing.
“He’s a channel runner, he gets in the box, on the end of things. I think he could be a lot sharper with his finishing, and I thought that what he would be working on, the one-touch finish or the touch-finish on both sides.
“Those are the things you work on now for getting the chance to stay in the width of your 18-yard box, and he just doesn’t do that. He doesn’t do it enough.”
Watkins should listen to someone like Wright above any other critics, as he did not score 113 Premier League goals by chance and was a similar player to the Villa man.
Watkins will regret not being able to leave Villa
Even though things had been going well in past seasons, the start of this campaign proves that Watkins needed a change of scenery in the summer to continue his decent goal record in the top-flight.
Aston Villa‘s woes have not been solely his fault, nor has he been the only one of Emery’s players that have struggled this season after Morgan Rogers was jeered by his own fans against Bologna for putting in another poor performance.
The England striker’s missed penalty in that game summed up his current plight, as he looked a shadow of his former self when Villa needed him to be commanding and put the spot-kick away with ease, like he has done so many times before.
Watkins was dropped from the starting eleven for the visit of the Serie A side, and that only looks set to continue as his poor form carries on, and he may well be left rueing the club’s decision not to let him leave in the summer.