Ollie Watkins

[VillaTim]

Set up their goal and missed an absolute sitter from 2 feet today.

He's had a mare today , but in fairness the miss was from 5 feet , not sure how he managed to balloon it so high when the goal was begging .

[PaulWinch again]

He should have scored, but surely anyone who has ever played the game has experienced that type of miss. Off balance, trying to spin quickly and hitting it whilst leaning back. Not sure it’s that uncommon, even in top flight football.

[brontebilly]

Set up their goal and missed an absolute sitter from 2 feet today.

He's had a mare today , but in fairness the miss was from 5 feet , not sure how he managed to balloon it so high when the goal was begging .

Shinned it I think. Buendia should have buried the first chance too but Ollie's effort was awful. He ran the channels quite well at times but against two of the worst centre backs in the division.

[VillaTim]

Set up their goal and missed an absolute sitter from 2 feet today.

He's had a mare today , but in fairness the miss was from 5 feet , not sure how he managed to balloon it so high when the goal was begging .

Shinned it I think. Buendia should have buried the first chance too but Ollie's effort was awful. He ran the channels quite well at times but against two of the worst centre backs in the division.

Problem is , he misses big chances most games , he's got this 3 game home run opportunity to fill his boots , he did well v Brighton - goal (pen but very well taken) great assist , today was an off day with that miss and costing us a goal . On to the fa cup and hopefully he makes amends , we really should be winning Friday and into Rd 4

[ChicagoLion]

He should have scored, but surely anyone who has ever played the game has experienced that type of miss. Off balance, trying to spin quickly and hitting it whilst leaning back. Not sure it’s that uncommon, even in top flight football.

It looked like a pretty easy chance, but he snatched at it. A worse miss than against Brighton. He is not a natural finisher which he continues to demonstrate.
Just watched it on video, he had time and space and was under no pressure, no idea why he leaned back, no excuse awful miss even at pub football standards.

[Somniloquism]

There were a lot worse misses in that game, luckily they came from the Leicester players.

He actually hits the top of the cross bar which, as I intimated earlier, means he would have scored if 2 feet out.

[ChicagoLion]

There were a lot worse misses in that game, luckily they came from the Leicester players.

He actually hits the top of the cross bar which, as I intimated earlier, means he would have scored if 2 feet out.

It was the worst miss in the game by a long way , although the one by Madvidi was pretty awful.

[Nii Lamptey]

Effort never in doubt, but should have scored late in both the Brighton game on Monday and in today’s game.
I love Ollie and what he’s done for the club, but he’s not undroppable. If Duran was on the end of either of those chances, I reckon he scores.
Watkins and Bailey are of a similar breed. They run on confidence.. Watkins can’t buy a goal at the moment. I think once he does, he’ll go on one of his runs, but you’ve got to question if he’ll
get that chance with red hot Duran back imminently.
It’s tough, but that’s what competition for places should bring. If you’re not doing it, you’re out for someone who is.

[paul_e]

There were a lot worse misses in that game, luckily they came from the Leicester players.

He actually hits the top of the cross bar which, as I intimated earlier, means he would have scored if 2 feet out.

It was the worst miss in the game by a long way , although the one by Madvidi was pretty awful.

Buendias chance a second before was much easier in my opinion.

[Meanwood Villa]

There were a lot worse misses in that game, luckily they came from the Leicester players.

He actually hits the top of the cross bar which, as I intimated earlier, means he would have scored if 2 feet out.

It was the worst miss in the game by a long way , although the one by Madvidi was pretty awful.

Buendias chance a second before was much easier in my opinion.

I agree but it was still a bad miss

[PaulWinch again]

I think Emi’s was easier too.

[ozzjim]

A top centre forward, goal gaping, 4 yards out, with pretty much the whole goal to hit. Anyone defending that miss is just making excuses for what was a complete howler and should have made the game safe. The fact is he's several levels from where he was for much of 2023 under Unai. The dip started at the end of last season and had continued and it's fairly easy to look at our results and point to 8-9 massive chances that he's missed this season. All composure has gone. I think he needs a few sessions with a sports psych to get him to just calm down a bit as he's snatched at every chance all season, starting with Arsenal home and just got worse. I'm not questioning his work rate, but his decision making has been terrible and his finishing poor. His stats are ok, but we could be 7-9 points better off if we had 2023 Watkins in the side. Even then he wasn't clinical, but last 4-5 months he's taking 6-7 decent chances to score, which to be where we want, isn't good enough. There are much better strikers in the league.

[Rory]

I see we're now blaming goals conceded '100%' on him. At least we're not going overboard.

[PaulWinch again]

A top centre forward, goal gaping, 4 yards out, with pretty much the whole goal to hit. Anyone defending that miss is just making excuses for what was a complete howler and should have made the game safe. The fact is he's several levels from where he was for much of 2023 under Unai. The dip started at the end of last season and had continued and it's fairly easy to look at our results and point to 8-9 massive chances that he's missed this season. All composure has gone. I think he needs a few sessions with a sports psych to get him to just calm down a bit as he's snatched at every chance all season, starting with Arsenal home and just got worse. I'm not questioning his work rate, but his decision making has been terrible and his finishing poor. His stats are ok, but we could be 7-9 points better off if we had 2023 Watkins in the side. Even then he wasn't clinical, but last 4-5 months he's taking 6-7 decent chances to score, which to be where we want, isn't good enough. There are much better strikers in the league.

I don’t think anyone is saying he shouldn’t have scored it are they? Or that he’s struggling a bit? It’s more the over the top pile in, saying he’s no good etc. Top strikers do miss chances like that - I’ve seen Haaland miss from a yard. It’s more about being a bit more respectful to him for what he’s done and as you’ve noted even though he’s in a tough period he’s still making important contributions to the side. After that miss he set up a great chance for Buendia, that should have put the game to bed.

[ChicagoLion]

Buendia was 18 yards out Watkins 2. Yes the same technique of leaning back when striking the ball though. The Watkins miss had everybody near me holding their head in bewilderment.