Is Ollie Watkins the Key Man after Grealish Departure at Aston Villa?

Aston Villa had been expected to perform extremely well after excellent recruitment in the summer transfer window. Even though the Villans sold their talisman Jack Grealish to Manchester City for £100 million, the signings of Leon Bailey, Emiliano Buendía, Danny Ings, Axel Tuanzebe, and more in summer 2021 made fans hope for a brighter future and higher league finishes.

However, the start of the 2021-22 season has been quite rough for Villa as they parted ways with the manager, Dean Smith and appointed former Rangers manager and Liverpool legend, Steven Gerard. Gerrard’s name carries more weight than Smith’s, partially because of the way he took to management in his maiden role but mainly because of his playing exploits.

With Danny Ings as the main striker, Ollie Watkins started playing in either a wide position or as a striker of the bench in Dean Smith’s 4-2-3-1 formation. Jack Grealish’s absence from the team has left a major hole in the attack which Gerard needs to revolutionise the attack.

Gerrard often used a 4-3-3 system at Rangers and this could be a good starting point when it comes to tackling Villa’s tactical quandary. Playing wide of a three in attack is completely different to wide in a trio in behind a lone striker, with an attacking midfielder alongside. Positionally, it is much deeper, with less freedom and space to run into; Watkins needs to be able to cut inside into the box if he isn’t going to play centrally to begin with, and this is a system that could also suit Bailey or Buendia, when fit.

Ollie Watkins could play quite a versatile role like Jack Grealish, either as a wide man or a central striker. However, Watkins has struggled for form this season. The form of Ollie Watkins has been a by-product of the struggles Aston Villa has faced to replace Grealish this season.

In 10 league games, he has only scored three goals, because his role hasn’t been settled. Gerrard has batted away questions over his desire to manage Liverpool in the future and Villa harbor ambitions of a return to European football, but more immediately, continuing to pull away from the relegation zone is imperative, and Watkins needs to be firing for that to happen.

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