Ollie Watkins: A Potential Game-Changer for Arsenal?

There's no way around it. For Arsenal to get to the next level, we need goals and that sounds silly for one of the Premier League's top goal scorers this season and last. But let's not beat around the bush. Let's not kid ourselves, people. I know football's a simple game, but everything doesn't have to necessarily always be black and white. We share the goals. The burden isn't just on one player. We share the goals all around. But it's a bit weird that we do not have a natural, organic goal scorer. The only thing I would define as close to that is Bakayo Saka because for the last two seasons he's done that. All the others have the ability to score goals but wouldn't necessarily be defined as that. So for Arsenal to continue this upward trajectory that we're on and get over the line where Premier League titles and major honours and aspirations and ambitions are realised and won, we need a striker. Now this could be very reactionary, even though I've said it before, and it probably is. Now you saw Arsenal lose two goals to Neil against Aston Villa. Should Arsenal Football Club sign Oli Watkins? He is arguably in the form of his life right now. He has showcased his talents this season. I think he has 19 Premier League goals and 10 assists from 32 games as Unai Emery's Aston Villa are making a good push at qualifying for the Champions League. When you look at his form in all comps, he has 26 goals in all comps, people. Four goals came in seven Conference League appearances and he has 10 Premier League assists to match. Arguably he's in the form of his life and he's showcasing his ability. For me, he's Premier League proven. He's shown at his spells with Brentford and Aston Villa that he can cope with pressure. Premier League proven. And I think he's a very good striker for Mikel Arteta's system in that he brings goals and all the other facets of his game. When you go all the way back to December, no player scored more winning goals. What that equates to is goals that separate teams. For example, he was tied with Mohamed Salah. At a point across the December period, only Harlan and Bowen had more non-penalty goals than him. And when you discount set pieces when looking at goals, only Harlan at the time had more goals than him. Arguably if you're competing with Harlan and the riches that Manchester City have and he's the one better than you in certain regards, you're doing all right. I think he's durable. What is going underestimated at Arsenal is we need durable players. How many players could you say are going to be fit for the majority of the campaign? Anybody and everyone can get injuries. They're occupational hazards. But for me, I would look at Declan Rice, Pakaio Saka, Martin Odegaard, Saliba, Gabriel, Benjamin White, and there's probably a couple of other exceptions. The vast majority of our players, the nucleus of our team, you can't really bet on their fitness. Partey, Tomiasu, Jorginho, Gabriel Jesus, the list kind of goes on and on and on. And it's not sustainable over a 38-game Premier League campaign, let alone when you consider how far you would like to go in the FA Cup, the Champions League and the League Cup. Now, I'm sure Arsenal fans like most other fans would love to win them all, but we do not have the squad for it. Some of it is down to ability and different options. Some of it is due to injuries. And I do think there's been occasions you look at Aston Villa, ironically, away from home, West Ham at the Emirates, Newcastle away was more of a chance creation issue, let alone scoring. But there has been occasions where we've needed goals. As I said, I think it is a bit of a twofold problem where we've got goals all around the team. Martinelli, Saka, Trosser, Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus on his day, and many more have the capacity to score goals. With us getting better at set pieces and becoming more of an all-functional side, you have seen the unlikely goalscorers, the Benjamin Whites, the Gabriels on occasion pop up and save the day. Kai Havertz isn't necessarily a proven goalscorer, but is in a great purple patch as well. So why can't we take that, marry that, hone that with a proven goalscorer, whoever that new striker is? There's no way around it. For Arsenal to go to the next level once again, we need a talisman, someone that we can look at in August and have faith that as a minimum, he's going to get 20 league goals amongst other things. As I said, he's very durable. He's played 90 minutes near enough every Premier League game. Where you look at the way Aston Villa play with their high line, and they're so much more than a counter-attacking team, but they can kill you with that. Ollie Watkins displays himself as someone who is great on the transition. He works the channels well. He has great hold-up play. He has great link-up play. He's one of those that could be, I wouldn't say ineffective, but somewhat anonymous for 89 minutes, and then he obviously goes on and bags. He can also affect the game without necessarily scoring. Again, for me, I'm not here to sing his praises. I'm just making a video for you guys. I would describe him as near enough a complete player. He's strong in the air. He holds the ball up well. He shows real intelligence in finding teammates when under pressure, and that also helps relieve pressure on your team as well, which at times we've needed people. He's very quick. He's tireless. He's very smart with his running. He's very good in open play, and he's almost consistently on the move. He's also able to sacrifice himself and allow defenders to mark him so that his teammates can exploit such people. At a point, Ollie Watkins made more runs. For this, we'll define these as the purposes of an off-the-ball movement made while his team is in possession with intensity and to receive the ball to create space. He's done that more than any other player in the Premier League people around December period, which equates to 562 or 34.0 per 90. Again, when it comes to making runs with purpose into positive areas and affecting the game with his movement, at a point he only ranked second to Nicholas Jackson of Chelsea for runs made through sprinting, and he was the first in the Premier League for runs at a point for runs that are targeted by a pass from a teammate, which crucially has also made him make more runs into the penalty area than any other opponent at a point in the Premier League this season. When you look at, you know, tools that he has, another string to his bow is his ball-carrying ability, which can obviously help us on the transition and isn't also a form of attack, let alone defence. And I think he's got that in abundance. He does good work in taking his team up the pitch while on the ball. And there's also, as with so much of what he does, he has the end product as well, people. You know, at a point, you know, I think he was tied for Harlem for goals. 19 goals, and respectfully to Aston Villa, they don't dominate teams to the way Arsenal do, to the point that City do. They're not on, you know, they don't have the riches that Liverpool have. They have a great team, a great manager, but this makes me rate what they're doing and what Ollie Watkins is doing even more. It makes me rank him even higher, people. And also, people, at a point this season, he was fifth in the Premier League for carries, which resulted in a ball-creating chance leading to a goal. He was behind, at the time, Kulishevsky, Bernardo, Silva, Salah and Matoma, people, which the majority of the names I said would probably be considered more creative than him, people. And apparently, at a point, only Jeremy Doku had more assist-ending carries than Watkins. He's previously been once described as a 10. He's able to play as a winger, and you saw him getting at Troy Deeney with that. He's able to drive at defenders, hold the ball up. While I think he, for someone of his height, could be better in the air, he is an aerial threat. He works the channels well. And he's 28 years of age, so he's entering the prime of his life, if he hasn't. Again, he's able to affect the game when he's not scoring. Likewise, he can also go unseen until it's too late, as we have seen on a couple of occasions, the latest being last week against Aston Villa, against my club. He's got variety in the types of finishes as well. He's good with his left. He's good with his right. He has that calmness in front of goal. And again, he has a near-enough faultless injury record. Again, you can't expect someone to score every week. And while 19 goals from 20-odd Premier League games, to say that's impressive, is doing him a disservice, there was a point where he had one goal in seven this season, people. I know, a crisis. And he didn't score for four games. I think he was stuck for a period when he got eight assists and nine goals. Where you look at being dispossessed as well, he's only been dispossessed 48 times this season. That ranks him 11th in the Premier League at the time of making this video. And he's better than Mohamed Salah in that aspect. Many people point towards the fact that he's 28 and there's not longevity there, etc, etc. And I guess when you look at some of the targets Arsenal have been linked with, there is a lot more longevity in terms of age and resale value and scope for development. I do think Olly Watkins can get better, but to a degree, what you see is kind of what you get. But what I would say is, remember when Ian Wright joined Arsenal and what he went on to do. In recent years in the Premier League, Jamie Vardy didn't kick a Premier League football until 28 years of age. So if he can achieve something in the next few years, who would really care? And we do need players that are ready right now. And I know I shouldn't, but he's also an Arsenal fan and he said he grew up based in his game on Thierry Henry. Again, whether Arsenal are able to poach Olly Watkins despite being linked with him again is another thing. Aston Villa are on the cusp of achieving greatness, not only this season, but if they keep their players together, the Douglas Luizis, the Baileys, Yardman, the Musa Diaby, etc. So they've got a key player, part of a key contingent of players under a good manager and they're aspiring for things. And to be fair with you, he's realising his ambitions. I'm sure he wants to win trophies, but if they qualify for the Champions League, he'll be playing in a European competition, the top European competition. He's obviously making inroads with England and I think there's teething problems for him at that level, but that's another video in itself. He will cost a lot, but how do you off-balance that? If he helps us achieve things, why not? And we all know Mikel Arteta has shown a willingness to invest in the Premier League or goal for Premier League proven players. I'm not saying that Olly Watkins should be the only target, the number one target, but I'd imagine that he is on some sort of list and he has a lot of admirers in the league should Aston Villa ever want to sell him. Again, he ranks third for shots in the Premier League with 95. Now again, he's only eclipsed by Darwin Nunes, who Liverpool fans will tell you his lack of clinicalness, and Haaland. Now Liverpool and City are better teams than Aston Villa. They're on the front foot a lot more. So I do think that makes me rank Olly Watkins even higher. When you look at his chance creating carries, this is also a form of defence as we look to drive on the transition and counter-attack side. It shows someone that's adept going through central regions, pulling out to the left and the right, and there's a lot to like about him. And it also reflects with his shots that he's someone that can score a variety of efforts in the box and comes alive in the penalty box. He is up there for big chances missed, and I know a lot of fans like to use that as a stick to beat strikers with. But you'd expect your strikers to be there. Haaland was there. Salah was there. Kane used to be there. But again, there's a correlation between big chance missed and scoring goals. The more opportunities you have, the more raffle tickets you buy, the more likely, in theory, you're likely to win the lottery, people. There's a lot to like about Olly Watkins. And again, we've been linked to him. He's going to cost a lot of money. It depends how Arsenal offset the cost of a 29-year-old. Do they say, you know what, give Aston Villa what they want. He can make us stronger and win us a Premier League title, and it pays for itself. Or do we go for someone with a bit more longevity and years in them and scope for development and things like that? All I'm saying is I think Olly Watkins is an Arsenal player in everything I see from him. I think Mikel Arteta would get a lot of a tune out of him. And I wasn't always convinced on Olly Watkins. Arsenal have again been linked with him today, ironically, at the time of making this vid. But, you know, you go back two, three years when we was linked with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Olly Watkins. I always thought Watkins was a good player, but I didn't think he could be a player that could transform our fortunes or someone that I would be talking about today at this moment in time. I think he's a very talented lad. And, you know, something you said for the way Brentford find strikers, let alone Villa. He's a key player to Villa. He's under contract for a while. And crucially, it will take a lot of money to obtain him. Let me know your thoughts on Olly Watkins. Would you move for him? Would you not? Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. Check out the rest of the content. Most importantly, stay safe, stay blessed. I'm out. Thierry Henry. I'm an Arsenal fan, so Thierry Henry was the idol growing up, really. Would it be your preference to go to Arsenal, having supported them as a kid, if you could choose? I mean, yeah, that's the dream to play for Arsenal one day. But, you know, it's a long shot.