Ollie Watkins could be forced out wide as Aston Villa look to find their feet this term, according to Noel Whelan.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed “not enough” work has been done on the training ground to establish the 24-year-old’s strike partnership with Danny Ings.
Watkins has scored just once this season. Meanwhile, strike partner Ings has netted three since joining the club for a reported £25million.
As quoted by the BBC (October 15th), manager Dean Smith has said “shoots of a partnership” are emerging between the two England internationals.
Smith has changed Aston Villa’s approach this term, opting for a five-defender system with the width provided by wing-backs.
Football Insider revealed (22nd October) that the Villa boss is under “huge” pressure from club chiefs after a disappointing start to the season.
Whelan suggested Watkins would slot into a wide role should Villa decide to return to a 4-3-3 system.
“I think Danny Ings leads the line really well,” he told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury.
“Ollie Watkins can play that wide role, there’s no reason why he can’t – he’s done it for Brentford.
“They can change to a three with Watkins on that left. He can still score from those areas plus he can come in and link with Ings.
“He’s got the energy to play that role.
“Sometimes it takes time for these things to bed in when you’re working in a partnership.
“It seems there wasn’t enough work done on the training ground to really work together and get that relationship you need as a front two.”
Aston Villa” class=”wp-image-344358″ srcset=”https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2021/08/rsz_1001429874-1024×703.jpg 1024w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2021/08/rsz_1001429874-300×206.jpg 300w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2021/08/rsz_1001429874-768×527.jpg 768w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2021/08/rsz_1001429874-1140×783.jpg 1140w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2021/08/rsz_1001429874-750×515.jpg 750w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2021/08/rsz_1001429874.jpg 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px” />Aston Villa have won just three of their nine Premier League games this term.
They sit 13th in the table.
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By: Noel Whelan
Title: Pundit shreds Smith training methods after Aston Villa update from BBC
Sourced From: www.footballinsider247.com/whelan-slams-smith-training-methods-after-aston-villa-latest-from-bbc/
Published Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2021 09:00:00 +0000
