Five goals in the previous eight league matches, with one open-play goal in the last four — to no surprise, from Rogers — is why there is a sense that Villa’s form is betraying them when they need it most.
Multiple sources close to the dressing room have told The Athletic that Emery is inclined to play his tried and trusted players through bad periods of form. He was vindicated in doing so with Rogers at the start of the season, showing short-term pain could lead to long-term gain. The England international credited Emery with giving him greater robustness to find a way out of ruts.
When both have been available, Watkins has been selected ahead of Abraham all four times in the league since the latter’s arrival. Concerns at the end of last year regarding Watkins having to manage his physical load carefully due to a cyst, which required rest and affected when he could train, no longer seems a big deal as Emery invariably plays him.
Yet Watkins does appear a striker inhibited, whether that is to do with the knee issue or not.
Ahead of Chelsea’s visit, Villa have scored two goals from their most recent 76 shots at home, working out at a measly 2.6 per cent conversion rate.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7080540/2026/03/03/aston-villa-emery-watkins-abraham-dip/
by arenaross
3 Comments
He’s way to wasteful, and when his head is gone he gets stroppy and doesn’t look bothered, he even used to do this when he was in his prime for a few games.
He needs a reality check and a few games on the bench, Tammy offers much more all round and he needs a run of games, Unai needs to stop the stubbornness and get a ruthless streak to drop him.
That’s going all the way back to Forest for our last two goals. Since we’ve created the following amount of big chances at home:
Everton 0
Brentford 3
Brighton 0
Leeds 1
76 shots but only 4 big chances created. It’s not hard to see our actual issue. Bear in mind we lost to 10 men Brentford with Tammy up top.
He’s done.
I’ve seen comments about Emery’s ruthless side – and it’s true that if you’re a 20 year old right back who’s learning the league, you’d better be damn near faultless or you’ll be out – but he’s pretty loyal to a fault to some of his bigger players. Many many times the fanbase has seen the starting lineup and thought “why is he still in after last week?”
Watkins over Abraham makes no sense at this point.