Ah, man. Disappointing, that! Super sloppy, which wasn’t a good reflection of how good we’ve been, (and are). Gifted it away. #AVFC

He splits opinions. Adored by some, annoys others. But this was a complete-forward performance against an excellent team. If he maintains this level of performance, commitment, and movement, we should all be backing him. Starting against Liverpool. #AVFC

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Super hold-up again. Bursting through the defence, and we’re talking millimetres. Should he score, yep—but it’s also why Donnarumma is a world-class goalkeeper. When in goalscoring form, these will go his way—it’s on him to deliver that now. It’s all designed for him to score.

Again, guys—I told you this offside starting position was on purpose. Timed perfectly, it got him ahead of Dias, but it’s a wonderful recovery. There aren’t many PL defenders capable of that type of recovery—it hurt him.

This one—lovely run. It’s just pushed slightly wide, and his body shape isn’t quite aligned on collection to get him through on goal. Keeps it alive, mind.

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And the closest Watkins came to scoring was from the variations we’ve just been talking about: On the shoulder, hold-up + attack from deep, and intelligent movement. Proper complete forward play, guys.

I hear you! He’s a striker—he should be scoring goals. One Premier League goal is not enough, and I agree, guys. He’s doing everything Emery wants of a roaming CF, and the goals will come—you can see his confidence repairing.

In the team shape, he’s taken responsibility to retain the pressing structure, as well as being part of the defensive system to block passing lanes. Plus, he’s aggressively hunting loose balls. His work rate is superb.

This is a good sign that Watkins is backing himself—his hold-up play is productive. On this occasion, pulling Rúben Dias out of position and releasing Matty Cash.

Again—see the offside starting position. This time the ball is pushed out to Digne, and look at Watkins now: goal-side of John Stones. The cross is blocked, but we score from the resulting corner.

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This is what Unai Emery loved Rashford doing: moving into the channels, causing disruption + confusion in the opposition defence. As well as creating space for the 10s. Go back and watch Asensio’s goals.

This is done on purpose, by the way—starting in an offside position. More on this in a bit.

Here, Watkins drops deep, lays off, and breaks between the defensive line. Just slightly overhit.

4 minutes in and he’s on the shoulder. Smart running. Shapes to go centrally before peeling off into the channel. Buendía’s ball—just shy of playing him in on goal.

Watkins’ performances at the start of the season were a concern—very static and positionally obvious. Against Fulham, Burnley, Spurs, and now City, we’re seeing excellent movement and a variation of attacks.

Praise again for Ollie from the boss, following post-match comments against Spurs. There has been a huge shift in the style of performance. Think—why was Rashford preferred? Mainly his movement. The benefits: it’s space-creating for others, and pulls opposition defences apart.

Unai Emery: “Today, the ninety minutes was a very good summary of the last three years. Confidence in our game plan, commitment to our plan, even not scoring, Watkins and Morgan playing a fantastic game. And we are winning and we are happy.”

Insights and Analysis from Aston Villa 1, Manchester City 0. #AVFC Rightfully, there has been much praise and analysis on how our system shut down City’s. But my eye was drawn to an underrated player performance from Ollie Watkins…

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Football. So many ways to win, and so many ways to lose. We need to learn to win games when we have all of the ball; there are certain players we can’t be without; we need a penalty-taker, man! And to sum it up, the ferry home is delayed! Up The Villa, guys!