Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has left many shocked with his controversial opinion regarding Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins’ claim to England’s European Championship squad.
Everyone associated with Aston Villa will be baffled at Paul Merson’s latest take on Ollie Watkins.
The Englishman is currently on international duty with Gareth Southgate’s side, putting his outstanding domestic form on hold to play for his country.
While the striker’s thoughts will be firmly on making an impact for the Three Lions ahead of their fixtures with Brazil and Belgium, talk surrounding the 28-year-old has left many puzzled at home.
Paul Merson’s comments about Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney
Writing in his column for Sky Sports, pundit Paul Merson shared his views on Watkins’ stance on making Southgate’s squad at this summer’s European Championships.
When analysing the forwards the England boss should take to the tournament, the former Arsenal man suggested that Watkins should miss out on selection.
“I would pick Ivan Toney just for his penalties instead of Ollie Watkins in England’s Euro 2024 squad.”
“I don’t see the point in taking them both [Watkins & Toney] because Harry Kane will play every minute and if he gets injured then England won’t win the Euros anyway.”
“In a 23-player squad, there aren’t any spots to waste on centre-forward positions. I’d be flabbergasted if Gareth Southgate took the pair when Marcus Rashford can also play up front.”
“Watkins has improved ten-fold with Aston Villa while Toney hasn’t set the world alight since his return with Brentford, but that’s understandable having not played for eight months.”
“I like Watkins but you must take Toney for his penalties, especially with England’s history in shootouts.”
While England are blessed to have such a predicament when it comes to forwards, Merson’s beliefs are rather perplexing, considering the season that Watkins is having at Villa.
Why Paul Merson is so wrong about Ollie Watkins
Talk of Watkins’ potential omission from the England squad based purely on his penalty-taking strengths compared to Ivan Toney’s is absurd.
The Aston Villa star is not only the second-highest scorer in the Premier League with 16 goals this campaign but is also leading the assist charts level on 10 with Kieran Tripper and Pascal Gross.
There are plenty of elements to the striker’s game that make his claim to the England squad stronger than just his ability to put the ball in the net.
If Merson wishes to draw a comparison between the Villa ace and the Brentford talisman, the numbers prove just how much more Watkins can offer than Toney when leading the line.
As per FBref, the Midlands whiz averages better in the Premier League in 2023/24 than Toney did in the 2022/23 campaign with the Bees in an array of forward play strengths.
Watkins averages 0.77 goal-creating actions, 1.37 key passes and 0.56 non-penalty goals per 90 for Villa this season in the Premier League, with Toney averaging 0.24 goal-creating actions, 0.82 key passes and 0.43 non-penalty goals last term.
Not only is the Villa superstar a better playmaker than the former Peterborough talisman, but has proved to be more clinical too, averaging 45.5% of his shots on target to Toney’s 37.9% last season.
There is no denying the quality that the Brentford ace possesses however, taking the improvement of Watkins’ overall game into consideration, he should not by any means miss out on going to the European Championships this summer.
The post Why Paul Merson is just so wrong after controversial claim on Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins - opinion appeared first on Aston Villa News.