Troy Deeney has shared an interesting take on Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins after his latest international stint with England.
The 28-year-old started the Three Lions’ 1-0 loss to Brazil and nearly put the hosts in front in the first half. Initially, it looked like a poor miss; however, as Rob Green highlighted, a superb piece of last-ditch defending prevented the opener.
The past week’s discussion has centred around whether Ivan Toney or Watkins should play Harry Kane’s understudy in Germany this summer.
Watkins’ Premier League form has been better, but Toney’s physicality and ability to link play – coupled with his penalty-taking ability – could see Southgate overlook the Aston Villa man.
Deeney, however, has come up with a solution to get Watkins on the plane in June.
What has Troy Deeney said about Ollie Watkins?
Talking on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan on Wednesday, the former Birmingham forward has claimed Watkins could be selected ahead of Marcus Rashford in a wider role.
On the Watkins v Toney debate, Jim White asked, “If it comes to it, who will start for England?”
Deeney replied: “Toney. I think he holds the ball up better. I think he’s still got enough athleticism to cause problems running deep, and his link-up play is excellent. I think Ollie. It’s going to sound negative, but I promise you it’s not. He’s a winger trying to be a striker—that’s just who he is. He’s very good at being a striker.
“Whenever Ivan steps up, when he took that penalty last night, did you think he was going to miss, ever? I didn’t. Whenever Ollie runs through one-on-one for Villa many a game this season, I am still not convinced he’s going to score. I think he will score eventually if you give him three or four shots a game. Ivan has that arrogance about him that makes you think, right, stick him in, and last night, I thought he was excellent.”
The 35-year-old then explained how Rashford could be dropped and replaced by Watkins.
“I think so [take both of them], and this is going to sound like I am on a wind-up, but if Marcus doesn’t step up, I’d leave Rashford out and take Ollie,” he said. “He can play that position; it’s where he came through at Brentford. If he doesn’t step up I would be looking at leaving him and home and putting Ollie Watkins in there, I don’t know if that’s a wild take.”
Ollie Watkins simply has to go to the European Championships
Deeney, surprisingly, has made a good point. It’s time for Southgate to forget about loyalty and pick players who are in form and deserving of a call-up. Too often, the England boss picks the likes of Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips because they did a job for him three years ago.
Rashford is close to falling into that category.
Toney’s performance against Belgium was impressive, and it’s not out of the question that the Brentford man will be picked as Kane’s understudy; he’s probably better suited to what England needs in that position.
But that should detract from Watkins’ “outstanding” form this season. To leave a 16-goal striker out of the squad would be a remarkable blunder from the England boss.
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