Former Aston Villa striker Tony Cascarino has claimed he could ‘never’ have been a Premier League striker in the modern game.
Cascarino only played for Aston Villa for one season but scored 11 goals in the 1990/91 season.
The marksman has an impressive CV, with Celtic, Chelsea and Marseille just three of the clubs he played for whilst racking up 88 Ireland caps.
At 6 foot 2, Cascarino was a powerful striker who bullied opposition defenders but had an eye for goal too as evidenced by his 61 goals in 84 league games for Marseille.
However, speaking on talkSPORT on Sunday the 61-year-old explained how Ollie Watkins shows he couldn’t have been a Premier League striker had he been playing today.
Cascarino on what makes Ollie Watkins perfect Premier League forward
Watkins is fresh off the back of the best season of his career, having scored 27 goals in all competitions and provided a further 13 assists.
The 28-year-old has had his place confirmed in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for this summer’s Euros and will be hoping to make an impact in his first major international tournament.
Cascarino is clearly a fan of the former Brentford striker and explained what it is that Watkins does that means he would not have cut it at the top level.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Cascarino revealed: “I have to say today, I say this to my friends, I would never have played Premier League football in the modern game. I would have no chance.
He went on to explain: “You have to be like an Ollie Watkins, who can do the channels, run, beat, lead the line, be decent in the air, be quick enough, because you are getting starved a lot of the times of service because you don’t have a playing partner.
“I have said this numerous times. I have never met a centre-forward who likes to play on his own. I didn’t.”
Watkins the perfect modern-day lone striker
As Cascarino explained, Watkins is effectively the blueprint for the work you have to do to play the lone striker role in the modern game.
It can be unrewarding at times, with a lot of runs ignored and strikers not always benefitting from their efforts but, as Watkins showed last season, when it pays off it can do so emphatically.
Watkins has elevated his game to the next level under Unai Emery and can consider himself unfortunate that he has Harry Kane ahead of him at international level or he could well have been the main man for England this summer.
His ability to stretch teams with his running in behind make him a really useful asset and his new-found ruthlessness in front of goal have made him one of the Premier League’s finest forwards.
When you consider he does not take penalties, Watkins’ 40 goal contributions in the 2023/24 season becomes all the more impressive.
Now he will be desperate to show he can perform on the international stage but knows he will also have the opportunity to test himself against the best in the Champions League for Villa next season.
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