Aston Villa beat Southampton 1-0 on Saturday evening but it was far from a convincing victory.
While Unai Emery’s side managed to deliver three points against the Saints, it was an underwhelming performance at Villa Park.
Against a Southampton team which resides at the bottom of the Premier League, the hosts struggled to break their opposition down.
Players such as Jaden Philogene were criticised for their performance, as Villa just about won thanks to a Jhon Duran goal.
While the three points are all that matters at the end of the day, many pundits were quick to call out those who underperformed, including star man Ollie Watkins.
Tim Sherwood claims Ollie Watkins was ‘sloppy’ for Aston Villa
While Watkins did not start during the tie, he was given his time to shine from the bench.
The striker came on just before the hour-mark, tasked with finishing the match off.
However, the England international struggled to find a clear chance until the dying minutes of the game.
In added time, he managed to work his way into the box and instead of finding John McGinn for the tap-in, he opted to shoot only to see his shot blocked.
Emery was also visibly furious with Watkins as he was unable to put the result beyond all doubt in the closing stages.
Thankfully, this error in judgement did not prove to be too costly but former Villa manager Tim Sherwood was less than impressed.
He said: “Southampton keep getting caught but Watkins has been so sloppy since coming on!”
Ollie Watkins is in danger of losing his starting spot at Aston Villa
So far this season, Watkins has been unable to find consistent form. The striker has only netted two in his last seven Premier League matches with his only decent run coming in September.
Watkins has also only scored one Champions League goal despite appearing in every game so far.
For a team on the hunt for European football once again this season, Villa can not afford their star man to be in a poor run for this long.
With Duran continuing to find the back of the net, Watkins is now in real danger of being consistently benched for the Colombian.
December is no doubt a tricky month for Villa. Emery will be looking for Watkins to step up in this period or Duran may become the starting striker permanently.
