---
title: "Aston Villa: Fans fume at Ollie Watkins display vs Arsenal"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/aston-villa-fans-fume-at-ollie-watkins-display-vs-arsenal/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Henry Jackson"
section: "Aston Villa"
published: "2021-10-23T09:15:10Z"
modified: "2021-10-23T09:15:10Z"
---

# Aston Villa: Fans fume at Ollie Watkins display vs Arsenal

**A number of Aston Villa supporters have criticised Ollie Watkins’ ineffective performance against Arsenal in his side’s 3-1 defeat on Friday night.**

Dean Smith’s side produced a lifeless showing at the Emirates, as they were deservedly beaten by the Gunners.

Thomas Partey gave Mikel Arteta’s men the lead and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty on the stroke of half-time doubled the hosts’ advantage.

\[freshpress-poll id=”377608″\]

The game was effectively ended as a contest when Emile Smith Rowe added a third in the second half, and while Jacob Ramsey scored a wonderful consolation, there was very little to celebrate from a Villa perspective.

One player who really struggled all evening was Watkins, with the striker [failing to complete a dribble or play a single key pass](https://www.sofascore.com/arsenal-aston-villa/PR) during the game, making 14 fewer successful passes than his own goalkeeper, Emi Martinez.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”375426″\]

### Villa fans lambast Watkins display

The 25-year-old’s performance didn’t go unnoticed by these Villa fans on Twitter, who took to the social media platform to lay into him.

**“Watkins is doing nothing. AGAIN!“**

Credit: [@razorrudd](https://twitter.com/razorrudd/status/1451776046924193797?s=20)

**“Tyrone is slow, sloppy and arrogant. The same system doesn’t work against every opponent. Our midfield looks tired and out of ideas. Watkins is bang out of form. We have a very good squad but absolutely no identity“**

Credit: [@JosephBrimson](https://twitter.com/JosephBrimson/status/1451682057868955651?s=20)

**“Wouldn’t mind seeing the back of Watkins for the right price tbh“**

Credit: [@avfcdvd](https://twitter.com/avfcdvd/status/1451673077302153226?s=20)

**“Watkins’ work rate has dropped off massively and you take that from his game you are left with a distinctly average player“**

Credit: [@dicktonksy](https://twitter.com/dicktonksy/status/1451661528613199876?s=20)

**“Watkins looks defeated this season. Buendia must be better than what we’ve seen, right? With the personnel in the squad it’s blindingly obvious that there is only space for 1 striker in Villa’s best team. Worrying how Villa now ship goals like 19/20 when 20/21 they were “**

Credit: [@BannisterMonty](https://twitter.com/BannisterMonty/status/1451656463345143809?s=20)

**“Watkins. Where is our Ollie? Totally lost this season. Bailey. Changes the game for us. Ramsey. Energy. Buendia. Struggled this evening. Axel. Doesn’t work in a back 3. Targett. Poor & left flanks empty. Smith. Caught out and stubborn. Needs to improve. Quick.“**

Credit: [@amc89avfc](https://twitter.com/amc89avfc/status/1451656097819942923?s=20)

***In other news, another Villa player’s performance against Arsenal was also criticised. Find out who it is [here](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/aston-villa-news/aston-villa-fans-slam-tyrone-mings-first-half-at-arsenal/).***