Aston Villa star has been handed a specific role for the Three Lions ahead of their World Cup campaign in North America.
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins appears to feature a certain role for England during the World Cup. Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel seems to have identified him as one of the key attacking options behind Harry Kane, as reported by Birmingham Mail.
“I think Ollie is more the guy maybe to start for Harry if we think Harry should not start a match.”
Watkins finally joined the final squad after being omitted from England’s previous friendlies during the last international break before the season ended. Since then, he has shown the determination and quality Tuchel wanted to see before finalising his World Cup squad.
The Aston Villa forward eventually made the cut but is still expected to serve as Kane’s understudy. Watkins will not only be competing with former Villa teammate Marcus Rashford for a place in the starting XI but also with other attacking options such as Al Ahli striker Ivan Toney.
As for Rashford, he is more likely to play on the left wing due to his preference for cutting inside from that flank. Therefore, he may not be Watkins’ main rival for the central striker role. Instead, Ivan Toney appears to be the more direct competition.
However, Tuchel highlighted the different strengths that Watkins and Toney bring to the squad while explaining their roles behind Kane.
“To keep the intensity up, to keep the press going. That is the strength of Ollie that he showed for us and Ivan is kind of a finisher for us, finisher of matches maybe with a special task to take the attention of defenders off Harry and we can play with a second striker.
“He’s very, very good in the box, very good with set pieces, a good penalty taker, trains on a high level. I’m very happy with him.”
In England’s last warm-up match against New Zealand, the former Brentford man started the game but was deployed on the right wing. That decision was largely due to the shortage of natural options in that position, with Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke having additional rest following the Champions League final.
However, when the tournament begins, England are likely to start Kane as their leading striker. Their opening match against Croatia could be crucial to their World Cup campaign, meaning Watkins may have to wait patiently for his opportunity.
Throughout England’s World Cup history, Aston Villa forwards have often played supporting roles rather than being first-choice starters.
The trend dates back to Spain 1982 when Peter Withe made the cut in the squad but failed to make a single appearance. Unfortunately, the England boss at that time, Ron Greenwood picked Paul Mariner, Trevor Francis and Kevin Keegan ahead of the Villa legend.
At the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Darius Vassell was not England’s first-choice striker despite starting the opening match against Sweden. Michael Owen led the line alongside Emile Heskey, who was still a Liverpool player at the time.
In South Africa 2010, Heskey was arguably the only Aston Villa striker to begin a World Cup as England’s first-choice forward. He started the opening two matches against the United States and Algeria and provided an assist in the tournament opener. However, he eventually lost his place to Jermaine Defoe for the remaining matches against Slovenia and Germany as England’s campaign came to an early end.
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