In brief
In the second half of the season, Aston Villa has been strengthened by their January performance.
Since signing on loan, Marcus Rashford has been playing at an exceptional level.
For one of his Villa teammates, Rashford’s arrival has meant bad news.
The January transfer window is typically a relatively dull event, with some teams requesting so much of their top players that they are rarely on the market and others preferring to wait until the summer to make any moves. However, such was not the case with Aston Villa, who made a significant investment in manager Unai Emery during the winter, and it has so far paid off.
Five new players joined Villa Park in January. Donyell Malen and Marco Asensio strengthened the attack and were valuable additions, while Axel Disasi and Andres Garcia added numbers at the back. Marcus Rashford was also included, and he ended his nightmare with Manchester United—at least for the time being.
The Englishman’s comeback to form has come next. He was called up to the England squad because he appeared to be a greater threat than he had been in the preceding 18 months. He has opened his account in the claret colours by scoring three goals in as many games after returning from international service. It has been the ideal situation for nearly everyone. Rashford’s arrival, however, seems to have been the worst thing that could have happened to one of his colleagues.
Ollie Watkins Sees Form Drop Off Since Rashford Arrival
The striker has not been his dangerous self since Rashford arrived
Given that great players like Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers were playing in the same parts of the pitch and were in outstanding form themselves, one of the unanswered questions surrounding the arrivals of Malen, Asensio, and Rashford was how they would all fit into the Villa group. Additionally, it appeared that no one would take Ollie Watkins’ number nine spot because Emery had decided to sell rising young star Jhon Duran and retain Watkins despite interest from Arsenal.
Rashford was the only person who could possibly compete with Watkins. History has demonstrated that the 27-year-old is more comfortable playing off the left and is not a natural number nine. Watkins should have benefited from that, but recent performances have demonstrated otherwise.
Watkins has come across as sluggish, but his new teammate has looked amazing. Watkins has scored 14 goals so far this season, which is somewhat less than the 27 he scored the previous season. But only three of those 14 have occurred after Rashford joined the team, and he has only managed two assists during that period, bringing his overall total to 12.
Watkins has struggled and made it simpler for his management to rotate him rather than stepping up to a higher level with more formidable opponents waiting in the wings. Rotation is unavoidable because the Midlands team is competing on three fronts: the league race for Europe, the FA Cup semi-final, and the Champions League quarter-final.
Rashford may be able to start in the more important games, like as the forthcoming midweek matchup against Paris Saint-Germain, if Emery decides to use the 28-year-old sparingly based on his recent performance, which included his performance in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest.
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