Game of Numbers #29 – Scoring goals is easy! – Ollie Watkins & Lautaro Martinez

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Scoring goals is not always as easy as it looks! The best strikers in the world make it look oh so simple, but like the Wizards of Waverly Place theme song, it’s not what it seems. In fact, scoring goals is incredibly difficult. My high school coach once said to me – “You’re shot is not very good…” Even after taking that to heart and practicing the art, I never scored again.

Yet still, some players have it down to an absolute art. Some players seem to find their way out of any situation. After this weekend’s round of fixtures, I analyze two of those players who make scoring look oh so easy – Ollie Watkins and Lautaro Martinez. Here is Game of Numbers #29, featuring a pair who notched seven goals between them at the weekend.

OLLIE WATKINS VS. BRIGHTON

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Ollie Watkins is on fire! After scoring a hat-trick in Europa Conference League qualification against Hibernian, the British striker failed to score in his next five appearances for the Villains. That is – until smashing the ball into the back of the net for a smash and grab victory against their logo-lookalikes Chelsea. That seemed to give Watkins all the confidence in the world to become a completely different player against Brighton – where he had the performance of his career.

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Brighton have struggled in transition this season, particularly down their right-side, where Watkins already naturally loves to roam (Aston Villa’s left). This was always going to be a dangerous combination if Brighton didn’t get their tactics right, given the counter-attacking brilliance of players like John McGinn, Moussa Diaby, and Watkins himself. Unfortunately for Roberto De Zerbi and his Seagulls, they never took flight, and completely got their tactics wrong.

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Watkins terrorized the Seagulls all game in transition. He floated between the channels to receive the ball as an instant outlet, but also excelled with his back to goal. This is essential for a modern-day centre-forward, where they can use their physicality as both a mechanism for running power and linking the play.

Watkins accomplished both arts magnificently, helping to hold the ball up and bring the likes of John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey into the game. But he also occasionally turned provider with his forward passing too. Diaby is lightning quick when racing in behind, and Watkins persistently fed his striking partner up front.

But he also utilized his own pace and power in transition to generate chances of his own. On his second of the day, Diaby fed the British powerhouse instead, as Watkins sought space in that exact weakness channel of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Doing all the hard work himself, Watkins quickly found himself in the penalty area, surrounded by three Brighton men. Assessing his options in a short span of time, Watkins quickly realized that the most space available was actually only available if he pulled the ball back away from goal (and the momentum of the two Brighton men pointing at each other).

With one swift shimmy and jive, Watkins then found himself in acres of space for a finish. But the job still wasn’t done! He’s turned at an awkward angle, and needed to get the shot off before the next defender could rush into action and save the day. He knew he’d need to reset himself again in order to shape up for the far-post (which takes time), so he went with the only shot he could do at the time – a near-post bottom corner bang. Despite the keeper’s positioning, the finish still came as a surprise and he found the corner.

Faced with a similar situation a few moments later, Watkins again reads the situation wonderfully. No situation in football is ever the same, and this is where training footballers in game-realistic scenarios can allow them to make better adjustments for BOTS (ball, opposition, teammates, space). Watkins doesn’t just fall into the trap of knowing what worked for him last time. He reads the positioning of the opposition and his teammates, sees the best option is Diaby to his right, and fakes the shot to play a pass into his striking partner instead. Diaby scores moments later.

If you haven’t gotten the picture yet, Ollie Watkins is quite a smart footballer. This high IQ allows him to score and assist a ton of goals, but it also allows him to get into optimal positions to make those magical moments occur more regularly. Take the example from his first of the day.

Watkins starts his run positioned between the two Brighton centre-backs, waiting for his moment to pounce. His body language is turned toward the ability to receive any likely pass from either John McGinn or Matty Cash, and he’s not just waiting for the ball, but actively moving into the inches of space in front of him.

So by the time Cash receives the ball in space, Watkins already knows where he wants to receive the final pass. He bursts into that space quicker than Adam Webster can react, and scores a brilliant goal. It was a brilliant hat-trick for Ollie Watkins full of variety, and one that certainly puts him back on the map for an England call-up.

LAUTARO MARTINEZ VS. Salernitana

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Lautaro Martinez no longer has Romelu Lukaku or Edin Dzeko to bounce off, and in many ways that might be for the best. Marcus Thuram’s pace and power in behind has proven to be a wonderful match for Martinez’s ability to link-up the play, and the two players are starting to form a wonderful partnership.

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But against Salernitana, Simone Inzaghi opted for double the pace in Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Thuram as a pair, placing Martinez on the bench instead. This fuelled the flame ready to burst inside the Inter captain, as he walked his way to four goals in the span of half an hour in the second half.

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Now as we’ve often discussed over the years, the best part of Lautaro’s game is his ability to receive in between the lines of the defense and then create chances for others. This is where he makes for an awesome partner for Marcus Thuram.

He’s excellent not only in playing forward passes into space, but holding the play up with his back to goal. It’s exactly the same praise we heaped on Ollie Watkins.

But like any good striking partnership, Marcus Thuram’s running power out wide can also benefit Martinez as he hangs high and central up front instead. On his first of the night, check out how Martinez perfectly positioned himself in between two defenders, maximizing his chance of scoring from a centralized position closer to goal.

Martinez knows exactly where he wants to receive the ball the entire time, and arrives there just in time to beat the keeper to the punch. But as we discussed with Ollie Watkins’ second goal against Brighton, there’s only one type of finish the Argentinean can use in the moment if he wants to score. The proximity of the keeper means a low-driven shot will be smothered. A high-driven shot will also be smothered, as it needs time to accumulate that height. Speaking of time, if he rounds the keeper, the defender might get back in time. So instead of those options, Martinez makes the perfect choice in just a split-second of thinking time, and opts for the chip.

Evidently, selecting the right shot for the moment is essential to scoring high-quality goals. But that’s not all! Not just a smart finisher, Martinez is an excellent mover. His hallmark is in positioning himself away from the nearest defenders, always creating half a yard for himself to finish in space.

You can see this on both his second and fourth goals of the night (his third was a penalty), where the Argentinean knows exactly the perfect amount of space away from the defenders he needs to get off the one-time finish and bury the ball into the net.

Expert movement is not only about arriving at the perfect moment with pace and power, like Watkins’ first goal against Brighton. Sometimes it’s about subtle adjustments of the feet, where you actually need to move further away from goal to make the magic happen. This is Martinez’s trademark, and what allowed him to score an incredible four-goal haul against Salernitana at the weekend.

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So there it is! Game of Numbers #29 – featuring Ollie Watkins and Lautaro Martinez. Be sure to check out more from this series, and follow on social media @desmondrhys to never miss an update. Thanks for reading and see you soon!

-> Game of Numbers #28 – The magic touch of fullbacks with Kieran Trippier & Joao Cancelo

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