Ian Wright stuns Gary Neville with brutal Ollie Watkins assessment

Ian Wright left Gary Neville stunned with his brutal assessment of Ollie Watkins after Unai Emery also delivered a surprise verdict on the Aston Villa striker. The 29 year old has endured a faltering start to the 2025/26 campaign with Villa managing just three goals from their opening seven matches across all competitions.

Matty Cash and Harvey Elliot have found the net so far this season, with John McGinn adding his name to the scoresheet after 13 minutes of Villa's Europa League curtain-raiser against Bologna at home on Thursday night. The Scotland midfielder unleashed a brilliant left-footed strike to register his team's maiden goal at Villa Park this season.

Emery selected a strong starting lineup for their European opener but Watkins found himself relegated to the substitutes' bench. reports Birmingham Live.

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The striker was brought on just before the hour mark and squandered a golden opportunity to get on the scoresheet, blazing over a spot-kick he had earned midway through the second period. While the miss didn't ultimately have an impact on the result, the England forward seems to be suffering from a confidence crisis in front of goal, though his wider contributions to the squad remain valuable.

Wright, alongside fellow pundits, have criticised another element of his performance, with his scathing remarks leaving Neville visibly shocked.

Discussing Watkins on the Overlap, the Arsenal icon declared: "As a player, I think that he should be doing more for what he's capable of doing.

"He's a channel runner, gets in the box, he gets on the end of things. I think he could be a lot sharper with his finishing, and I thought that's what he'd be working on.

"Just like the one touch finish or the touch finish on both sides, those are the things that when you get to the level where you score goals in like semi final of the Euros and that, those are the things you work on now for getting the chance to stay in the width of the 18-yard box and taking your chance. He just doesn't do that, he doesn't do it enough."

"I'm surprised, that's a big criticism from you because you are obviously I think qualified," a stunned Neville responded.

Wright responded with: "Only because I believe that he's got, you know, when you watched him at Brentford, even when he first went to Villa, his work-rate, and you think, right, he's got all that, that's brilliant.

"Just work on the first touch in the box finish, near post finish, whatever you're finished with, near foot finish, that's what he should be working on.

"But like you watch him and he still looks like a player that was at the Euros before."

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