Headliner Watkins Review

Is it just me or was Team 2 underwhelming?  Normally the selection process for these reviews is hard.  There are so many options, so many positions to play them, so many price ranges to consider… but for Headliners Team 2 it honestly felt like slim pickings.  Obviously, you have figured out by now that Ollie Watkins made the cut for this weekend and I went in this direction for a couple of reasons… Ironically none of those ideas played out and I will discuss them later in the review, but what I did find was a goal poacher extraordinaire and a card that I may just revisit in a few weeks time when he is long forgotten and his price tag hits a low point I am happy with.  It was a mixed bag of chemistry styles for this review as I tried a HUNTER, HAWK and eventually settled on the ENGINE chemistry style trying to find the right mix to get the best out of the Villa man.  Regardless of style, it was straight to the top as Watkins led the line of my 4-2-2-2 formation … Watkins proved to be the right man in the right place all weekend long in the following squad: 

Starting Formation:

Overall

Rating: 7/10
Pace Rating: 7.5/10
Dribbling Rating: 7/10
Shooting Rating: 9.5/10
Passing Rating: 6/10
Physical Rating: 8/10
Defending Rating: N/A

This review was bizarre in the extreme and left me with a lot of mixed feelings towards this card.  There were times during a very challenging weekend for me that I felt Watkins was going to be the end of me.  He doesn’t have the pop of pace that you would like in a striker, nor does he have the responsiveness and guile to really beat a man… his passing is atrocious and overall I felt that he cost me a lot of quality chances.  Yet, the man doesn’t miss in front of goal.  There are “better” cards I have reviewed that have scored less, hence the move to Watkins as a sub in the final 5 matches.  After 10 matches it was obvious that this card wasn’t an OP bargain that I would even recommend to starting FUT Managers.  But at the same time what was clear was the consistent contribution to the goal department and I wanted to see if the final 30 minutes of matches would better suit Watkins… and in the end, it definitely did.     

Main Statistic - Shooting

Shooting Rating: 9.5/10
Weak Foot: ★★★★

The only thing really standing between this card and the discard bin, but it definitely went a long way in convincing me that there is something interesting about this card.  As I sit here I wish I would have tried a FINISHER chemistry style on this card, and maybe I will go back and do that before too long.  Because the ENGINE didn’t make this card pacey by any means and realistically didn’t make the passing usable either.  In reality, I might have gotten a bit more out of FINISHER in terms of the dribbling, maybe even the shooting.  But even without the boosts the 92 FINISHING & 86 SHOT POWER paired perfectly with the 4 STAR WEAK FOOT and created consistent clinical results.  While I have said in the past that the positioning represents more about the nature of the card than the actual shooting quality, I will say that the 91 POSITIONING certainly had Watkins picking the right spots throughout the weekend as he popped up in areas to utilize his strength in fantastic fashion. 

Main Attribute - 3 STAR SKILLS

Pace Rating: 7.5/10
Dribbling Rating: 7/10
Skills: ★★★
Height: 180cm | 5’11

If a card is taller with high sprint speed, you can get away with a bit of clunkiness on the dribble.  Fire/Ice Rashford is a perfect example that these types of cards can be effective and cause defenders issues when they start running the channels with the ball.  Similarly, a card like RTTK Bernardo Silva proves that even if a card can’t really compete for pace, but can dribble in a phone booth, it will still function even at this stage in the game.  But when a card is slightly off of the pace and lacks agility to make defenders miss it becomes a struggle.  There were times when Watkins had just enough pace to get beyond defenders but for the most part, I never felt the 91 ACCELERATION & 99 SPRINT SPEED ever clicked in-game. Even more disappointing was the lack of function from the 95 AGILITY & 93 BALANCE.  But in the end, the 3 STAR SKILLS will sink this card for a lot of FUT Managers and nothing Watkins did in this category was enough to eclipse that deficiency.        

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad

Value/Coins Rating: 3/5
Good vs Bad Rating: 3/5

65k is not a lot of coins at this stage in the game, but it is a lot to pay for this card.  There is an eerie similarity between Headliners Watkins and Headliners Laborde… but a 30k gap in price between the two.  The Premier League tax on Watkins is heavy and until this disappears this card is just too much for too little.

I said that this card had me intrigued early on and I finally get to explain my ideas.  1.  The 99 JUMPING & 92 HEADING ACCURACY had me under the impression that Watkins would score a ton of headers.  In reality, he scored 0.  Even worse he constantly took up the position at the front post on corners and ultimately didn’t win one single header.  2. I thought there was an outside chance that Watkins just might be the best CAM for my 4-2-2-2, which proved incredibly foolish.  The reason came from the 99 STAMINA and the idea that the ENGINE would add enough to the 95 AGILITY, 87 CROSSING & 84 SHORT PASSING.  With a card that could run at opponents all match long I thought it was meant to be… it wasn’t.

Closing Words

Obviously, I am not recommending this card at this point.  When he drops to 30k I will be incredibly tempted to bring him in as a super sub.  The pace felt more up to speed late in matches and in the end, you need someone in those final moments to score that last minute winner or equalizer and I trust Watkins to do that.  5 goals in 5 games as a sub was exactly what I needed in those matches and actually ended up being some key contributions.  Certainly not a mainstay in any squad… but there may just be a role for the Villa man off the bench in your own squads.  Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.   
 

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