Jamie Carragher now claims 27-year-old Aston Villa man is completely different under Unai Emery

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Pundit Jamie Carragher has suggested that Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins is a completely different player under manager Unai Emery.

Carragher was commentating on another fantastic home win for Aston Villa on Sky Sports.

Unai Emery’s side have an incredible record at Villa Park right now and extended it against a tough West Ham team.

Going into the game, Douglas Luiz had scored in every league home game this season and added a brace to his tally today.

He was set up by Ollie Watkins for his first goal before converting from the spot after some good work from Ezri Konsa.

Watkins added his name to the score sheet once again after a deflected Jarrod Bowen effort had added some jeopardy to the tie.

He drove into the box and emphatically finished past Alphonse Areola to secure three points for the Villains.

Leon Bailey made sure of the result, but it was the transformation of Watkins under Emery that Carragher wanted to pinpoint.

Since the 27-year-old’s £28m move from Brentford, he’s had good spells and bad spells.

Right now, it’s hard to see when his current incredible fun of form is going to end as he helped Villa return to the top five of the Premier League.

Carragher hails Watkins’s transformation under Emery

Commentating on Watkins’s goal this evening, Carragher said: “They needed to get some momentum back. It comes from a sloppy touch from Kudus and McGinn has the opportunity to put Watkins in.

“This man is on fire at the moment. It’s a tight angle, he goes to his weaker side but the power: wow! It flies past the goalkeeper almost before he can get that right hand up.

“A player who Emery has transformed!”

Watkins admitted while on international duty that he’s not sure fans appreciate him enough right now.

If that’s the case at the moment then it will likely change very soon as he’s leading the club on an unlikely charge towards the Champions League places.

Carragher has been astounded by Watkins’s transformation this season and Emery has to take plenty of credit.

Considering where the club were 12 months ago under Steven Gerrard, it’s remarkable to think they’re looking at the top four rather than over their shoulders in the bottom half of the table.