Am I the only Arsenal fan who has been scratching their head recently and wondering why on earth Arsene Wenger keeps leaving Theo Walcott on the bench? No I thought not. The fact that the Sppedy England star did not even come on as a sub against Everton left my flabber even more gasted, especially after the shocking performance of all the other Gunners on Wednesday and the fact that Walcott seemed to give us a real boost when he came on in the Champions League disaster.
I have a theory Gooners. It cannot have been the fact that Theo forgot to buy his boss a birthday card as that was back in October. It must have been Christmas. I reckon that the forward bought Wenger a present and the boss only opened it a couple of weeks ago, perhaps he found it in a cupboard. It was a massive expensive box of chocolates which the prof dug into without looking at what they were, only to find that they were all coffee creams, his least favourite type of chocolate.
Maybe that’s not the reason for the manager snubbing Walcott because that would be really petty but I am struggling to understand why else he is not playing unless he has done something to cheese off ‘Le Grand Fromage’. Any ideas folks?
At first I thought Wenger was just easing Walcott back and leaving him out of games that required more defensive help on the right side. Now I am beginning to wonder.
This type of thing is not uncommon for Wenger. I remember a few years back when Poldi was leading the league in assists and scoring goals like mad and Wenger suddenly benched him for no apparent reason. Wenger is weird that way. Walcott must have defied him in some small way – that is all it takes.
I don’t think that Walcott defied him imo, I think a big part has to do with we are playing Cazorla as a cm and with ozil in front of him we need our wingers to be turned on defensively and tracking back throughout the 90 minutes.
Also I do think wenger is SLOWING easing him back into action since his injury was serous AND cause he is injury prone. Lastly I think his contract being up relatively soon has to do with it too.
It’s simply because of Walcott’s workrate and defensive contribution. Thats the only reason Welbeck starts ahead of Walcott, because Welbz is more than willing to track back.
I remember when Walcott started last time, all he was trying to do was to run behind the defense. Thats it. He didn’t track back and left Bellerin exposed. And when you are defending a 1-0 lead you dont want that sort of a player. You want someone like Rosicky who’ll work his arse off.
your memory is playing tricks on ypu. Podolski has never scored ‘like mad’ or led assists
I think you are the one with the faulty memory. Poldi was 2nd on the team in goals and 1st in the LEAGUE in assists when Wenger benched him. Facts are facts.
The fact of the matter is Walcott is useless when he plays. Yes! He has speed and can make good runs BUT THATS IT! HE IS NEVER IN THE GAME! its like playing with 10 men. He is always standing on the far right side and asking for balls. I mean get in the game. On the other hand, Ox or Welbeck gets into the passing game, actually runs at the defender. But every time Walcott has the ball he stops and looks for people simply cuz he doens’t have the quality to dribble. He is honestly the most over rated player we have. Dont hate me just watch me next time he is on the pitch (especially off the ball). You will know what i mean.
To further go along with what Mohawk had to say not 2 weeks ago Arsene praised Theo for his goals scored on his return also stating how he gives them the most chances on the counter and his off the ball movement is better than the others. This wreaks of Contract issues again. Sanchez / Welbeck have been horrid lately and haven’t produced anything lately besides lots of running and defending. Final 3rd has been dismal since returning from injuries. Chamberlain did so so today as well. But as arrogant as Arsene is you can’t talk sense into him enough for him to see hes hurting the offensive side of his team lately to punish Walcott! Walcott has 3 goals in his 3 starts, and has had more shots on goal than both welbeck / ox and sanchez over the last 6 games so what is the deal! Since his exclusions teams have not held back against arsenals defensive minded line up that Arsene produces. In fact most of the teams have taken it to them and had they had better finishers gunners would have lost or tied 5 out of last 7
He’s been out for over a year and Wenger, after bashing England for Walcotts treatment, doesn’t want to mess up his recovery and look like a hypocrite. There’s no beef there at all, as Goonsquad said the current system needs busy wingers and Theo ain’t that even when 100%.
I still love the idea of Walcott and Sanchez on the wings with Ozil/Cazorla in the center. Hopefully, next year we will see this more often with a WC striker up front. Could become best attack in PL.
it is dead bloody simple. Walcott offers absolutely nothing to the team defensively, not tackling, not tracking back, and exposes his fullback. you see him just gently jogging about watchng the game go by him. against lower teams that does not matter against top half, or away games or CL it really matters.n
He is being eased back in properly. Wenger does not want another serious injury to occur so he is protecting him like a fine china doll. If he doesn’t get starts in the next month or so, then we can start questioning Wenger and Walcott’s relationship but atm there isn’t a big issue.
i think its because walcotts defensive contribution are sub-standard compared to his willingness to get foward. only ozil gets away with being lazy in the middle where at least there might be some cover, the wingers are meant to attack and help get back. same thing with podolski despite his goals. its why wellbeck gets the nod, he’s not as graceful or slick as theo but wellbeck puts 110% in the game. i like theo and think he needs more game time to get back in the groove.
Some Arsenal fans are narrow-minded and short sighted. Is Wellbek a defender? No is the answer. He’s judged by his goals and his goals don’t justify his price tag at the moment. IMost of the times, I come across many comments emphasising how hard he works for the team.
Get this to your thick Heads! He was bought to score goals not to run around and defend.
On the other hand, Satchez is showing his true quality and he proofs Barcelona right to sell him. Dillusional fan rejoice when they see him chasing balls like a headless chicken.
Before you all scream and insult me, how many times did Sanchez wasted the final ball? To remind you that, we’ll count on the next game.
Theo is a striker imprisoned by Wenger and if you require from a striker to defend, who is gonna score the goals? Believe me Theo is our best striker and one day he will proof that when Wenger or Theo(hopefully not) leaves Arsenal.
Remember what he did to Totinothing last season.
Learn to appreciate the players that love Arsenal and be wary of how Wenger is destroying Arsenal.
WENGER OUT WENGER OUT WENGER OUT.
Sorry but TW for me is in the starting 11 now he is fit again. He himself has said he owes arsenal for the year out. I don’t care what anyone says he is far better then Danny by far and he puts the ball in the net. For me leaving him up field is good for now as he can hold the ball up and walk faster then most players. Got the CL game coming up its a must we play him and play the Arsenal attacking why of football for this game
I do hope that Arsene does not have any other reason than a footballing reason to not start Theo.
I have begun to wonder if its because we offered him to sign again and he so far has not done so.
I fear that one day Theo will leave and then perhaps we will watch him reach the potential he has never fully reached with us.
I think he is the player we are missing at the moment..the fast pacey striker that can chase after the balls from Ozil & Carzorla etc …Giroud is one type of striker we need the Theo kind too.
I love the OX and Danny is good too…but & think Theo can be one of the truly great strikers for us…..he needs game time..he was just coming good when he got injured at Spurs..I hope Arsene does not have a grudge against him, as no one will change Arsene’s mind..
I have always loved watching Theo play, once he gets on the ball there is an air of excitement around the ground…OK he has not always delivered but he CAN and I feel he will do again
Wenger won’t have Walcott back as his absolute first choice until Debuchy’s back at right back. Under most circumstances, playing Walcott in front of Bellerin or Chambers would be too much of a risk defensively. Welbeck works harder tracking back. Having said that, as they need to chase the game against monaco and monaco are likely to sit back anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if Walcott gets the nod then. All this being said, Walcott gives the best attacking threat available down our right flank and I think that if Wenger were to pick his strongest 11 assuming no injuries, Walcott would be in it. It’s just that you can’t consider him in isolation, you have to consider where he fits in the team that you have available.
Iam sorry,Walcott is not as good as he used to be before his injury.
He is scared And play with fear.May be he is so concern to play for England, and this is the reason that he does not want to get any injury.
Of course ,it does not matter who u are, if u upset the Manager with a comment or disobey his orders then u are likely to be extracted from the team,same as the goal keeper. He will play him as a second keeper.now Walcott is second behind OZILL .welbeck and others.
OZILL is not a striker,BUT HIS SUPPLY Of BAll is deadly dangerous for opposite team..
Ikely to be
May be and I say may be everyone has a point. But I hope Wenger is just easing him back because if my memory clicks the guy was in another level before injury struck him again. He offers less defensively but more in attak something that keeps fullbacks mostly at there own half. Lets wait abd see what he can do after sometime. I bet Wenger will play him against QPR even if its for 15mins but if we have a good advantage