Is Walcott the answer for Arsenal with Alexis out?

Of course the best thing for Arsenal and our lingering Premier League title challenge would be for the Chile international star Alexis Sanchez to shrug off the injury that he seems to have picked up in the win over Watford yesterday. With Arsenal facing a difficult away game at West Ham next weekend it would be a major blow if we had to play it without the star striker.

But when have things ever gone the way of Arsenal when it comes to injuries? So we had better get used to the idea that Alexis might not be able to play, leaving Arsene Wenger with the question of which Arsenal player should replace him.

One option is to bring back Olivier Giroud in the centre forward role and move Danny Welbeck out wide. But even though it looks like the Frenchman is over his poor run of form I do not think this is a good idea as the pace and movement of Welbeck spearheading attack has been great and is much better suited to this match than Giroud’s strength as a target man.

So then you are looking for a direct replacement for Sanchez and it has to be either Theo Walcott or Joel Campbell. Just like with Giroud, I see the pace and movement of Walcott as the better choice over the technical ability of Campbell, for the West Ham match at least, as long as the England forward is in form.

That fourth goal yesterday will have done Theo a power of good and his all round performance was encouraging, so is he ready to step in for Sanchez next week?

Tags Campbell Giroud Sanchez

39 Comments

    1. Giroud is better than Kane, haahaahaa stupid fans.

      Can OG do the turn Kane did against German, or that against Liverpool? Can he do what Costa did against PGS? Can he run the way Lukaku did against Chelsea? and then you call him a striker to win you a title how dare?

      Henry knows what it takes for someone to be a striker of arsena calibre not OG then you slammed him but if you’re honest enough you have realized his intelligence.

    2. I think Sanches was tired as he has never crossed the ball so much now he played on right side. And Walcott if he does play if Sanches out it will be his only day to prove himself. I hope he does.
      If Sanches gets to play on left side he will look ordinary, Awobie has shown he is better out there can kick with both feet as Sanches only has right foot. Please don’t play Giroud over Welbeck this will not work. Be like a team of Huskies with a Buffalow as the leader. CB

  1. Personally, walcot wants to be a striker, i say we keep him as one and he justifys his place, its the only way we will get the best out of him. Iwobi and campbell are proving there worth so i say a straight swap for alexis is campbell.

    It depends in wenger prefers to use experience over youth, which i wouldnt blame him for, i just think walcot has been inconsitant since hes come back, but thats his fault for trying to get his own way as a central striker and not doing what Arsene. Wants. Him to do.

    Campbell also knows he has to perform now with iwobis emergence.

    Honestly though im bloomin happy that wilshire is back in training we have sorely missed the central midfield creativity since cazorla got injured.

    1. Not wishing injury on anyone but sometimes I wonder where Wilshere would be now if the roles were reversed between him and Ramsey and he had those string of games under his belt. Let’s not forget Elneny though, he has earn that spot until he shows otherwise. Unless we rest Coquelin and pair him up with Wilshere then, that would interesting.

      1. @JAmerican
        Elneny is a good buffer, but neither he nor Wilshere are “pitbull” material when it comes to controlling the midfield like Le Coq. Jack is the same as Aaron, they are good at bombing forward, but draw a blank at defending in the middle…

        1. elneny is a b2b like ramsey. wilshere i’m not sure: maybe a b2b.
          an elneny/wilshere combo wouldnt work so well bec they’re both b2b.
          we still dont have a decent backup for coq.
          i guess elneny could play there for 1-3 games, but if coq got injured for longer we’d still be in the s*hthouse. wenger doesnt like defending or getting WC defenders.
          [ or WC anyone that can stand up to wenger’s ego ]

          1. @almostwinner
            Aaron and Jack think and play like ACM’s. They both lack the discipline of a good B2B.
            Not sure what you mean by”AW doesn’t like getting defenders”

    1. “who’s an affable player who shows moments of incredible skill and then goes missing for months: who you think has an extra gear but is never quite reaching it?”

      thats the question to which walcott is an answer.

  2. The 1 player I wouldn’t lose sleep over if he never gets on the pitch for the remainder of the season. He needs to sit on the bench and learn from a 19 year old Iwobi. I read the title and thought it was still April 1st… Good one though.

  3. Walcott needs to be sold. He is not the answer. Only plays a 20 minute game. If roles were reversed at the weekend for his goal, do you think Walcott could’ve set up Joel like that, I don’t think so.

    1. I would pay off his contract and let him leave for free. That’s were I’m at with that guy.

    2. @muff,

      Well City paid £50 mils for Sterling who scored 11 goals last year. Walcott has scored 9 this season already.

      Granted he is much younger but City is in such a desperate need for English/home-grown players that they would definitely pay +20 millions for him.

      Even Andros Townsend, who is half the player Theo is (which makes Townsend quarter of a player LOL) , went for £12 millions!

  4. Why is it always the same with our fans? Walcott scores a tap in, and suddenly he should be considered again for a starting position again. Giroud scores his first goal in 10 and he’s a beast again, Ramsey has one good game in 50 and he can definitely fill in for Santi. Fans really do have short memories!

    Walcott has been awful this season, along with many other seasons. He’s so bad, that we shouldn’t even entertain a debate about him! Considering Walcott plays like an inexperienced youth player, and a bad one at that, why not just play a youth player!

    Arsenal look so much better with Mertesacker, Giroud, Ramsey, Walcott, Flamini, Arteta and the Ox all out of the team. Long may it continue!

    1. thirdmanjw: those players are taking advantage of the wenger socialist home for convalescent players.

      1. Once a whippet always a whippet am sorry to say … Wenger’s incapacity to see the limits of this guys one dimensional footballing skills has never failed to amaze me or rather has confirmed all the limits of wenger as a manager … Funnily enough poor business sense too .. Could have sold him at a tidy profit a couple if years ago ..instead they upped his wages and he’s now just an albatross around the neck of the club … Should be offered out at whatever the market will pay in the summer … Might just have to go on a free as not many clubs outside of Middle East or china would pay this guy 7 m a year for his average skill set

  5. Yesterday Wenger said post match, we paid for our misses thats why we lost many games in that last bad patch.

    I think thats about right when you hear him referring to players like Giroud and Walcott world class strikers earlier in the season. He said he has not one, not two but three world class striker.

    His favourite players always pay him back with failure.

    1. wish someone in the media had pulled up his earlier quotes about having so many strikers (wenger’s excuse why we didnt buy WC striker)

      yes, wenger’s players have let him down. but maybe they’ve observed that they can play crap and be injured for years and he’ll still stick with them.

      he’s a genteel old father (delusional) father figure and they don’t feel the pressure and unfortunately , in such a competitive world, if you give 95% instead of 100%, you lose.
      i’ll never forget walcott chastising sanchez, when he first arrived, for practicing too hard.

      1. Wenger: “Silent Stan, I need a WC striker, the ones I got are not good enough yet.”

        Silent Stan: “What you talking about? I got you Welbeck from UTD last year.”

        Wenger: “But I didn’t want him over someone who could do the job for us now, he is more of a player that gives us depth while improving.”

        Silent Stan: “You also have that speedy guy who wants to be a WC striker”

        Wenger: “Urghhh, I know he wants that role but I see him as a wide attacker, I dont think he can be a CF but I’ll give him a try so you can see when he gets out of treatment for something or other, I lose track of who has what injury.”

        Silent Stan: “Well what about that good looking big fellow, Girude? He can play a lot”

        Wenger: “It’s Giroud boss and he hasn’t got the mentality to lead the line, as soon as Theo visits his friends in the medical department and Welbeck becomes Welbroke then he relaxes too much. I like the guy but we need to get a WC striker to compete with him, he was meant to cover RvP when he eventually went to the medical room.”

        Silent Stan: “But you have Welbeck and Theo who compete with him…”

        Wenger: “Fine, duck it, you win boss. I will play them and see what you think, now I gotta tell the media I have 3 WC strikers…”

  6. He should be one of our top players for 140,000 reasons lol

    But he has been very average this season

    He is NOT the solution

    I would start Welbeck and Iwobi on wings with Giroud up front OR
    Iwobi and Campbell with Welbeck up front

    Then in the summer get a Top prolific goalscorer

    1. no giroud up front. it robs the entire team of mobility and speed. and when OG does get that chance he fluffs it too much.

  7. looking at the title i thought today is 1st April……

    if Alexis looses both his legs and his brain he would still be a better finisher and more intelligent player than Walcott

  8. Its easy atm it has to be;

    Iwobi Welbz Campbell
    Ozil
    Elneny Coquelin

    Theo & Giroud are impact players at best most times so they can stay that way until they are sold and they must be sold so a new striker can come in along with Akpom coming back, he couldnt do anyworse than Ox, G12 & Theo!

  9. season’s over lads i’m already looking forward to a pre 16/17 season front three of Iwobi Akpom and Sanchez… us buying a new striker under the stubborn old fool is just too far fetched.

    Add Guardiola to the mix and the possible return of The Bitter One Mo…. suddenly top four seems like a distant memory lol

    1. linsagunner: whats so priceless tho is when having failed in jan/feb, the old le prof cant (or doesnt want to) connect the outcome to his own poor decisions in summer. and when he blames (the totally predictable) high injury toll.

      1. Maybe Wenger did want more in the transfer window but wasn’t allowed?

        Wenger wanted to keep Nasri yet Silent Stan sold him to Man City for profit…

  10. Walcot plays like 13years old kid…..please allow him to go and be competing with usain Bolt and powell in d 100&200 meters races…….Theo should not even make Arsenal bench again, talkless of replacing Sanchez…….theo has no football brain, he is very useless.

  11. WENGER WHO IS SO CONCERNED ABOUT MONEY, SHOULD WAKE UP AND CLEAR ALL THE RUBBISH WHO IS COLLECTING FAT SALARY . IAM SURE HE IS PAYING AROUND ONE MILLION EVERY WEEK TO PLAYERS WHO HAS NO FUTURE AND STANDARD TO BE IN ARSENAL TEAM. HE IS KEEPING A LOT OF RUBBISH AROUND FOR NO REASON. WALCOTT HAS BEEN WITH THE CLUB FOR TEN YEARS. WHEN IS HE GOING TO BE A THIERRY HENRY , MAY BE HE NEEDS ANOTHER FIVE YEARS. AT THE MOMENT WALCOTT HAS A BIG PROBLEM, WHERE TO PLACE HIMSELF TO RECEIVE A PASS FROM OZIll. HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO TACKLE,HE JUST RUN ALONG WITH THE OPPOSITE PLAYER. BUT WENGER CONSIDER HIM AS WORLD CLASS PLAYER. HE HAD TEN TOUCHES AGAINST WATFORD.SUDDENLY BECAUSE HE SCORED ONE GOAL TAPPING,
    HE IS NOW A WORLD CLASS. WENGER IS THE BIGGEST JOKER.
    WENGER WILL MOT GO SIMPLY HE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOOSE EIGHT MILLION A YEAR.I DO AGREE. WITH THE FAN,AT ONE TIME HE WAS GREAT FOR ARSENAL, BUT NOW TIME TO GO AND RELAX IN MONACO,TAX FREE.
    PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW HIM TO BOARD UPSTAIRS,THIS WILL BE THE BIGGEST DISASTER FOR THE CLUB.
    PLEASE WENGER HELP US TO LOVE THE CLUB , JUST GO.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors