I think the latest comments from Arsene Wenger on the contract situation between Arsenal and the England international Theo Walcott will have met with two very different responses from Arsenal fans, much like the results of the general election today.
The Frenchman all but declared that he would not be selling the flying forward in the summer transfer window, even if the 26-year old cannot be convinced to come to terms over an extension to his current contract, as reported by the Daily Mail. That could put the club in a problem position with Walcott’s contract about to enter its final year but the boss does not seem too concerned about this.
Wenger said, “I want him to stay, when you go into negotiations with a player it is with a desire for him to stay.
“He looks keen to do it and I am keen to do it, so let’s see what comes out.
“The focus is on what you do in case of failure. We are always in the mode where we want to be successful.
“In case of failure, we’ll see but in case of failure – that will only be in December.”
Some Arsenal fans see Walcott as a great weapon to have in the Arsenal armoury, with his pace and the finishing we saw from him in the first half of last season and the one prior to that when he was the club’s top scorer. These fans are more concerned about Wenger not playing him enough although that could change now.
Others see Theo as an expensive luxury at best and a liability at worst and would much rather see him sold for a decent amount which the manager could then use on a new player. Maybe his future will depend on what happens at the start of next season, with Arsenal’s results and Walcott’s performances possibly to swing the balance.
What would you guys do with him?
GOOD!!! Not just GOOD, VERY GOOD
Some arsenal players can’t do any wrrong in ma sight again…no matter ao bad people fink they re….walcott and ramsey re up there
Hope your eyes work fine, amigo. Not saying Theo is bad, but when a player is crap, I hope you’d have the eyes to see just that.
I have 2 concerns with Walcott. One is his ability to stay fit and injury free. The other is his mental attitude to being a crucial squad player and not a guaranteed starter week in week out – because that will be the reality from here on. But he is one of a handful of Arsenal players to have a full, headline grabbing season (21 goals/14 assists 2012-13) and something properly meaningful on his Arsenal CV – we know he can do it. There is no easy way to say this – but presently we could only dream of say Ox doing the same for us – irrespective of whether Ox is the better player or not. Very few commentators mentioned it at the time but his 21 goals and 14 assists matched Bale in the season before he gets sold for a world record fee. And in case we haven’t noticed it is very similar numbers wise to Alexis’s wonder debut season. A fit Walcott would probably walk in to the starting X1 for 16 or 17 of the other PL clubs and def be on the bench at the other 2 or 3.
Having players of the ilk of Walcott, Welbeck, Ox, Wilshere etc in our squad is as indicative of “real ambition” (a popular phrase on here) as adding £30-40M superstars to our 1st X1. I truly hope he stays, keeps free of injury and takes advantage of the opportunities he will get – and he will get them although he probably can’t quite see how he will at present.
If only u (Admin) could pass our messages across to wenger…. The majority says “HE STAYS”
Keep him if yo using him or sell him if hes on the bench simples…
Keep him!! We want to be champions so we keep our best players!! Be it on the bench or on the pitch.
The quality of your bench determines the quality of your challenge!!
Keep your best players and get better ones = improvement.
I think he should stay
Great alternative to OG up front or Ox on right.
The only player we have that tries to run behind defences.
It’s a stay from me and a start against the Swans
Not just bad very bad…. One sunny day in June doesn’t make a hot summer…part of our 4th place junkie years that need to go in to football history… He maybe quick but he actually slows down movement from defence to attack Can’t dribble or defend and his positional sense is average … Hundred grand a week is day light robbery by the whippet … And he crowds out better plays in squad and stops wenger investing in top quality we need… Might get 16 or 17 mill from some deluded team so sell qnd let’s move on to better things … Dybala for example … Sanchez dybala drexler … Hmm
you seriously don’t know football. walcott is class and is one of the best wingers in the prem. There are not many players who have an end product like walcott and he is different to any other player we have. Sure he’s not flashy and some dribbler but he creates space and gives us an outlet ball every time with his perfectly timed runs.
He creates space and gives us an outlet …. What are you a f****** architect… There is not a decent defence in top half of EPL or any halfway decent team in cl that is worried by that … All the whippet admirers can ever say is that he is class and then waffle on about one decent goal scoring season (playing of van persie at his best) ignore all other 5 ( injuries not in right position blah blah blah blah) and don’t appear to watch games though are really knowledgeable … Let’s see which rivals put in a bid which would seem obvious thing to do if he is class and given his situation … Maybe a lpool or shampton ( would personally offer him for schneiderlin coz we ain’t groin get more than 18 for one of epls truly overrated players)
I love how you have to make up shit to even attempt to support your own case.
The guy has scored against every single defence in the PL so they must be stupid not to worry about him.
His best season wasn’t with Van Persie, it was with Giroud. (Again, talking out of your arse.)
He has scored or assisted in every other game for 5 seasons running (minimum).
Are you for real?
Theo may not make us progress from def to attack as quick as a passer like Cazorla or Ozil but when played correctly Theo will be looking to play on the shoulder of the last man.
Look at when he has played in CF, he has pushed CBs back with his movement along the line and looking to break any offside trap, this may not be the hold up that Giroud offers but instead it offers more space for players like Ozil/Alexis/Cazorla…
That can help speed up the attack, not slow it down.
Oh and who is Drexler? I assume you mean Draxler? The guy who has hardly played due to injury? Great talent but not shown to be robust… Buying Draxler AND Dybala? You seen Dybala play? I bet Wenger would put him out wide and most likely on the right while Giroud continues to perform, Dybala is a hard worker who can create and finish while having pace and intelligence to help the attack. Being new to the EPL it would also be an oppertunity for him to get use to the EPL without having 2 CB bullying him in his 1st week.
Off topic:
They ask y English national team is not doin well, Y premierleague clubs re not doin so well in europe….but they still praise mourinho defensive performance here and dere, the luv it wen west brom defend and upset arsenal…….spain dominated the world for yrs wif attackin football, brazil likewise and germany have been consistent…
In as much as the tot is abt defendin b4 attack just like media darlin mourinho….premierleague will lways be backward and so is d national team….(So bad bbc was askin if mournho is d best goach ever in the premierleague…ao moronic…
I think the national team suffers because not enough English players go out of the country to play in countries like Spain, Germany, France or Italy. Usually it’s just people that are towards the end of their careers like Ashley Cole or those that get the phone call from Real Madrid/Barca like Beckham that go and play in Europe. That means the Premier League is pretty much the only place the England squad can be selected from. 20 teams have to produce the entire squad. By contrast, the French, Spanish and German national teams can be selected from across Europe, people like Cazorla, David Silva, Özil, Kroos, Benzema and Pogba. Top players that play out of their own countries.
@Mick The Gooner
Spot on dude. It would contribute to their football education if young players opted to play abroad instead of chancing on being picked for an EPL staring VI.
The opportunity of experiencing different playing styles would benefit them immensely as well as up their profile. Look at Eric Dier at Spurs. He’s a cut above the rest of his defensive team mates…
Why don’t you, staaaaaaaaaaaay with Arsenal
Sorry I had to, haha
I hope he stays, but sell him in the summer if he doesn’t sign. 15 million or more is better than nothing.
Theo should still be part of our plans! Coyg!
He will be gone in summer. Wenger showed in Podolski that he doesn’t care for wingers that don’t contribute defensively, and we’ve always played one winger/one midfielder type on our flanks. With Sanchez covering the left, i can see Ramsey, Wilshere and Ox playing more on the right. As brilliant as he is going forward, he isn’t exactly needed and he doesn’t fit the system Arsene wants.
Walcott is one of the Key Arsenal players the Boss has to keep at Arsenal as long as possible. People are saying, sell him now to get more money from his sales than Arsenal will get in the winter window if they were to sell him then. But should he be sold now, who is the top quality that will replace him for the vital position he will leave behind? We should know one fact that the Boss doesn’t get more than £50m for his summer transfer biddings. And if he exceeds that amount, he will be forced to sell some players to balance the books. And the boss doesn’t want to spend more than that £50m this season to avoid selling any of his top quality players to balance up. He could sign a marquee centerforwad for maybe £35m to compete with Giroud for option. And once he spent that big sum of money, he may use the remaining £15m to sign a top quality left back for option to secure that fragile position. So, any additional signings by the Boss means, he will sell some of his players to avoid any deficit in the books. Let’s look into the Boss’ last season transfers and the one before the last one to study how much he has spent and how much he has got from selling? Let me appeal to Walcott to please softpedal in his contract negotiations with Arsenal and come down to earth by accepting the £90K/week he is currently getting or take £100K/week at most.
He was our best players 2 seasons ago, and we knw ao much we missed hm last season nd d impact he made in the few games he played, I has shown how dangerous he can be too dis season, mybe he’s not dat sharp yet, but bcos he doesn’t get into d 1st 11 dis season doesn’t mean he won’t next season wen he will be available for preseason especially wen alexis won’t be….walcott offers somefin diff to every1 we have…
Theo is a good player. He also happens to be a good finisher these days and has the best movement off the ball of any of our attackers. Giroud will always play back to goal, Theo will play towards goal – they are both great at creating space in those given situations. Playing at the same time, they could be utterly deadly. Theo just needs time to get his game back on form. There is NO good reason to let him leave.
Theo is a great option to have but frankly he wouldn’t be in the starting XI…well he hasn’t been for a while now.
Quite simply he can’t be paired with Hector on the right because he doesn’t have the defensive ethic to cover Hector when he bombs forward. TW14 plays more like a traditional winger and Hector plays as a wing-back…that simply does not work because both players get caught upfield and leave massive gaps behind them. Rambo plays more like the old right inner, cutting inside leaving the flank for Hector. It’s better balanced with Rambo covering the space behind Hector and Rambo is more disciplined from a defensive perspective.
I’ve said it before…Theo would play if we used a traditional FB on the right like Debuchy and we left the flank solely to Theo. That’s in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He could also play as a 2nd striker in our little used 4-4-2 playing off OG12. The question here is: Who would you sacrifice to play Theo? Would you drop Rambo for Theo…cos the rest of the midfield picks itself and Theo can’t lead the line.
You couldn’t play a 3-5-2 cos he doesn’t do the defensive work…perhaps if he started to show that side of his game (like Ozil has shown, Sanchez does it, Welbz does, Santi does it, Rambo does).
For the moment it’s probably best to use him as a 2nd half impact player…around 25mins when the opposition FB is well and truly tired….get him to try to catch Theo.
He should stay, round out his game and fight for the place. He is the quality depth we need.
Just my 2 bobs worth
Good analysis TJ – but I would say that because you have articulated very well what I have been trying to say for some weeks! At a time when Wenger appears to be much more concerned about approaching a game with a “let’s make sure we don’t lose approach” as opposed to “all out sexy try and win every time” then Walcott/Bellerin doesn’t look that solid at the moment. Hector has been brilliant for us but still has much to learn at FB and Wenger is helping out with the conservative team selection – he was after all a winger in the Barca youth set-up (slightly ironic really with all the people moaning about AR15 being played in an unfamiliar role that we have a rookie converted winger at RB).
And you are right, when circumstances change, as they invariably will then Theo will have an important part to play. If MD is at RB then good chance he will play. If (and I really hate saying this) Alexis is out or injured then Theo plays – he is our best wide 2nd striker option after Alexis. If we are chasing a goal late on then Theo is the perfect impact guy. He could also do a temp job through the middle if needed. Plenty for him to go for.