UNDERSTANDING THEO WALCOTT AND THE VALUE HE BRINGS TO ARSENAL
Hello again folks. If you are getting anxious waiting for our next arrival, I have an idea. How about a brief distraction to help us kill some time and calm the nerves? While we anticipate our next signing, I think it is crucial that we resolve the status of one of our most polarizing but useful strikers. I am talking about our very own Theo Walcott. The reason we need to resolve Walcott’s place in our club is because I am genuinely surprised at the percentage of Arsenal fans that want him gone and we need to support our players.
So why do Arsenal need Walcott? There are two kinds of players in every team. There is the first team player and then there is the squad player who can cope with being second choice. To get the balance right in team building, you need your squad players. Nobody wins a title with eleven players, even if those eleven players are as gifted as Lionel Messi. So when folks keep saying we should sell Walcott or Elneny or Coquelin, I always find myself asking the same question. If you sell your bench players, who will be on the bench? At the moment, we all want to see either Thomas Lemar or Riyad Mahrez in an Arsenal jersey. Me too. But none of these hot shots will settle for life on the bench. Let us say we get Thomas Lemar for instance. That will leave us with four first team attacking players in Alexander Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Lemar. Can anybody guess the problem we will face with these four players? That’s right, in our new formation of 3 – 4 – 3, there are only three positions for these four players. That means one of them is going to sit on the bench because Lemar is a winger. We cannot pay all that money for him and then play him out of position, either as a wing back or a defensive midfielder.
So who will be on the bench? Is it Sanchez, our best left winger and overall best player/goalscorer? Or Lacazzette, the prolific front man we have been looking for who cost a club record 53 million pounds? Will it be Mesut Ozil, the 42.5 million pound visionary and best chance creator in the whole of Europe? How about Thomas Lemar, the guy tipped to finally succeed Alexis Sanchez? Mind you, depending on which reports you believe, Lemar is set to cost us somewhere between 48 and 80 million pounds. You don’t spend that kind of money on a guy and put him on the bench. That is precisely why Real Madrid has not closed the deal for Kylian Mbappe. Our playing system has changed and Walcott is no longer a starter and he is okay with having to fight for his place. He is not sulking or threatening to leave. Lucas Perez has only been in Arsenal for one season and he is already looking for a new club because he has refused to accept his new position as a bench warmer and utility player. Olivier Giroud is itching to leave as well with our purchase of Lacazette. That is point number one.
Secondly, how many wingers in Europe do you know who can have a bad season and score 19 goals? I cannot think of anyone. In Mourinho’s last season at Chelsea, Eden Hazard, his best player, had a miserable season and scored something like seven or eight goals. Straight out from winning the league two seasons ago, Riyad Mahrez, the one-time player of the year, had a horrendous season and scored four goals. His club have put a 50 million price tag on his head.
Our very own Alex Oxlade Chamberlain had his best season in the 2015/2016 campaign and he is now so big headed that he will not sign a new contract. Mind you, Ox scored only three goals in this best season of his. Theo Walcott on the other hand is a guy who typically has a questionable season riddled with criticism, injuries and cameo appearances and yet, in some really strange way, he manages to get somewhere between 14 and 20 goals a season no matter what. He also cost us around 15 million pounds and is willing to be on the bench. And that is the guy many of you want sold? And replace him with who? Theo’s replacement will cost a fortune and will not sit on the bench. And he may not even score as many goals as Walcott under similar circumstances. You see, this is precisely why football fans shouldn’t manage football clubs. We all have opinions and we are all wonderful armchair critics whose opinions will never get put to the test. That is one luxury that actual football managers don’t have.
Last time I checked, Sanchez, Ox and Giroud all want to leave and Ozil has not signed a new contract. But who do we want sold? Walcott, the most loyal of them all. Isn’t it funny how fans bitch about the lack of player loyalty these days and yet we cannot even reciprocate that loyalty towards our most loyal player? Theo has been with us for ten years and counting. When Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie all left us, Theo stayed and his goals carried our team even as Podolski and Giroud struggled to find their scoring boots. How easily we forget!
Many accuse Walcott of not defending which is a bit strange because you cannot buy a Ferrari and begrudge it for not hauling cargo like a truck. Strikers can only do so much defending or they will lose their offensive potential. The clinical Lukas Podolski had that problem and Welbeck is having it too. Look, I get it. Walcott can be infuriating! He is wasteful, predictable, cannot dribble and gets bullied off the ball so easily. But you know what else he is? He is that guy with the best movement in the opposition box who doesn’t have to play well to score goals and takes the game to the opposition when folks are busy passing the ball sideways. He is also humble, loyal, a team player and will not sulk when benched. Find me a squad player today as good as Walcott who will cost 15 million pounds, battle a myriad of injuries and still score 15 to 19 goals a season coming off the bench oftentimes. Find me that winger and you will have an argument. Until then, Walcott stays because quite frankly, he is irreplaceable. Peace.
Uche Edochie
Lagos – Nigeria
Keep your knickers on Uche, Walcott is staying, My only problem with him is that he’s too Cool for his own good. He needs to show a bit of determination, some fight and aggression during matches.
Great tribute from Sczcesny to Arsenal. I’m gutted we let him go for peanuts. Cech is 35 and Ospina as good as gone. We will need another keeper soon and Szezzer was homegrown Gooner.
Martinez just showed ehat he can do.. he can give Cech some lessons in saving penalties ! ?
Excellent article.. we need a squad of uality committed players and Walcott is certainly that. He even said he has spoken with Wenger to see how he can adapt to the new formation to ensure he plays more.!
I would much rather see Welbeck or Giroud leave than Walcott… he scored same as those 2 put together probably last season and was injured for some of it !
Theo will get plenty of match time in Europa League, League Cup and also lower Premier League teams we normally lose points too but he will be fired up to get into first team so cpuld be great for Arsenal
I will predict Theo scores over 20 goals this season across all competitions..
Definitely keep him!
Appreciate the article/argument
That said, stats are not the end all. The guy is milking 140k per week and touches the ball 12 times a game.
There MUST be someone better.
His defence sucks, his commitment is vague at best, and his finishing is average. That said, he does not have a position in the 3-4-3
Personally, I’d take a pasty and a pint of guinness for him.
Good, but not “Arsenal Good”
Although that valuation is most certainly up for debate.
Again, JMHO
O
Does he really make 140k per week.I thought only ozil and sanchez gets paid that much
I could not bring my self te read the post. Its like we are new arsenal fans who dont know much about the players in the team and big brother is about to teach us how to appricate some players proper.
So you did read the post then !! ha ha !!
This is the problem uche is not thinking about. Wenger is a penny pinching old man who would do everything to not spend more then its needed.
Why does Wenger pays Walcott so much? Not bec of his football abilities which are &%$^$ shet, but rather bec him being a nice guy and playing his role to Wengers needs in time.
Whenever something comes up. A new player is up for sale, Wenger will use the Walcott card and say: What about Theo, he is good player, he cant be benched cant he? And so we pass on good players. He is a bench player, but we need to keep this a secret. Shhhh
“Wenger is a penny pinching old man who would do everything to not spend more then its needed.” According to who? Or is this yet another example of people having this image of Wenger, that they have literally just fabricated in their mind, yet believe it to be 100% factual correct? Why is it, that whenever people criticise Wenger, 9 times out of 10, it is completely unsubstantiated and nothing but conjecture, yet spoken as fact?
Jay, have you become my personal stallker. My new Wengeritish deluded friend who dissagress with me for the sake of Wenger? haha.
He is a penny pinching man. The fact that we have passed on many players bec of his nature is known to everybody. He considers Arsenal money as his own. His socialist wage plan is a disaster which is hurting us a lot. The old man needs to put down for the sake of the future. But such a thing wont happen as long as he plays his role as the salesman for Stan.
Old age will finish him off. Or a new main shareholder. So lets wait a bit. and see what the future holds for us.
or you can just go and support another team for next two years as you hate Wenger and save us your mindless gibberish !
Guys have sonething constructive to say before the season starts or dont bother.. everyone starts with zero points and it goes from there.. Man utd have spent close to a billion last 4 years and not won as much as Arsenal ! Suppirt the team !
By the way, stick to the topic and dont waste my time. I am not eager to tllk to you about your crush whenever his name is being mentioned. Rub one off and move on with your fanboisem
I must be blind…. Season after season Wallcrap has been useless. MAHREZ please
No, you’re not blind; you’re just ignorant.
Ignorant of what?
A season ticket holder who has seen Walcott fail time after time.
He runs fast! Great….. So does Usain Bolt,
He fails to get the ball under control and is forever falling over, dreadful at tracking back and as Alan Hanson mentioned many moons ago… “he crosses when he should shoot, poor football brain”… And finally he shoots by side footing the ball.
He is adept at giving his opinion on social media regularly.
The sooner he is sold the better. Unfortunately it should have been years ago.
Ox and iwobi are far better players…. Check the facts!
You should also add he’s had better stats than your freaking Mahrez. Season. ticket doesn’t impart the knowledge of this game. Leicester will swap Mahrez for Wlacott without batting an eyelid. Your problem is that we have him and we are not thinking of poaching him from the bench of Barcelona, like Sanchez and Turan. Give him some slack, freaking 19 goals in a season he was adjudged not to have done well? He is even willing to adapt to the new formation and carve a role for himself, what else would you demand from a player?
Theo was heir to Henry’s No14 shirt – he is fast and useful… but useful in another team like EFC. In over a decade at afc he’s not been consistent, neither has he proven to be anything near being worthy to be be counted in the same breath as Thierry, Anelka, Wright, Kanu, Adebeyor, RvP – I’m sorry but he has a minus fear factor (remember we rolled him out as captain and got rolled over) and for me he devalues the meaning of wearing the no14 shirt – sell, sell, sell before the potential buyer returns to their senses. Theo may have gotten 19 goals but we all know that’s never going to be repeated should we roll him out again next season.
For me Walcott typifies everything that is currently wrong with Arsenal..when Theo first burst on the scene he was one of the first YouTube sensations and expectations were threw the roof but over the years, for whatever reasons, he has failed to live up to his billing…instead of cutting our loses and moving on we refused to make the necessary decisions and instead kept believe he would come through if we were just willing to wait a little bit more..even when he suffered a serious knee injury, instead of accepting the fact that he would never stick his legs into the spaces that were crucial for someone with straight ahead speed to succeed, the club actually contemplated giving him a chance to play up top where his lack of physicality, size and holding up play talents would been on display for all to see…these are not the actions of a club that really cares about winning at the highest levels, but they are the actions of a club that wasn’t interested in spending the necessary resources to purchases a world-class striker, which is usually the most expensive position on the pitch…instead we adopted the horrible phrase “like a new signing” and proceeded to allow this ridiculous experiment to carry on, which ultimately caused some discomfort on the training pitch and inside the locker room as players battled for a position that shouldn’t have been theirs for the taking in the first place…don’t get me wrong, I believe that Walcott is a talented player, who can help a team reach their goals, if their goals are relatively modest…just look at the teams who supposedly expressed interest in his services and they weren’t the kind of clubs who aspire to win at the highest levels…as for the reasons why he hasn’t been bitching and moaning about moving on just look at the wage benefits he receives from our club and his obvious desire to enjoy the societal advantages that come with playing in North London for a club with worldwide appeal…so instead of continuing to try to fix a coat with a broken zipper simply move on and buy a new and better coat
“he is now so big headed that he will not sign a new contract.” It’s great that you believe you can read the minds of ours players.
Beside the stat..so what do u think jay?
Theo Walcott on his day is a pretty lethal attacker but his other aspects such as build up play, passing, dribbling etc. are piss poor and considering how long he has been at Arsenal he still is too one dimensional. Yes he is definitely more clinical than welbeck but welbeck offers so much more to the team. I will give theo walcott credit for being one of the few Arsenal players that seems to turn up agains big teams such as: Bayern, Chelsea, man United etc.
Thank you Uche.I have made those points you reeled out to advise our fans to show more respect for Theo Walcot. Some say he cannot dribble ,fine. Dribbling is not an end in football matches but a means to an end– go past opponents to score goals in order to win matches. Another way to go past opponents is speed on and off the ball to score goals which Theo does for Arsenal. Now , how does his inability to dribble ( which is arguable) constitute a “crime”? How many goals did the dribblers in Arsenal and other teams score last season?
A team is a collection of many players with different attributes that must be used to help the team to win matches . How much dribbling does Casemiro of Real Madrid do ? He is the best “destroyer” in Europe and he is a constant in the team as he does the job well –destrupt the attack of opposition teams. Paulo Rossi of Italy was not a dribbler, but he emerged the highest goal scorer for Italy in 1982 World Cup and won the Cup for them .
Let us stop disrespecting Theo who scores goals that dribblers are unable to score.
Theo is a one dimensional player. In over a decade of being with a technical club like arsenal he still lacks technique. He chronically disappears during matches, defensive liability, not clinical finisher, and injury prone.
Theo after 10 years should be providing goals goals goals for arsenal, thats why lacazette was sorely needed.
He is far more suited to a kick and run team like Leicester city rather than arsenal. Time to cut ties and bid farewell.
Rather see young players get an opportunity coming off the bench than Walcott run aimlessly for obscene wages for bench player.
3..2..1..let the downward pointing thumbs begin….
Great article. All the players winger spent fortune to get did not replicate the price but the ones developed by the club with small amount are giving their best. Moreover, in the last couple of seasons, we’ve practically spent more than most big clubs in Europe. Theo stays for me. Anyone who wants out should go and let’s have those that are ready to fight for the club.
Walcott got two assists, and created only 17 chances in the entire season. This is one of Walcotts best seasons. In at least seven seasons he didn’t have much goals to go with his no creativity and his no backbone that goes with his non existent control and his do not tackle or make contact that in turn goes with his useless effort which happens to suit his I give up they want it more than me. He’s a midfielder for crying out loud, we tried him at striker and was s**t, now he plays wide striker while our midfielders are in the middle of a little something called a contest. Walcott was first choice last season, he only got dropped because we were leaking goals, and it’s no wonder.
Have you not been paying attention. Walcott has been a first team player for years, and if we don’t get a new player he’s gonna play allot more. It’s why we want a new player, Walcott is killing us. I don’t want there to be a chance of us having to go with Walcott for a season, which can easily happen if he’s here. Would prefer Iwobi Reiss Mavididi etc to get more chances because we know Walcott is weak in too many areas.
100% agree. Great squad player. Has carried the team at times. Welbeck is poor ox is poor mahrez is poor. Lamar very good player probs better than Walcott. We must offload players but Walcott is not one of the players to let go. Perez, gibbs, wilchair, jenko, debuchy, elnanay and ox if he likes should all be sold. Bring in a quality CM and we are good.
OMG, our mates are strengthening and we here debating how to keep obviously average players like walcot, elneny, wilshere et all, Antonio conte had the balls to tel a world class striker like diego costa to f***off and we here debating mediocrity, we seem to have short memory as arsenal fanz, thumb me down d way u like, y’all gon protest nd moan and groan like last season coz as at now i see no phantom changes, still d same old system, same old players nd d deluded one probably closed for the transfer market after signing just one out of the numerous we actually need to compete.
10 years and this lol
No words
He would have been shipped away by Any other big club within 3 years
Youl all chnage ur tune when he doesn’t turn up in big games like every year
Memory of a hamster some of u I swear 🙂
people want fancy footwork, not a direct player ala walcott but a trickster as in mahrez? funny! when we play one two trickery trying to walk the ball past the GK, then people complain why no shooting from outside the box? i’m confused? what do you want? mahrez with, how many goals last? walcott is not a great great player but he is very good, consistency a bit off but thats more so because of injuries, remember what judas did in his one and only injury free season, i bet my arse walcott can equal if not better that with a full injury free season.
i retract betting my arse because that is something i cannot part with , but a player with 15+ goals in a bad season, hell yeah, i’m keeping that too. Off with the buffalox
great stuff Bro.
Wenger lost the plot when he brought in Giroud…what about the beautiful game involves having a lumbering striker who’s main attribute is holding up play…our success with Wenger, and even before, came with pace and clinical striking up front, having a boss in the midfield and having physically imposing CBs…what about Wright, Bergkamp, Anelka, Henry or RVP remind anyone of Giroud(minus the left foot of course)…the formula was broken, which didn’t have to be the end of our success, but when you adopt half-measures you can’t expect things just to work themselves out on their own…at the very least Wenger should have brought in some wingers that can consistently cross the ball and then spend significantly more time addressing our lack of success with set pieces…ultimately this is why we continued to struggle with consistency and continued to constantly play people in the wrong positions
Has Theo done enough to last 11 years at Arsenal (and counting), and to be earning 140k p/w?
It’s actually refreshing to read something nice about Walcott for once. Myself, I’m a big fan of his. Yes, he can be hot on some days and cold on others. It’s called inconsistency, but Theo is not the only one who’s guilty of it. The same can be said about any player on our team. Even our “mighty” Alexis went missing for a couple of months last season when we needed him the most. He’s a great squad player, capable of getting you 12-20 games a season. Not too shabby for someone who doesn’t get to play a whole lot.
wallcott shld av gone since, other pl rival clubs would’ve released him………give us mahrez!
I think Wally was fairly good last season, slowed down the second part of the season, actually got a few goals from the winger position. Although Theo is quick i think some of his pace has left him. I feel it is important he adds some trickery to his game, because defenders find him easy to read.
In honesty is he what i consider a perfect winger the answer of course, would be no, however i think his game has improved, especially his defensive work. Once we are not carrying anyone better, i feel WAlly is going to be needed for the long season
Fantastic take on Walcott, Uche. We should be proud of him, not flush him down the toilet.
19 goals in a season is nothing to some? Wow. Any guy who is capable of that battling with injuries and game time and form, is probably capable of more when fully fit and in form.
Keep him, keep, keep, keep….
Oh keep him Arsene.
To be honest, Walcott has improved his defending A LOT last season. Especially in the beginning of the season, when he had more game time, he was tracking back like crazy.
Walcott should stay. He scores goals. We need goals across the whole team. His speed is key. A fox in th box.
I love this writeup…Its the bitter truth which we Arsenal fans must accept…Walcott is loyal and brave in front of goals…he would have scored more goals if not for injuries…He always scores against big teams…let’s give him the credit he deserves for God sake. True Gunner
Before coming in here to weep about money that doesn’t belong to you, Theo Walcott earn 110,000 and not 140,000. We all accuse Wenger of penny pinching, but most fans will be worse if given the opportunity to manage Arsenal.
Give Walcott a break. The question Uche asked has not been answered! Ok I agree to your whims, we need to sell him. Who will replace him in the squad and accept to sit his bums on the bench? Do not deceive yourself, you have not answer.That’s why many can’t even manage monkeys to move from a tree to another. Answer the question first and let’s see your suggestions!