Walcott expects a tough game for Arsenal against Middlesbrough

Arsenal struggled to beat Leicester on Tuesday but now have five days to recover and prepare for the visit of Middlesbrough on Sunday. It would appear that retaining the FA Cup is Arsenal’s best (and probably only) chance of winning a trophy this season, but Theo Walcott is warning the Arsenal fans to expect another tough fight from a team that is flying in the Championship.

In fact Boro are on a ten game unbeaten run right now, winning the last six – including the 2-0 win over Man City at the Etihad which is a warning to Arsenal if ever there was one. Going further back Boro have only lost twice in 28 games!

Walcott made it clear that Arsenal have a great chance to retain the Cup, but does not expect it to be easy at all. “It is a great opportunity when you consider the teams that have gone out of the competition,” Theo said on the official Arsenal website. “But Middlesbrough will be tough, they are doing well in the Championship and they might be very similar to Leicester.

“They will be a threat, we can’t take them for granted. We need to study their game very closely because if they watched our game here they will fancy playing us. We have to make sure we are completely on it because it will be nice for the fans to have a Wembley trip again.”

Boro are currently top in the Championship, so technically they are only one place behind Leicester in the standings! But the difference in the confidence between the two teams is massive. Arsenal must be careful, very careful!

Tags Mddlesbrough Walcott Leicester

21 Comments

  1. Ex Wales coach has said a Ramsey should leave Arsenal if we do not alter training methods after his latest injury setback. He’s quite right to say that if you ask me, you look at Spurs, they have a full sqaud, no injuries at all. Look at us. Can anyone remember the last time we had no injuries at all? Didn’t think so. It’s a bloody disgrace. Either the training methods are dire or our players are simply weak, feeble p*ssies, or both. It’s just so frustrating and I’m livid that nothing has changed on the injury front.

    1. @matt

      We just did that one.
      Agree though.

      On another note, breaking news!

      Another trophy for AFC:

      (hteeTeeP://)amp.twimg.com/v/756aa3d6-ee86-4cf1-a80e-c518a558a814

  2. WOW, Ramsey is set to be named QPR manager ~ Sky. Great news, though shouldn’t he be concentrating on his hamstrings for now? :-/

  3. tough game against boro????!!! 🙁 🙁 🙁
    So how will it be if we meet man u next????!!!! or real madrid in ucl????!!!! so disappointing 🙁
    n dont say they beat man city..man city have at times struggled against small teams. this is so pathetic n shameful. unbeilevably sad 🙁 🙁
    #wenger is a looser
    #wenger out
    # 🙁 🙁 🙁

    1. What if we play Preston, Derby, Reading, or Blackburn? What if we play Basel, Porto, Shakhtar or Schalke?

      Lets wait and see who we play first. We could get a bad draw or great one.

      Also, getting Manchester United is not a death sentence. They are not unbeatable. I’m honestly not scared to play United or Liverpool

      So, try and think positively
      It’s still possible to have a good season

  4. Here we go again on here. It’s life it’s football and players get hurt. But ppl on here are just popping the players and staff. A S was out of the Barcelona team for months with the same thing as Rambo
    About time you lot got behind your team

    1. maybe it wouldnt be a big deal if AW didnt use the injury excuse every single season when we dont do well in EPL or UCL and only pick up 4th place. When will you deluded people stop thinking we are just “unlucky” with injuries. Too many players who come here magically become injury prone once they come to Arsenal. Look at Ozil now even. Our medical staff is a joke. Ozil went to Bayern medical team last season when he got injured, Ospina went to Barca medical staff this season for help… why can’t our people ever figure out these problems?

      1. Ill admit the Ospina one was a surprise, but top players from all over travel to see that doctor in Munich, hes the most respected doctor within the world of sports.

        I wouldnt say that Ozil is now an injury prone player, why do you think he bulked up, his physique was an accident waiting to happen.

  5. I expect Arsenal to win the
    Premiership at least once every
    3 seasons and the Champions league
    once every 5 years.
    So I am constantly disappointed with
    4th place and last 16 ECL.
    Winning the FA cup is no consolation for me.
    I have to admit I admire City, Utd and Chelsea when they win the EPL.
    11 seasons and counting …

    1. Nobody expects to win the champions league, when bayern or madrid go out of competition its not the look of amazement surprise bewilderment shock or dumbfoundment that they convey… its them being utterly gutted.

      All a fan can expect is that they challenge.

  6. It will be a tough game for sure, Mancity didn’t voluntarily leave the competition.. they were beaten fair and square. We all know Wenger uses FA to give some game time to young inexperienced players BUT in my opinion he should field the strongest team available to him as this is the only trophy we have a genuine chance of lifting.

    That said, it’s sad to lose Ramsey to injury. I hope Jack Wilshere stands up tall just as Walcott has done in OX’s absence. If he does this, then Ramsey will not be missed as he was out of form anyway. A Sanchez – Ozil – walcott – welbeck combination upfront against Boro should get us the much needed goals and a win.

  7. He should be saying he’s up for the cup and any other game he’s picked for.
    I’ll say it again,The type of player Wenger buys or brings through have bags of skill but no steel. Sanchez was an exception the rule. Weve always had today trouble with teams that rough us up,that’s why Leicester made a go of it.
    Wenger’s to old to change so I for one will be looking forward to a management change when his contract runs out.

  8. Not only are they one place behind leic as youv wiley put it but you would have to say that they are the in form team. All said though we are at home and boro wouldnt of came across many teams that can boast an Ozil Alexis Walcott Rosicky Santi type attack. We are all expecting a win, not necessarily a comfortable one but a win none the less. I just hope our players dont go into the game with mindset of the fans.

    I have a feeling that our so called easy run of fixtures is going to throw up a few more games like the last one. If that had of been sto we were playing i would have had huge concern. The quicker we get our fast pacey passing game going the better. Some were saying that there is plenty of games to play but i believe this is when the games start running down thick and fast, we simply cant lose another game until open up some sort of gap.

  9. If they beat City, u have enough information of the opponent, they wont joke around. I’d like to see Gabriel playing on this one.

  10. Although I will not underestimate Boro. After the atrocious showing at white shite pain and what was served up on Tuesday all I suggest is that If we do not win this game then you better get out of Dodge Mr Walcott.

    Did anyone watch fanatics last night… How did he not get Romford Pele. But give the fella his due his questions at the end were bloody abysmal. What is the standard flag size allowed in the emirates…WTF?

  11. He has to say it will be ta ough game! It’s
    Football speak, like: it’s a game of two halves (as recently used by AW), ‘we gave 110%’ & jumpers for goalposts (maybe not this one).

    It means we respect the opponent and we know it won’t be an easy game. It’s used a lot by big teams who play the smaller ones with not so good players or unequal financial resources when they know they will batter them.

    But in our case I think Theo means it:)

    COYG!

    1. So you think we should be overconfident like Mourinho before his FA cup match against Bradford City and when they luckily or not luckily beat us, we should be looking for excuses and hung our heads in a bigger shame?

  12. It will be a tough game and Boro will challenge. We should meet them head on and use our attacking prowess and increased defensive steel to win the game. Freshen the legs up with a couple of new players, rotate our goalkeeper so we get competition and keep the mentality of “must win” and we should do fine.

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