Following his deflected goal that gave Arsenal the equaliser against Manchester United, Theo Walcott has claimed that he is now fit enough to start more games for the Gunners and has admitted his desire to start the FA Cup final against Aston Villa at the end of the month. But considering the fact that Theo has been restricted to cameo appearances since his return from injury, does he actually have a chance of making Wenger’s starting lineup at Wembley?
Quite honestly, I think he should be given a run-out against Sunderland to see how he’s come along, and I believe that he actually deserves an opportunity after warming the Arsenal bench for quite a few months now. Santi Cazorla had a bad game by his usual standards at Old Trafford and I think the Spaniard will definitely benefit from a rest, which will help Ramsey move into midfield and bring Theo in to start on the right flank.
The Englishman has been very patient since his return from injury and I feel he should be rewarded with an opportunity to start the FA Cup final. Considering that Arsenal just need one more point to ensure automatic qualification for the Champions League, Arsene Wenger can afford to tweak the side a little bit. In addition, Sunderland’s defence, which consists of players like Wes Brown and John O’Shea, is not very equipped to deal with raw pace and Le Prof can duly take advantage by starting Alexis and Theo out wide.
Despite the fact that his injury kept him out for a year, Theo has been fit for quite some time now and as he rightfully pointed out, nothing will help his fitness more than a solid 90 minutes of football. While players returning from long-term injuries build their fitness on the training ground, they can regain their sharpness and reflexes only with game-time. With that being said, I certainly hope to see Theo Walcott start the remaining games for Arsenal and try and merit his inclusion in the Gunners’ starting eleven for the FA Cup final.
Anurag
I agree, especially about moving Ramsey to the middle
Lets see what Theo can do 🙂 🙂
Get Jack and Theo in. Move Ramsey where he belongs. Period.
Santi needs a rest. Theo needs game time. Theo is our most direct player. Sunderland will need to be attacked in a variety of ways. No brainer.
Sunderland are desperate
we still need a point.
Same team, get the point
rest players v WBA.
If we make a change
make it Walcott.
One point will save both teams EPL position. Will actually be very surprised if the game will end up otherwise than a draw. They have a good keeper, see what that gives tomorrow.
absolutely….other than the deflected cross cum own goal he did almost nothing against Man Utd…so a full game (albeit) against poor opposition should be enough confirm (or correct) my own feeling that he is an average footballer and one of the obstacles to us moving to the next level…so bring him on!!
Yeah apart from Theo getting us the goal that delivered us our first point again Man Utd at Old Trafford, he did nothing for us. Totally average player, he doesn’t even deserve to be in our squad, not even worth bringing on to give us a different kind of threat. You’re totally right!
First point in six years. But yes you’re totally right!
Time to play reserve players..Jack,flamini,gibbs,roza,walcott,gabriel,welbeck its only sunderland
Yeah why not.
Macey
Flamini Bould Wenger Zelalem
Diaby Bielik
Beckham Rosicky Crowley
Graciar
Start theo against Sunderland.I really do not understand why mr wenger plays the likes of Ramsey on the wing which is a position he admits he is not at his best when he plays there.and you have a natural with the likes of Walcott warming the bench .and regarding the cup final I don’t think theo will start he will give the players that got them there finish the job.
Walcott, gibbs, wilshere in,
Ramsey, nacho, carzola/ozil rested !!!
That’s my problem with our team. We hardly make the hay why the sun shines !!
We should have won or at least drawn the game against Swansea to give us secured top 3 by now after United draw. Thus, we could afford to field second string teams (Walcott inclusive) as Chelsea did yesterday. We’d be able to really test their readiness and also be able to rest some big players for the big game against Villa in FA cup final.
This happens to us too often. Now, we have to toil and toil again!!!!!
We better learn how to seize opportunities with both hands when we are presented one.
Don’t remember Chelsea doing that at all yesterday…
I dont disagree with Theo starting but I do disagree over the place he starts.
Theo wants to be a CF, he has replaced Giroud as CF when we have grought the big man off.
Theo should start as CF and Giroud given a rest, he has gone on a bit of a dry spell recently and in previous seasons he has come back with a bang when given a bit of rest… which wasn’t as much as it should of been with no real cover last season.
We have Welbeck who can play out wide and out the two, Theo is a better finisher and that is who we will want in CF, Welbeck has pace and also the determination to get back and defend, something Theo generally lacks.
If Welbeck isn’t fit then we have other players who can play the wide right role, Wilshere done well when he has come on and he could do well there for a game, Gnabry is back from injury and may be match fit.
Now this is a long shot but just think about it…
Bellerin can play their and that would allow Debuchy to get game time as well, Bellerin would be good enough to help defend as he is a damn good RB right now! He was a Right Winger prior to coming to us and with Jenkinson coming back it would be interesting to see how those 2 could play with Bellerin being the Right winger and Jenkinson the RB.
Theo should start in the middle.