I have to agree with theHotHead. Walcot is more often than not poor in matches, he relies far too much on his pace making him very predictable at times, his passing is just awful and I honestly don’t think he has the intelligence in regards to positioning and when to make runs. I remember a few seasons back where they compared Nasri’s performance on the other side to Walcot’s for example in the case of dribbling Nasri had 75% success while Walcot was barley 50%. Passing success was heavily in favour of Nasri as well. I’m afraid to say Walcot is a one trick pony relying solely on his pace and when that doesn’t work he is anonymous. And for all those supporters that say I have been to negative look at the facts, he has improved very little since coming to Arsenal while other players who came at similar times have progressed far more than him. I personally would rather have OXO or Ryo given a chance ahead of him as they offer far more to the team overall.
I respectfully disagree. Theo's defensive cover offers far, far more than Oxo or Ryo (and I'm a HUGE Ryo fan). Last season Theo had 13 goals in 25 starts (13 sub appearances). That's 1 in 3. Including his assists (9) he has 22 combined assists & goals in 38 appearances - better than 1 in 2. Not only is he productive, but he also tracks back and covers the right back very well. His pace is a threat, forcing teams to double up on him and leaving space for other players. Yes some games he's marked out of the game, but all that does it create space for others. At the weekend, Chelsea were defensively poor, and when left alone with Ashley Cole (rated the best LB in the world by many), Theo destroyed him. In my opinion he's a good striker, being played out of position, and doing exceptionally well considering.
I am yet to understand this Ryo love-in we seem to have. I've seen both his brief CC games for us and he did little in both though obviously he's had no chance to shine. How/why, therefore do we all love/rate him? Baffling. Likewise with Oxocube I've seen his CC matches and Champion's league game and he's a real mixed bag. Against Shrewsbury/Olympiakos he was sublime attacking and **** defensively. Against Bolton he was just ****ety **** **** ****. Why are we suddenly saying he's a better player than Theo? I firmly believe Ryo and Alex will be huge players (hopefully for us) but to say they're better than Walcott is ridonculous. In time maybe but no way now.
Walcott is clearly the best option at the moment - anyone saying oxo or ryo should be starting ahead of him are just plain wrong. The loving for Ryo however is well earned. If you watched him last season on loan (which i did alot) he is a fantastic talent for his age - he really is going to be a special player for us.
I can agree that Theo is a far better striker than he is a winger, I've been calling for him to be played as a striker for ages now. I'd love to see him get his chance, I am thinking a Young Michael Owen with far more skill.
If you read my comment you would have seen that I said that they offer more to the team overall which is why I said they should have a chance I did not say they were better, in some cases a player who is not quite as talented can offer more to his respective team than a player who is far more gifted for example you could argue that Hernandez is not as talented as Berbatov yet he is picked far more because he offers more for the team. Next please read my post before jumping to conclusions
As has probably been pointed out earlier in this thread. The misinformed reason why people think Walcott is usually a "poor" performer, is because he is DOUBLE marked nearly the whole game. When he isn't DOUBLE marked, he runs riot, like he did vs Chelsea. The fact that it takes two people to effectively defend Walcott shows in itself how effective of a player Walcott is. Just because he is "quiet" in a game, doesn't mean he isn't playing well. Regards to Ryo, if you had seen him play at Feynoord last season, you would know exactly why people are so excited for him to be at Arsenal. Quite simply he is a future star, and as long as his development continues at the rate it is, it won't be long before his quality shines through. I'm also pretty sure that he can run quicker WITH the ball than Theo can, if thats any kind of indicator to one of his attributes. Edit: As I had expected, Jayram had of course previously mentioned about him being DOUBLE marked.
No need to get your panties in a twist, you're not specifically the person this is aimed at. There are many out there who seem to feel this way and it's baffled me. The collosal roar that greeted Ryo when he came on as a sub was incredible and, whilst it must feel good for him, I hope we don't put too much pressure/expectation on his shoulders the way with did with Walcott when he started out. I disagree that both offer more than Walcott though. Ryo has had no chance to prove himself yet in the english game. AOC has played 3 competetive matches and been good, average and dire in that order. In none of those matches has he helped his fullback and in all the games has lost the ball trying to be too clever with it. Meh, it's all personal opinion. I'm basing mine on the fact I've only seen them (Ryo/AOC) in a few games (albeit every match they've played for Arsenal...). As said, I think both have the potential to be fantastic players but they're not there yet. Theo I regard as a solid squad player who's prone to flashes of genius (every 3 games or so!). Right now I'd pick him every time and wouldn't even have to dwell on it.
I watched alot of Ryo last season and he was quality - for his age he is fantastic. He will be a great player for us and although he in't ready to be a first team starter (Theo is clearly ahead of oxo and ryo) i do hope he starts to get some sub appearances and League Cup action - maybe a start in the CL after we have sorted top spot. He is very direct, quick with the ball and likes to take on his man, not scared to have a shot either.
From what ive seen Ryo and Oxo are technically better than Walcot in regards to holding the ball and are better at passing, Walcot's passing at times is Sunday league standard also the fact that those two are Wingers while Walcot clearly is not, he'd make a better striker given his speed and decent finishing. Also specifically in regards to Oxo he seems to be better at crossing that ball from what ive seen from him so far. It will be interesting to see if Walcot can keep his place next season, by then oxo and Ryo should have improved greatley and gotten used to the league and standard of opposition.
