He is English, he can't stop scoring, yet he doesn't receive any hype by the English media and press, even though it would be fully warranted? I'm gonna put this out there, if Walcott was white, would he be receiving non stop rave reviews? Like Rooney constantly has, even when he's ****?
OXO doesn't get any hype, he got some tiny hype, but nothing at all now. Look how much hype Kane got, and Walcott is scoring on a similar level now, but still no major recognition.
Kane appeared out of nowhere, Walcott has been around for a long time and spent most of it frustrating
I agree I think there's a bias towards white athletes in the UK from the media look how they treated ashley cole compared to wayne Rooney
Because he plays for Arsenal. To be fair Walcott was pretty hyped when he first came to Arsenal as a 17 year old. I guess in 2013 Walcott scored 21 goals and received very little praise for a great Season. But I do think there's a genuine bias against Arsene and his teams. Just look at Bellerin. Statistically he is the best right back in the league. Lightning quick, technical, only 19 years old and has the best defensive stats around. I GUARANTEE he won't make the PFA Team of the Year.
Statistics wise and even performance wise Coquelin has been on of the best DMs if not the outright best DM in the league but he still barely gets rated by any pundits. They also still harp on about Per's lack of pace every single game we play a team with a forward with decent speed, as if that means much when we don't play a high line any more, the constant over the top Ozil scrutiny in the press, etc...
I think it has something to do with Arsene having such a great start to his career, when he produced one of the best ever teams in the Premiership, and because he's french. That's why he gets tirelessly criticised and he and his player's get less than normal praise for doing a good job. I guess he's a bit of a victim of success.
True the 'Mertesacker is too slow for the EPL' thing is another example. It's funny because he is no slower than Terry, Huth, Shawcross, Hangalaand etc.. But he's a WORLD CUP WINNER for ****s sake. You don't get 110 appearances for Germany without being TOP class.
I don't think it's because he is French (although it could be) - he does have a little air of arrogance about him that can upset some people. The main reason though has to do with the fact he has been very critical of the Old School English style of play. Multiple disagreements with Allardyce and Pulis over their 'anti-football style approach'. For most of his career he has made little comments about the 'long ball' game. When you listen to many of the British press they still talk with admiration of that approach to the game. We always get more cliches about 'putting more crosses in' and 'clearing the lines' with a goal kick. Wenger is critical of the style of football they grew up with.
I think it might be related to three things: Age Flair Position Age - he has been around for so long that people feel they "know" him. Kane came a bit from nowhere and scored 30 goals in a season. Flair - he is a speed bullet with no real flair or wonder goals. No screamers outside the box. He runs intelligently and got tidy finishes skills. This can be related to Ozil who is intelligent but people who don't understand football don't see it and therefore he gets undervalued. Position - being nr 9 is a different than a winger. Not as exciting. That's why I think he ain't hyped.
Perhaps, given he's been at Arsenal and played for England nearly a decade, he's just a good player rather than a great one going through a very good run of form. Just under 1 in 4 for Arsenal and 1 in 5 for England. I appreciate it's not all about goals but perhaps that's the reason he's not given the same recognition as Rooney who has scored far more and won a lot more rather than the fact that one is white and one is black.
Im not sure about 'not great'. Poor kid has had a terrible run of injuries throughout his career. If you look at the last Season he had without any major injury set backs he scored 21 goals. I would say 21 goals from a wide position is pretty much world class. He's fit and playing regularly again and the goals are coming back. 7 in his last 9 games I believe.
If he stays fit, which history suggests he won't, then he could still become a consistently great player. Really my point was just that it's laughable to suggest that his skin colour is why he doesn't get a certain level of praise.
Although I definitely feel that the FA and media tend to show more protection and preferential treatment to white players, I definitely feel it's not the case here. Walcott had a lot of hype when he went to the World Cup in 06. He's just never fulfilled his potential. Rooney may be poor now and I'll be the first to say he's overrated but he did live up to his potential at one point and to score as many goals and achieve as many caps as he as is no easy feat.
Think he was hyped up beyond belief from 2006 until around 2010 as being the next great thing...then he was unhyped as being a a good sprinter but a **** footballer and now they are too confused to know what to say
The media hyped kane up, demanded he moved to united and as he refused and his goals have slowed right down they now mock him...it is their way...they simply chat crap...most of these experts refer to spurs finishing in our usual 6th or 7th place even though our last 6 finishes have been 4th, 5th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 5th...they simply ignore facts but we tend to only notice when we hear them chatting ****e about our club
Walcott is a yesterday's man in the eyes of the English media, he is an old toy and now they have news ones like Barkley, Kane and Sterling to play with. The lack of attention is a good thing, because there is no real pressure on Walcott anymore and he can get on with his game and carry on developing in his new role.
