That's bullcrap. Over the last three Seasons 'when' he is actually fit he averages about a goal every two games.Good stats for a CF - let alone a player a WF. 3 goals in 4 starts this term(plus a few sub apps), 6 goals in 12 starts last Season and 21 goals in 43 starts in 2013. His movement is first rate, and his finishing is excellent. Give him games and Theo will score more goals than any other wide player in this league. (except maybe Sanchez)
I see why Theo wants to be ST. That's his game. Pace and finish. He's just not technically gifted or intelligent enough. If he did he'll be scary, just like Eden Hazard is. Unfortunately he's not a great 'footballer'. I think the club is moving in a direction where we could get better. I've always hoped Walcott was clever in the way he plays, which is is doing to be fair. Where he is not a winger but more of a RF. Only thing is he has little margin for error in our team. He will need to work hard defensively and make better decisions. I hope he can make it work for us.
Like who? consider this.. in Theo's last 59 starts he has scored 31 goals. Reus, Bale, Ronaldo and Messi are the only wide players out there bettering those numbers. Don't believe the media hype Theo is a class act. He's not yet playing anywhere near his best yet still is getting himself into great goalscoring opportunities. It actually amazes me how quickly Arsenal fans turn on our own players. Ramsey hasn't scored in a while.. just wait if this continues for another couple of games he will start to receive the old calls of over-rated. (even though last Season he was a 'World beater' according to most) For me I think Theo is one of our best players. We don't need more craft, we have Ozil, Carzorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky.. Walcott gives us pace and efficiency. If I was coaching Arsenal he would be one of my first players on the team sheet.
That's the thing. Goals are not enough (for me anyway). Players like Reus, De Bruyne for example, brings pace, creativity as well as goals. They bring more football. They are able to float about the frontline. Theo is very limited in comparison. But like I've always said, he is still an asset to us but, one that can moved on if we want to.
A squad needs balance. For all his handwork Giroud is NOWHERE near efficient enough (0.13 conversion rate - which means he needs around 8 shots on target to score a goal) - but he holds the ball up, terrorises defenders and links up remarkably well. Theo and Sanchez - can make up for Girouds weakness. It's all about Balance. That's how you build a team. Personally I don't want us to build a squad of just Xavi/Iniesta/Carzorla types. I'm not that enamoured with tikka-takka. I prefer to watch a team with a mixture of pace,power and creativity. Theo helps us with that and at 26 he is yet to hit his peak.
Olivier Giroud chance conversion (excl. penalties) 2012-13 13% 2013-14 17% 2014-15 28% Shots per goal 2012-13 = 8 2013-14 = 6 2014-15 = 3.5
I agree, Walcott creates chances/space for himself and others with his movement and pace - he gives our attack a different type of threat. He's becoming an increasingly accomplished finisher and even in the few games he's had since a year-injury layoff he's been getting into good positions, scoring goals and beating men - and you can tell he's not up to full fitness. When he's on top of his game, if he stays wide then he tends to track back and work hard. But recently he seems to be keeping our attack unpredictable by (along with Ozil and Sanchez - who do the same) switching flanks and going into the middle, creating space and confusion. The draw back is, that if your cutting in and drifting from your position then you provide less cover for your RB - but then the same is true of Ozil and Sanchez - except Walcott has both the pace to recover (when fully fit) and the pace to really hurt a team on the counter. I'm not saying he's our best player, but he's a very handy weapon to have in our Arsenal.
According to ESPN in 12/13 he started 33 games for Arsenal and England scored 22 goals and made 16 assists. 13/14 - 19 starts 7 goals and 5 assists. The boy is king of the end product. He was ou best player before he got injured and has had barely a month back and suddenly is surplus to requirements and obsolete??? WTF???? He is different to any other member of our squad and is a tremendous asset and has improved every year. It is ridiculous to see he is surplus to requirements especially when so many fans are still lamenting oxo for his end product and also us not having an out and out goalscorer.
He's like the opposite of Oxo - great stats but doesn't do enough (according to some). Whereas Oxo is full of running and enterprise but has poor stats.
End product will come, especially for a young player. Oxo is growing to become a scary prospect if he continues as he has this season. With Theo, if the end product is not there then you are kinda getting nothing.
Walcott has better finishing than OXO, but OXO has a better all round game, stronger, better on the ball, better at tracking, better at defending, he only needs to work on his finishing and that's it. That's why Wenger put in OXO against City, United etc, and didn't even bother with Walcott against Spurs, because Walcott's all round game is poor, and in those big games where you need to do a lot of work other than just bide your chance to make a run on the wings, Walcott is just not that effective.
Theo's problem right now is that he, or more realistically his agent, is a douche bag when contract talks come up. Last time round he bent Arsenal over a barrell and shafted us royally but this year he's in a much weaker position and I think Wenger is making a point by restricting his game time. If anyone ever listens to Arseblog they were making some useful points about Walcott and the way Arsenal normally encourage players to extend deals. In Akpom's case, we played him for 3 games on the bounce to give him a taste of first team football. Last contract negotiations Theo finally got to play up front. This time, he's barely getting a sniff of football and West Ham was his first game in weeks despite being fit. I can really see us doing what we did with RVP and flogging him at the end of the season. Not saying I think it's what we should do but if he's going to act like a little bollock then I can see why we'd cash in.
If he leaves because we don't give him a pay rise, then I don't see the problem. He has not earned a pay rise yet, because he got bloody injured right after he signed his new contract! Before his knee injury he already was out for a while, basically the majority of last season was a write off for him. So it doesn't make sense for him and his agent to expect more money this year.
If there is one thing Walcott is it's effective... Just look at his stats. He is one of the highest contributors to goals and assists in our team over the last 3-4 years despite constant injury problems. Walcott gives us something no other player in our squad does. He makes proper runs in behind the defence, he is very good at timing his runs and seeing where the space will open up. The positions he consistently gets into is a massive asset. Regularly this season we have seen Players make the same run as each other in the box rather than opening the space for each other which Walcott does very well. (Obviously players like Sanchez create space with trickery etc but Walcott pulls defenses all over the place with his runs). His pace on the counter and finishing have done wonders for us for years now, the 2-2 with barca springs to mind and messi and pep coming out and saying Walcott was our key threat in a team that boasted some very good players. Since then Walcotts game has improved and with it his consistency. The last season Walcott didn't suffer a major injury he had stats similar to Bale who then moved to Madrid at the end of the season. He is a very useful player to have I the squad and the competition for places will hopefully bring out the best in all our players. Let's remember Walcott has been out for a year, that's a long time not playing football and it often takes players a while to get back to proper sharpness and form. It took Ramsey a full year to really get past his injury. We need to be patient with theo and support him, not get on his back during his recovery. Despite not being up to scratch yet he is contributing goals with a few goals in as many games since returning to the fold and he will continue to improve. I hope he signs a new contract as he would be quickly signed up to another top team.
I agree with Afcftw's assessment above, but like Arsenal87 I hope that Walcott/his agent aren't holding out for more money, because he's already one of our highest earners and hasn't justified his last pay rise (through no fault of his own) yet. I wonder though, if the sticking point is game time, with Walcott wanting to be a fixture in the 1st team, and having seen players like Ozil come back from injury after Walcott and walk straight in the team, maybe Theo is wanting guarantees before signing - which Wenger won't give him as he's got Ozil/Santi, Oxo, Welbeck and even Gnarby who can all play in the same position and are pushing hard
Walcott has been great for us, but I echo other sentiments, don't think we will suffer if we dump him. We have adequate replacements in OXO, and lest we forget, Serge Gnabry. . I like Walcott, I don't want him to leave, but just saying you know.
I don't think his agent should be holding out for more money as he has been injured for most of the time since his last contract was signed! He should just sign an extension for a couple of years to give time to impress and earn a better deal. If he wants assurances about game time then I'd say he will get them, our squad is constantly being called into use due to injuries and the amount of games we play during the season, if he is in form he will get plenty of games. Surely he can see he is a player wenger is proud to have developed and stuck with and is valued at the club. (Unlike yaya toure Walcott was given a cake on his birthday). It's always difficult with Walcotts agent but I think wenger wants him to stay and I think he'd like to stay. So hopefully we will see something sorted before too long.
Yes exactly. The last full injury free Season he had in the EPL he scored 21 goals and got 14 assists. That's simply World class for a wide player. He's the best finisher in our squad.
His biggest asset is his pace. Realistically, how much longer do you think he'll have at the very top level? Remember how sh*te Owen ended up when he lost his speed?! I think this will be the last season when you can get a bumper deal for him. My concern with him is how often he gets injured and whether it is connected to his style of play. Are you more prone to injuries when playing at his speed? I don't know really hence asking but he's out an awful lot and it must get harder and harder to get back to full fitness.
