There was a time when Lionel Messi wouldn’t shine at all for Argentina, while in those same days he was actually making headlines at Barcelona.
Fans in Argentina even started to doubt his love for his nation until recently when he proved his critics wrong.
You’re probably sitting there thinking ‘what is he getting at?’ Well I ask, has any Arsenal fan doubted Walcott’s ability before? Or have any of you doubted his love for Arsenal? Well, if you haven’t I bet some have.
However, whatever your take is on Walcott’s recent performances will be, the question remains – Is there a reason for his low key performances this season?
The answer is simple. Walcott has been hugely affected by the sale of Cesc Fabregas.
Since the Spaniard’s departure to Barcelona last summer, Arsenal have lacked a world class playmaker capable of making things happen, which has the ability to draw opposition out of position and making the well timed splitting passes for wingers and strikers alike to take care of. This has in turn diminished the most powerful weapon the English winger possesses – speed.
I bet you will all agree with me that Theo isn’t the kind of winger who likes to face defenders one on one because he lacks that trickery to beat them, but he is a player who likes to run into defence cutting passes and then let the defenders chase him.
Aaron Ramsey is still learning the art of providing the killer passes, Mikel Arteta might possess the skill but he’s often deployed as deep lying midfielder alongside Alex Song, whilst for Tomas Rosicky – although I think he might be a master at this – has not been playing much in recent seasons. So maybe, just maybe, Arsene Wenger hasn’t figured this out yet, or perhaps he hasn’t developed the required connections with Theo.
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Theo has the talent and the right attitude, but my complaint is the fact that his first touch and control is poor, and that he gives the ball away too much.
You are right, he loves receiving through balls and scoring, but you can’t have a player at the highest level only be good at one aspect. And you also have pin pointed the fans frustration, that is if the defense sits deep, Walcott’s threat is minimized. And Arsenal see that a lot.
Theo really needs to work on his first touch, because he can’t keep hoping to get through balls, Fabregas or not. Otherwise, he becomes more suited to being a substitute and be effective when we are being dominated, or when we are winning and the opposition is chasing the game.
That is correct. He is a liability when the game is tight and we are passing the ball around. As soon as he gets it there is a good chance we will lose the ball and the opposition will.counter attack.
However I admire Theo’s attitude. He doesn’t worry about his bad points. He knows that Wenger trusts him even if he plays badly for three or four games in a row. Just when we’ve written him off as a headless chicken he will produce a magic moment which lifts the team.
We know what we’re going to get from Theo, but what about Gervinho? Hit or miss?
In terms of end product he’s been less effective than Theo although he’s less likely to lose the ball he’s also coming off second best in personal battles with decent defenders.
This puts a lot of emphasis on RVP to hold the ball up as nobody else is capable of doing it in any meaningful way.
He got good games more, or bad games more? It is so rare that he perform well and that I can farking conclude that he is one of the worst winger or attackers in Arsene’s ERA. He has played so many games under his belt and sometimes you can bloody feel he doesnt know what to do with the possession. When opponents play it tight at the back, he is useless. He needs team like Barca to play open football and attack, while he explore into space behind the defence.
I do not know why you people are talking about his inconsistency. He is simply not good enough not only for ARsenal, but for any EPL team.
Since Rosciy has been starting you see the passes. Tomas has upped the passing game way past Ramsey. I am not bad mouthing Aaron he had to much on him and looked fatigued. They are starting to get some depth n the squad now, and look set for the run in. All that tracking back has made Theo a better player, but his crossing is better and if he looks for his shot more he scores more.The whole squad has been under it, and thank God RYP has stayed healthy. Actually healthy and fiery, which is good for the squad. They make one or two buys, get Wilshire back and who the hell knows, they may even pip the Spuds this year!
Jimbo,nobody said Walcot is a bad playa,we are just highlighting his inconsistence n’ the reasons behind it.I tend to agree with Mike the max n’ Nicky.