Why buy such a quality striker and put him on the wings? Well, we all have to agree that he has contributed heavily to the team, as he uses his unrivalled work-rate in balancing both attack and defence.
Same can go for the Spaniard who used to play in the attacking midfield role for Everton. He now plays the pivotal role in linking both defence and midfield. This was a role played by Alex Song last season and our Spanish man has gladly welcomed the change, stating it was for the benefit of the team.
You might see where I’m heading with this, maybe Walcott might be of more use to the team if he sticks with Wenger and plays on the wings. Now I know what you are thinking, he plays sh*t on the wing and couldn’t put in a decent cross to save his life. But that might be wrong, considering his performances this season. Of course we all agree he has been one of our best performers but has his better displays come from playing as a striker?
It was good seeing the Reading defenders pulling back as Walcott approached them, as they weren’t sure if he would run past or move inside as he did most of the match. There was some form of fluidity to his game. I noticed we scored two corners with Walcott providing the assists, weird since our first-team can’t score any with ‘The Verminator’ and Per present and our specialist Santi Carzola swinging in the crosses. It was a crazy game after all – maybe it was all just apart of the madness.
Maybe Walcott can adopt similar roles to the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They score the majority of the goals for their clubs but you never see their managers remove Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuian as strikers for Ronaldo, or even removing Cesc Fabregas for Messi in the striking department. We know who is better but maybe their managers don’t do so for separate reasons. They both play down the flanks but they get central to become more involved in the game. Some call them out-and-out strikers and sometimes are given a free role – a few changes and maybe, just maybe, Walcott might be perfect for this role?
Finally, we all heard Wenger was after Kevin Mirallas, who opted to sign for Everton due to playing time.
With more than £35 million in his warchest, rumours are that Adrian Lopez and Fernando Llorente are on Arsene’s radar. So in reality, there might not be playing time in the striker role for Walcott, especially if another top striker is bought in. And if Wenger did have to choose out of a proven striker with a class finish (Podolski), a hardworking striker with good aerial abilities which help in both attack and defence (Giroud) and Walcott, I doubt the latter of the three will be the first on the list seeing our 4-5-1 formation.
A lack of playing time in his preferred position or lack of resource to agree to his wage demand? Either way we need to wrap up this situation in time for Christmas before our rivals start keying in their estimated values for our potential striker.
I Just hope Wenger plays him in the position which he believes will help the team.
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Walcot should try to be patience and to emulate messi style of game,playin from d right side of d pitch made messi a world winner.Walcot can always push forward to join giroud up front to disorganize any attack.it can also go dis way,wenger partnering walcot and giroud upfront,arteta and cazorla or wilshere or rosicky in d centre midfield,podoski and ox or gervinho on d wings.then ramsey,coq,frimpong, on d bench.if wenger to play 4-1-3-2 formation dis is my selection-mannone-sagna,mert,thomas,kosn,i will nt play santos due to his low pace in games,arteta(dmf),podoski,cazorla,ox(amf),giroud and walcot(attackers).if wenger is playin 4-2-3-1 formation-mannone-sagna,mert,thomas,santos(defence),arteta,kosn(amf,dmf),podoski,cazorla,walcot(wing,attacker).if wenger is playin 4-3-3 formation-mannone-sagna,mert,thomas,kosn(defence),arteta,cazorla,wilshere(midfield),podoski,giroud,walcot(attacker)
The kid is 23, and over the last two years he has doubled in scoring and assists. No one his age in the leaegue has put up those type numbers, and he is called “inconsistent”? Speed kills opposing defenses and he is learning how and when to use his. His touch in front of goal has really improved, and to see him off at this age would be criminal. There are plenty at Arsenal overpaid, starting with Gazidis, and you can point fingers up and down the rooster. Letting Theo go now for cheap to Liverpool or Manchester United would haunt the Gunners and send a telling message to OxladeChamberlin, Eisfeld and the many good young prospects. The message “you are here to train and play to go on to a bigger club, a better payday in your short career”