Man Management

Theo Walcott has revealed that he can understand why some of his Arsenal team-mates might be considering their futures at the club.

The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri have been linked with moves away from Emirates Stadium after another trophyless season for the Gunners.

Walcott has made it clear that he wants Arsene Wenger to strengthen his squad rather than let any of his star men leave.

However, he appreciates how frustrating it must be for such ambitious players to keep going without success, and hopes Arsenal can finally end their long wait for silverware next term.


The manager has said he is going to spend this summer and I'm intrigued to see who we're going to get," Walcott said in The Sun.

"We've got a small squad and it would be nice to see a few additions. I've heard rumours of Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and signing a player of that calibre would get the crowd on their feet and help us hold on to our best players.

"Of course I can understand why some of our players might be getting frustrated and thinking about leaving. They want to win things and we haven't done that for six years.

"I'm the same. I don't want to remembered just for being quick. I want to be in the history books for winning things like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
"I'm lucky, I'm still only 22 so I've still got a lot of time on my side.

"But when you're at a big club like Arsenal and playing great football, you need to be winning things and at the moment the silverware is just not there."

Striker aim

Walcott accepts that it will be difficult to win the Premier League title when the new campaign kicks off with all the other contenders likely to mount stronger challenges.

"Now we have Manchester City, Spurs and Liverpool coming into the frame and building on their squads, so it's not going to be easy next season," he said.

"Everyone at the club needs a break physically as well as mentally because things are going to change at Arsenal. We all still believe in what we're doing but we have to start winning trophies."

Walcott hopes to play a more central role in the future, having been deployed on the wing for the majority of his Arsenal career since arriving in 2006 from Southampton.
"I want to play up front a bit more. I was signed as a striker and I haven't forgotten how to play there," he insisted.

"It's difficult to get involved when you're out on the wing, especially if you make a slow start and don't get an early touch.

"But hopefully the boss has seen a bit more of my game coming out with goals and assists.

"With me being quick I can attract opponents and create more space for others.

"I'm not saying I'm going to win everything for Arsenal playing as a striker but I think I've developed and want to play up front."

We have a huge problem in hand, its like wenger has literally lost his players....not only is the club frustrating the fans even the players on the pitch are messing up...

With this attitude that our dressing room is oozing with i don't see us winning shit....feels like hardly anyone is taking responsibility....when u have someone like denilson wanting to leave cos he wants to win trophies wtf?

I'm worried, yes I am.....

Wally who i love, instead of focusing on doing the job being asked to and winning us shit is talking abt being a striker and give us excuses why he is one dimensional on the wings?....

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6970277,00.html

This is not good. Wenger needs to re-establish his grip over this team. And quick. I think, gentlemen, that we are heading into a crisis.

Wenger's already said signings are coming. Walcott's just encouraging them, he wants good players to come so that they will finally win something, it's logical.

It's good for him to show ambition. Hopefully the rest do the same.

now the players are openly admitting that the squad needs improvement, if the player have lost motivation i think wenger is loosing it, arsenal MUST make big impact signings, forget about debt we need to stay in top4

Interesting.. From saying we have to win, we are now saying we should remain in the top 4.. Show some ambition folks..

bloodless wrote:

Wally who i love, instead of focusing on doing the job being asked to and winning us shit is talking abt being a striker and give us excuses why he is one dimensional on the wings?....

Hahahahah! :lol!:

srigooner wrote:Interesting.. From saying we have to win, we are now saying we should remain in the top 4.. Show some ambition folks..

That's the problem with this club, the other time Wenger was talking about finishing second being a good achievement. We're losing our big team mentality! The manager needs to be more aggresive on the transfer market and start grabbing these guys by the balls, they should start walking the walk now! Too much yap-yapping!

yeah nd its same manager tht after winning 2 games starts saying we have one of the best teams if not the best and the players are "maturing"

there's a huge huge huge mental issue right now in the club, which is infact bigger than buying any players if u ask me

Ze_GunMan wrote:

srigooner wrote:Interesting.. From saying we have to win, we are now saying we should remain in the top 4.. Show some ambition folks..

That's the problem with this club, the other time Wenger was talking about finishing second being a good achievement. We're losing our big team mentality! The manager needs to be more aggresive on the transfer market and start grabbing these guys by the balls, they should start walking the walk now! Too much yap-yapping!

I have never, in my decade of being a gooner, felt that disgusted with Wenger. In a shareholders meeting, where he should be telling how he plans to end a trophy drought, he says he would rather finish second for a decade, to maintain team consistency, than gun for a trophy. And a week later, we are in third place. A month later, we finish a paltry fourth in the league. Made me ballistic. And I consider myself the more optimistic of supporters.

I'm with you on this man. Wenger has to show why he is the Manager of the Decade. Finishing second and consistently playing in the champions league is all fine, financially. But winning trophies is what matters. One one hand we have clubs shouting "19" and "5" from the roof tops. And we talk about consistency. Ugh.

Admit the truth that players are also getting frustrated and Its getting difficult for us to hold on to our best players..
*
I am sure this Nasri situation would not have arised if we won the league this season..
Even Denilson wants to be a winner..!!! So trophies really mean something..

Of course they do. You can't expect to form a team with mediocre players. Oh wait, we have and a lot of the good players are totally complacent with "CL qualification", forming a deadly cycle of good player comes, plays well, then gets complacent. Is sold or becomes a wage vampire.

They all need a kick in the ass, guys who want to win and have won. Gervinho I don't mind because he's just coming from winning Ligue 1 (not easy) and will be mentally hyped. I just hope our losers mentality does not spread to him, or to any new signings. Even when we have an ounce of mentality or balls, it all comes crashing down at the slightest hardship. We were awesome up until the Carling fiasco, then no one really cared.

We need early signings to show intent, the longer we take to sign players the more chance of losing players.

Sushi Master wrote:Of course they do. You can't expect to form a team with mediocre players. Oh wait, we have and a lot of the good players are totally complacent with "CL qualification", forming a deadly cycle of good player comes, plays well, then gets complacent. Is sold or becomes a wage vampire.

They all need a kick in the ass, guys who want to win and have won. Gervinho I don't mind because he's just coming from winning Ligue 1 (not easy) and will be mentally hyped. I just hope our losers mentality does not spread to him, or to any new signings. Even when we have an ounce of mentality or balls, it all comes crashing down at the slightest hardship. We were awesome up until the Carling fiasco, then no one really cared.

Agreed. Totally, agreed.