The Curious Case Of Theo Walcott

Is Theo Walcott...the ultimate big game player for Arsenal ?
Ever since Theo Walcott joined Arsenal he has consistently shown up whenever played in big games, or most of the times, at the very least.

For those who don't know much about Theo Walcott , he is England's very own golden boy, being touted as the next big thing ever since he was 16. He is short , but incredibly fast & has wicked stamina, although being injury prone. He is also very clinical. Can play as a striker but has mostly been deployed on the right wing. He is right footed and 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) tall. Walcott has evolved from being a one hit wonder ( Scoring a hat trick against Croatia ) to being praised by the worlds greatest player Lionel Messi as "One of the most dangerous players I'v ever played against" . Even as a youngster, who can forget his legendary run against Liverpool in the CL ? But as the years have progressed, so has Theo. At the beginning of the season, Theodore James Walcott was being assaulted by the media being called things such as : "Having no football brain." & " Only making it due to his pace " , Walcott would ignore the media and come back stronger as ever as this year, Walcott has really stepped up to the plate, from scoring a hat-trick on the opening day, to busting then net against Blackburn, to his EXCELLENT display against Chelsea, Alan Hansen and Chris Waddle really have eaten their words. He remains humble and says all he wants to do is perform for Arsenal and silence his critics. Also a testament to his loyalty, there was a time where Theo Walcott could have left Arsenal for a tiny fee of 400,000 pounds. With Manchester City & Chelsea interested, Walcott quickly signed a contract and pledged his loyalty to his beloved Arsenal. Since then he has scored against Chelsea, Barcelona,Villareal , just to name some, and has given us some excellent performances in others. All this, while being played out of position! Walcott deserved his starting XI position early in the season due to his excellent performances, and if it weren't for injuries he would've kept it. Interesting to see how he's going to fair next season.


We have been so caught up with one English golden boy, we might've forgotten another.

My next in-depth thread is going to be about Djourou & Verminator and our CB situation, wait for it.

I actually think he is more suited for the wing the the center.

Wont be a world class player, but will be an extremely good player.

I still believe if he understand how to dribble and adds little bit of trickery to his artillery (crossing could do some work too, get beckham in ) , he would be a great threat to clubs , but much for Arsenal in Europe than in the EPL for me.

AnJl wrote:I actually think he is more suited for the wing the the center.

Wont be a world class player, but will be an extremely good player.

I still believe if he understand how to dribble and adds little bit of trickery to his artillery (crossing could do some work too, get beckham in ) , he would be a great threat to clubs , but much for Arsenal in Europe than in the EPL for me.

why won't he be a world class player? & Idk , he has shown that hes clinical enough to play in the center , were going to have to trust Wenger bout his position.

Walcott is someone who is much better when he relies on instinct rather than having to think about what to do. He knows when and where to run without the ball and he knows how to stick the ball in the net without really thinking too much about it.

Else where, his drbbling is so-so. He's never quite sure whether he should go inside or outside, or if he should beat his man and cross or cross early. He's also too easily marked out on the wing because once you negate his pace, he hasn't got much else to offer.

His pace plus intelligent movement would make him very dangerous as a striker playing on the shoulder of the defensive line and it's where his future lies, in my opinion.

GoonerJay29 wrote:Walcott is someone who is much better when he relies on instinct rather than having to think about what to do. He knows when and where to run without the ball and he knows how to stick the ball in the net without really thinking too much about it.

Else where, his drbbling is so-so. He's never quite sure whether he should go inside or outside, or if he should beat his man and cross or cross early. He's also too easily marked out on the wing because once you negate his pace, he hasn't got much else to offer.

His pace plus intelligent movement would make him very dangerous as a striker playing on the shoulder of the defensive line and it's where his future lies, in my opinion.

haha can you forget that dribble he did against Barcelona this year? I hope you know what I'm talking about :farao:

Walcott's game is affected by the oppositions tactics . He generally looks lost when the opposition is playing a deep line , no space for him to run . I'm of the opinion Theo will look much better if there's a genuine winger on the other side too .

I'd like to see him switching wings once in a while , for the guy knows how to cut in and finish from the left .

drakefyre wrote:Walcott's game is affected by the oppositions tactics . He generally looks lost when the opposition is playing a deep line , no space for him to run . I'm of the opinion Theo will look much better if there's a genuine winger on the other side too .

I'd like to see him switching wings once in a while , for the guy knows how to cut in and finish from the left .

He will only learn that through experience , its not like there are alot of people to teach him.........

There's only so much he can learn though and, personally, I think he's experienced enough at this point to know the ins and outs of his position. Sure, he may be 21 but he's played over a hundred times for club and country as a right winger and if he doesn't know a few tricks that'll help him against deep and tight defences then chances are he never will.

ali8775 wrote:

AnJl wrote:I actually think he is more suited for the wing the the center.

Wont be a world class player, but will be an extremely good player.

I still believe if he understand how to dribble and adds little bit of trickery to his artillery (crossing could do some work too, get beckham in ) , he would be a great threat to clubs , but much for Arsenal in Europe than in the EPL for me.

why won't he be a world class player? & Idk , he has shown that hes clinical enough to play in the center , were going to have to trust Wenger bout his position.

Oh, dont get me wrong on both counts ,

i would very much like him to turn world class, but remember, to be world class, he will have to add alot more than what he has and what i have stated, being realistic about it really.

About playing in the center:

1. if the formation changes. if he plays by himself upfront in a 433 ,you wont notice him all game, especially if the team play deep.

2. His intelligence will have to improve quickly. Like gjay said, he relies on instinct, but instinct can only take you that far, to be a world class player and playing upfront , you have to be very very intelligent, that or he suddenly find Drogba's workout routines in his hands

GoonerJay29 wrote:There's only so much he can learn though and, personally, I think he's experienced enough at this point to know the ins and outs of his position. Sure, he may be 21 but he's played over a hundred times for club and country as a right winger and if he doesn't know a few tricks that'll help him against deep and tight defences then chances are he never will.

Then i think he never will

I'm really looking forward to what he's going to add to his game next year.

This year, his movement and his finishing just went up to another level.

Expecting an improved season from him, especially with more and more competition for his place.

Would love to see him facing up players and taking them 1 on 1.

AnJl wrote:

ali8775 wrote:

AnJl wrote:I actually think he is more suited for the wing the the center.

Wont be a world class player, but will be an extremely good player.

I still believe if he understand how to dribble and adds little bit of trickery to his artillery (crossing could do some work too, get beckham in ) , he would be a great threat to clubs , but much for Arsenal in Europe than in the EPL for me.

why won't he be a world class player? & Idk , he has shown that hes clinical enough to play in the center , were going to have to trust Wenger bout his position.

Oh, dont get me wrong on both counts ,

i would very much like him to turn world class, but remember, to be world class, he will have to add alot more than what he has and what i have stated, being realistic about it really.

About playing in the center:

1. if the formation changes, playing by himself upfront and you wont notice him all game, especially if the team play deep.

2. His intelligence will have to improve quickly. Like gjay said, he relies on instinct, but instinct can only take you that far, to be a world class player and playing upfront , you have to be very very intelligent, that or he suddenly find Drogba's workout routines in his hands

Walcott is another player who would flourish in a 442..

srigooner wrote:

AnJl wrote:

ali8775 wrote:

AnJl wrote:I actually think he is more suited for the wing the the center.

Wont be a world class player, but will be an extremely good player.

I still believe if he understand how to dribble and adds little bit of trickery to his artillery (crossing could do some work too, get beckham in ) , he would be a great threat to clubs , but much for Arsenal in Europe than in the EPL for me.

why won't he be a world class player? & Idk , he has shown that hes clinical enough to play in the center , were going to have to trust Wenger bout his position.

Oh, dont get me wrong on both counts ,

i would very much like him to turn world class, but remember, to be world class, he will have to add alot more than what he has and what i have stated, being realistic about it really.

About playing in the center:

1. if the formation changes, playing by himself upfront in a 433 and you wont notice him all game, especially if the team play deep.

2. His intelligence will have to improve quickly. Like gjay said, he relies on instinct, but instinct can only take you that far, to be a world class player and playing upfront , you have to be very very intelligent, that or he suddenly find Drogba's workout routines in his hands

Walcott is another player who would flourish in a 442..

yes he would, but again , we wont change it cause fab may not be able to play to this best of his ability , well , the 60% of the times he plays

H creates a lot of space for his teams by being on the field. Just being on pushes a defense back and forces them to sit back. He has really unproved his finishing and crossing. He uses his pace really well and males intelligent runs especially when fabregas is on.

the_gooner wrote:I'm really looking forward to what he's going to add to his game next year.

This year, his movement and his finishing just went up to another level.

Expecting an improved season from him, especially with more and more competition for his place.

Would love to see him facing up players and taking them 1 on 1.

I agree, I'm looking for him to continue to improve his finishing, decisiveness, movement, etc. And I am hoping he has an entire year similar to the way he started this one.

I'm guessing we may see him a bit at CF during the pre-season to see how he copes...

What I don't understand is why when he is playing on the wing he isn't allowed to switch flanks more often to have the chance to cut it on his right foot and mix it up a bit...

As I understand it, Walcott used his time during summer and the pre-season to work on his finishing and off-the-ball runs. From what I'm seeing, they have both improved drastically this season and so I am expecting him to improve on other areas that might be lacking to that same effect as well.

He has done extremely well tbh, and I'm just waiting to see what he has to offer next season. Should be very exciting. He's one of the most underrated youngsters out there now only because he's been around for too long

Here's something interesting:

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-Southampton-starlet-will-sign-July-1st-despite-Manchester-United-Liverpool-interest-article746002.html

Provided that turns out to be true, and that Gervinho also joins Arsenal, then what that does mean for Walcott? Surely, it would mean a move into a central position.

After all, Wenger made Walcott the most expensive 16-year old in history. He's not going to give up on him as a player, that's for damn sure.

Well, Chamberlain is one for the future. Does this mean that Wenger has plans for Walcott to move in the middle? Maybe. We need to see how the rest of the transfer season goes. For example, if we buy Benzema, then I think everyone would agree that Walcott will stay on the wing.

Too early to judge.

I wonder if he will impress Hansen this season hah.

he will score 30 goals and hansen will say its because of his pace and he got lucky and what not

I really hope he gets his chance because I also think hes going to comeback bettery again. But hopefully he does continue to make improvements because the team needs some more weapons up top

Theo to score over 20 goals this season.

whenever he plays i feel like we will score..
especially when playing with Fabregas...
but his crossing needs to improve..
and his only position is right wing.. but still he thinks himself as centre forward ?

The only reason I wouldn't stick him in CF is because of his physique. Also, with VP fit it's very hard to bench him. I'd love some rotation, though.

I'd love to see us apply some "1 nil to the Arsenal" tactics with long balls up to Walcott. Catch me if you can