Arsene Wenger thinks Theo Walcott won’t hit top form until January claiming the England international needs two months to get up to speed after ten months on the sidelines.
The 25-year-old has only played 13 minutes of football so far this season – enough to persuade Roy Hodgson to include him in his latest England squad – and is now looking to take the next step by starting games.
“It takes two months,” Wenger said yesterday when quizzed on Walcott’s roadmap to top form.
“Once you’re back in full training, you count two months. Of course, people think you’re back and you play but it’s not like that. Ten months is a long time in top-level football.
“(You lose) the sharpness, the speed. At the top level, it’s a fraction of a second that makes the decisions. And to find the confidence to get away from people.
“You’re nearly there but you’re not there and for a while you think, ‘will that ever come back?’ And suddenly yes, it’s there again. But it takes time to get that fraction of pace.
“You need to go back into contact. He will go with England and get what he needs to. He will get competitive training every day and get back into games.
“At the moment we go from recovery to recovery. He works hard, but maybe he can play against Scotland and gain a lot from that.”
Well versed in the plight of players who return from long spells out only to pick up niggly injuries the boss appears to be dampening expectations at a time when Theo’s return has been hyped up by expectant fans and media alike.
No harm in that. Although you suspect Walcott will be backing himself to get amongst the goals sooner rather than later.
So we’re not going to talk about how he can levitate the ball in mid-air just by looking at it?
mental strength at it’s finest
Sign da ting, fastest player at Arsenal.
@cb. No he’s not, that title now belongs to Hector Bellerin
Bellerin is the fastest over 40m, I believe Walcott still holds the record over 100m, and some people are claiming he’s come back from his injury even faster than before.
‘Some people’ – meaning people that have no first-hand info on Wlacott and are just making stuff up?!
Like Theo Walcott himself
No shit. How could I have first-hand info on Walcott? I meant people at the club, obviously.
“…in a Twitter Q and A with Arsenal’s website on Thursday morning, Walcott revealed that he is now faster than ever.
‘I’ve been clocked faster than I was before when I was fit, so yes the answer is,’ said Walcott.”
http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2014/11/arsenals-theo-walcott-im-faster-now-than-before-my-injury/
Even Jack has commented that Theo looks quicker.
And he’s still the fastest recorded player in football:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/new-data-shows-that-arsenals-theo-walcott-is-still-the-worlds-fastest-player-as-arjen-robben-only-ran-at-31kmh/
This is the only area where I trust Wenger !
Theo, Sanchez, Ox, and Welbeck (with Giroud rotating in to knock some balls down for teammates).
This is going to be fun!
Now sort out that defence on January 1st please! A CB and a holding midfielder will do. As much as I love him, I fear Arteta is getting a little long in the tooth to be relied on every week.