Arsene Wenger says that he has some concerns that a poor midweek showing for England might affect Theo Walcott’s confidence, but says the winger is ‘mentally strong’ and still finding his way back after a cruciate knee ligament injury.
Walcott was the subject of some criticism for his display in England’s 1-1 draw in midweek against Italy, and was substituted after an hour.
However, his club manager has questioned whether it was Roy Hodgson’s doing that he ended up in an unfamiliar role.
“I don’t think it was the intention of Roy Hodgson to play him there,” he said. “Maybe Rooney took the initiative during the game to play higher up and tell Theo to drop back.
“Theo’s strength is the quality of his movements, he wants to go to get on the end of things. He’s not a guy who provides.”
And despite some worries that it might affect him, Wenger has backed the former Southampton man to come good after a long spell out with injury.
“He is not fragile mentally, he is strong mentally,” he said. “But he is disappointed because when you come back you always think you are ready.
“He needs patience. He is at the moment not in his best mood. He is not a fragile type.
“He has big confidence in himself and he has gone through some difficult periods in his life and he has always come out with strength.
“People have a harsh judgement on him that is not deserved because he does well. For me, he is on course to come back.”
when he starts scoring he won’t stop!
He managed a pretty decent goal/assist ratio when he was negotiating with us last time so I’m sure the form will come back once contract talks begin for real. I never used to be this cynical. Damn you RVP, you ruined everything.
He is low on confidence because since coming back from injury and scoring 3 in 4 games, Wenger didn’t play him. Couldn’t even get 5 minutes off the bench.. Welbeck can mis-control, over-run the ball, be clumsy, miss chances, have a worst first touch than nana moon, score 4 goals in 23 league games and still get in in front of Theo.. Oh yeah, he tracks back a bit better! Let Walcott terrorise defences, that’s what he does with his pace and that’s what we need at the end of games instead of sitting back and inviting pressure with no… Read more »
How can it not be an issue with a player being out for as long as he has through injury and not work as hard as he could be demanding higher wages? I really like Theo much as anyone else, but if you can’t see he’s just not applying himself enough you’re in denial of what the actual problem with him is. People don’t play for teams just based on past merits.
Wellbeck does at least make more than one pass a game. Walcott has fluffed his chances after his first few games back, and when not contributing with goals has offered the better part of nothing. That’s not to say he is terrible, or has no future, just that he is below par at the moment. At this crucial and delicatley poised stage in the season, can Wenger afford to have passengers in the starting eleven? Perhaps he can find form and help the team over the line, unfortunately this season is running out of chances to do that.
This.
Me likey your name Deadpool
Dunno why this has so many thumbs down, Welbeck has potential but still isn’t a great player and Theo was on fire before his injury, I don’t see where the hate is coming from.
Blogs has laid down a narrative about Walcott, now everybody follows. While I agree he goes absent in some games, I think it is a matter of confidence. Weird that Wenger says “He is not fragile mentally, he is strong mentally,” he said. “But he is disappointed because when you come back you always think you are ready. “He needs patience. He is at the moment not in his best mood. He is not a fragile type.” Not in his best mood?, but strong mentally? and not fragile? Some would be best served trust Wengers judgement when he says he… Read more »
People are more than capable of making up their own minds about Theo Walcott or any other player.
True, but sheep tend to follow the shepherd.
Everybody just follows what blogs says? Pfft. And Poldi should have been leading the attack, Ozil is lazy, and Diaby is a tough tackling DM enforcer. Oh, and Wenger had all the money he could care to spend during the stadium repayments, he was just being stupid.
Actually sheep just don’t like dogs. The dogs do all the work.
Peoples slagged Ozil because he “didnt do defense” despite what he bring to the team (if you actually watch him), yet want Theo to be in team despite he didnt do defense.
Please stop pointing out people’s hypocrisy. It is very annoying. To them of course.
Totally agree with this comment. I thought same. Wenger is not giving game time to Theo then thinks other people are damaging his confidence. To the contrary, starting him for England was a boost for his confidence. Get him 30 minutes each game to sharpen him up for last give games. This is critical.
….last five games.
yea what a boost first the played him out of position and after 20 minutes they told him to play no.10 because rooney wanted to score, what a boost game that was for theo, that only will low his confidence.
Let’s talk about playing Nacho and Ozil out of position then and even Eboue as a winger for two years. Not meant to criticize Wenger but to challenge your argument. Both Alexis and Welbeck can get injured in the same game. Things like that already happened to us many times, Why not get Theo sharp ? Every player in this world would prefer playing out of position than warming the bench. If you doubt about Theo, check the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A8vwnrI-Rc
Rooney has consistently been a disrespectful fuck to Theo with the England squad. Mr Hero took it upon himself to care more about his goals record than the England team or anything else.
Starting Theo may have been a boost, but pushing him into the #10 role? Theo? With the english media and supporters the way they are why didn’t they just go ahead and pants him?
and media bashing him after the game that he was awful he had 4-5 passes and touch of the ball, what they expected him to do at no.10 did they think should played like messi out of position, that is what i’m talking, theo was pumped for the italy game he was confident after hodgson comments that he will need to fight to come back in england team and theo said bring it on and the gave him a role at no.10 and brand him the worst player of the game how would do that to his confidence, wenger is… Read more »
Brendan Rodgers publicly drives Sterling’s price up, Wenger publicly backs Walcott. Hmmm…
I’d replace ‘Hmmm.’ With ‘nothing new to see here, business as usual.’
What the managers are doing is nothing more than face value in my mind. Rodgers is trying to scare off buyers, which makes sense. Wenger is expressing belief in his player to give him a confidence boost, which is completely his modus operandi.
There is more interesting mischief and intrigue the way you put it though, that’s for certain. But I don’t see it happening.
I still think Theo has a place in our side. First of all, he has better scoring ability than Welbeck or the Ox. He has transformed from the ‘headless chicken’ people used to moan about, to someone who uses his speed intelligently and efficiently. I was especially gutted when he did his cruciate in against sp*rs last year. Finally he had become the kind of striker/winger that we had hoped for (for all those years). He needs that sharpness which you get from playing games, and unfortunately we haven’t had the luxury of getting him settled in with everything being… Read more »
If Walcott had returned in October or early November, he would’ve had a much easier time getting into the team because our performances were subpar. But now the efforts of Giroud, Welbeck, and Sanchez are so key to our style on both sides of the ball that Walcott’s timing is unfortunate. Unless a player is head and shoulders better than your other options, it’s hard to give that player time to get bedded in when points are so crucial with so little time left in the season. Our style requires good team chemistry and Walcott being out for a year… Read more »
He managed to score three goals after his return from injury. I don’t necessarily see his game time as liability.
I don’t see him as liability, but more so removed from the more pressing game we have. He’s a better finisher than Welbeck, but not as consistently involved in the game overall. He needs to stay wider in the final 3rd like he did when that dutchcunt was around because his speed allows him to beat players 1v1 but his technique doesn’t allow him to take on 2+ players in tight spaces. Theo so badly wants that central role but I fear he won’t get a proper opportunity to take it in an Arsenal shirt. I’m not rooting against him… Read more »
cld this mean he’s starting against the mugsmashers? my opinion is yes, which is not à bad idea esp when theo is on top of his game
He’s not on top of his game though.
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But he isn’t, far from it. Still he may start, then again he may not!
cld this mean he’s starting against the mugsmashers? my opinion is yes, which is not à bad idea esp when theo is on top of his game. cheers for three points and a hat trick for theo
This is why I love Arsenal. We love our players and we back them when they’re not at their best. Maybe Jenkison was not good enough to play for us this season, maybe we don’t need Wilshere anymore, maybe Walcott is not that awesome… But who cares ? We believe in them, we love them and we want them to succeed with us. I’m sure we would all be sad if one of them happened to be transfered. There is like a “family spirit” (in french this expression makes sense) in Arsenal. I don’t really know why I felt in… Read more »
Do you watch the same Arsenal I do? Arsenal fans are probably the moaniest fans in the world, even when we’re doing well. I admit, I am from amongst those moany types
Az Ahmed is right, Arsenal fans complain a lot. However, there’s no doubt the team has given us lots of reasons to complain over the past decade. Of course, all things considered, it’s not even bad at all, but we got a bit spoiled with the Henry – Bergkamp times which were abruptly ended by oil money from Russia and the Middle East. Compared to other top CL/Europa teams in the PL, we seem to have more appreciation for our players as individuals. Of course there’s a section that immediately hates a player the rest of the season if they… Read more »
From stillberto: The BFG is not going to get any more mobile. Brilliant.
All of a sudden everyone is singing “sell him ” The issue about small club mentality in England. Across all the top 4 clubs Instead of thinking squad depth everyone has a player X should replace player Y thinking. When he’s signed and back in the team, he will be a dream player for the likes of Ozil and Santi who look up trying to find runners ahead of then. He gives us the one dimension no other player in the team does, direct pace, running behind defenders. Even in his short spell back I think he has been one… Read more »
Only player who offers pace? Ox, Welbz, Alexis???
yes ox,welbz, alexis have the pace but walcott is the only players who makes those timely runs behind the opposition defense and almost every game when playing he will make the run which will be clear one on one with the GK, the other players and the team rarely do that, and that’s theo’s strength which other doesn’t have, yes they have the pace but how many times did we see ox alexis or welbz makes that one run with one ball that are trough one on one, very few and theo can do that every week, he had a… Read more »
Looks like it’s the last season for theo in an arsenal shirt… Figures, we let him go and invest transfer fee and the money he used to get in a player like El sharaawi or sterling…would love Friedman but he’s signed for atletico last summer so that’s a no go…
Well, if Theos Arsenal career is over then it’s over. I still remember his first goal against CFC in the League Cup final where everybody thought that this is the new Henry. Well, 7-8 years and a couple of big injuries and missed expectations it didn’t really happen.
It’s a shame, but AFC is more important than Theo. Hopefully he will leave for another league. So long, Oh mighty Cott of Wall, your song shall echoe in the stands for years, theo, theo, theo, theo………
Let him get a full pre season behind him and im sure he be starting next season.
Who else can get 10-15 goals a season from a wide position,not many.
So Wayne Rooney told Theo to play out of position against the orders of Woy…Really ?
How can Hodgson plan for the future if his captain pulls rank on the players and undermines his manager ? Fucking disgrace.
Theo can be a game changer and at his best a game winner. I hope he stays
The day he got injured last season, I thought we won’t win the league this year, as we lost our speed. He never had a chance to blossom with Ozil. After Alexis and the development of Ox, even Bellerin, we have a much faster squad. Wellbeck adds on top of that and when you want to close down games, you want guys like him to defend up the field, away from our goal. One thing you get with Danny is he will play his heart out. I still would like to keep Walcott, if it comes at a reasonable price,… Read more »
Theo will come back strong.Form is temporary.
I think it sounds like Wenger wants to keep him, but is also telling him to get his act together – my gut feeling is Theo will stay at Arsenal
Good to see people on hear backing our player and remembering the scintillating form he was in pre-injury, when he became the player he was meant to be. The way some Arsenal “fans” were talking up a Liverpool player and dismissing our own was embarrassing quite frankly
Good man Arsene Wenger
I think still has the talent and potential. What worries me is the damage done by his injury. See what a long-term injury has done to Falcao.
He was never that good to begin with. Yea he scores goals but he misses a lot of chances too, always has.
then there’s the ones people don’t think about like when his poor touch or poor pass or lack of vision loses possession, that’s always been part of his game, nothing to do With his injury.
We should keep him if hes happy with the role of super sub/squad player because I doubt he’ll be much more than that with the attacking quality we have now
And then there was the number of times pre injury when he shredded the fullback to the baseline and set up Giroud over and over again. His touch was getting much much better, his strength MUCH better, even his 1v1 attacking was getting better. And he was having a WAY better goals / attempts ratio run than Welbeck and Ox do. The injury came at exactly the wrong time for him- as it always does for our Gunners.
I think we will see a lot more of Theo – yes, some starting – when Debuchy gets back up to form. Arsenal have over the last few years played on the right hand side with a slightly less attacking fullback and slightly less defensively minded attacker – Theo, while on the left Gibbs is much much more frequently bombing forward much higher- to the corner and end line runs and all that. Sagna rarely did that, Debuchy’s crossing is usually from a little farther out. We have played most of the season with 2nd and 3rd choice inexperienced right… Read more »
You’re right theo’s numbers are better than welbeck and the ox… I wonder why both the arsenal and England managers prefer the latter two over walcott?
I guess they don’t pick their team based on stats, big mistake! 😀
One point of many, compadre. They’ve been favored partially because of Theo’s injury and a different mix of players on the field. Nobody said pure stats make the pick.
It was pretty obvious even before his injury that combining Theo with an inexperienced fullback is not the most secure option.
I have just as hard of a time figuring out how he gets starts as anyone else, but if accommodated for he still offers something different. When he gets form he’s penetrating speed, smart runs, and calm finishing.
It’s a weird one. Can’t see Walcott getting the time he needs to play himself into form but the only way he’ll get the contract he wants is if he starts banging them in like he was before his injury. Walcott’s 26 now (same as Sanchez), and this may be his last big contract before his 30s. Shudder to think what he wants per week now we’ve pushed to boat out for Ozil and Sanchez but I guess if he hits that form again anything is possible.