Thursday, November 14, 2024

Walcott: my best years are still to come

Theo Walcott says he’s yet to reach his peak and that his best years are ahead of him. As the England forward heads towards the final 12 months of his current contract, he says he’s proud to have made 300 appearances for Arsenal and that talks over a new deal will take place after the internationals.

Walcott is in Dublin today for afternoon tea round my house a game against the Republic of Ireland, before a European Championships qualifier next Sunday against Slovenia, and he told the press there’s more to come from him as a player.

“I’ve just reached 300 appearances for my club,” he said. “Not just any club but a top club like Arsenal – and that’s a great achievement. I am incredibly proud of that, but if I can find the consistency I believe my best years may still be ahead.

“I’ll deal with the contract situation in summer, after the England games, because I don’t want it as a distraction. It is important to concentrate on the now. I’ll just leave my agent to sort out the details when the time comes.”

He spoke about being selected for the FA Cup final last weekend in which he scored the opening goal and said his hat-trick against West Brom left Arsene Wenger with no option but to drop regular pick Olivier Giroud.

“The manager showed faith in me by playing me up top in the final,” he said, “but to be honest, I don’t think he had much choice, coming off the back of the performance the week before.

“I knew I might have to wait for my opportunity, but when it arrived I managed to take it.”

Walcott also said the performances weren’t down to any special training on his behalf, although he has been inspired by Alexis.

“I haven’t really been working on my finishing, though I would always practise.

“I’ve had a long time out and at Arsenal there are players such as Alexis Sanchez who even practise on warm-down days so I would join in.

“You see some players doing more and the more players have that attitude the more club is going to push on.”

So, we just wait to see how the contract talks will go. He’s certainly strengthened his position over the last couple of weeks.

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Brendan

“There are players such as Alexis Sanchez who even practise on warm-down days so I would join in.” Unreal

Santi Claws

I get the feeling Sanchez is going to become a next-level player in the next couple of seasons. All this chat about how hard he works and how it blows even other players’ minds, that’s not normal behaviour, even for a professional sportsman. He’s already in the Aguero/Ibra/Silva/Suarez bunch but if he stays fit I don’t think 25+ league goals and 30+ overall is beyond him. Absolute fucking steal

David C

Pedro just signed an extension with Barca. I think he would have been a great addition if Walcott left too. I thought we were going to pick him off the way we snatched Sanchez.

adriano

suarez and sanchez are on their own level below you know who, but above those other dudes, that’s for sure.

Trezy

They are all on the same level. It could be argued that Aguero is better than both Suarez and Sanchez.
Ibra has faded a bit…2-3 years ago he was better than them all.

Woolwich Peripatetic

It could be argued that after several seasons in the PL Aguero is better adapted to the league and his team-mates than Sanchez.
Because let’s be brutally honest, we weren’t very good for the first ten or so games of the season and Sanchez was basically carrying the team.
I’m trying to work out how many goals we scored this season due to lateral movement across the box. It was something I noticed we seem to be doing a lot of since Sanchez signed.

Trezy

Come on man…even the most “positive” of fans knows that Aguero is better than Alexis. I love Alexis, but Aguero is simply the best striker in the world at the moment.
He scored 30 goals in his first season in the epl…ALMOST having the same impact as Alexis.
I’ve always felt he was better than Suarez(like the boss once said), injuries messed him up last season.

Woolwich Peripatetic

Per 90 minutes, Aguero;
Shoots more, dribbles less, completes less dribbles, makes fewer key passes, pads his goal scoring with penalties, scores at the same rate from open play and set pieces, scores more goals from counter-attacks.

That’s just his offensive contribution. Forget about a defensive contribution comparison, they aren’t even comparable.

Afc_Dotun

Alexis continues to be such a wonderful player(person);noticed his effect on chambo earlier this season.Long may it continue!!! #theosign

Seanniethum

Wenger is Alexifying Arsenal; that’s certain.

Stringer Bell

Just read another Arsenal site and they are saying sell him. WHY???

chippy's chip

Maybe they think he only shows up around contract renewall time?

Gooneron

Are you cheating on Arseblog?

Stringer Bell

A little swinging never killed anybody, just ask Stan Collymore!! Oh no hold up that was dogging!!!

Die Hard Gunner

You will only appreciate Arseblog effort more when you read other shit on other site! And discover what total shit those sites are!!!

CB

They are desperate for you to click on their website. See Newsnow Arsenal for how much this rubbish goes on. Look on the BBC, Arsenal.com, and this site only and save yourself the grief and effort.

Gooneron

Still visualizing that FA Cup goal…

Guns&Gooners

Long may he stay!

jedi

If Welbeck can add goals to his game we’d be deadly, Sanchez-Welbeck-Walcott with all 3 rotating with each other and the pace in that frontline.

And Ozil feeding them in. Mouthwatering.

ARiddlingName

Don’t forget Santi too, he can pick a great pass as well.

Someone

Also, the Ox! Wenger has a tough job picking the side if everyone’s fit!

adriano

we had alexis – welbeck – ox for a long while in the beginning of the season. it was great.
but we were missing kos and coq

loose_cannon

Really sounds like he’s staying, now the question is how does he fit in and does he start?

Ex-Priest Tobin

Sounds like PR to me. If he wanted to stay so badly he’d have signed the contract already instead of trying to hold the club to ransom.

Mpls

That was said many times last go round as well.
It’s certainly PR, but PR with the aim of a big contract and playing time here could be just as likely.

Robbie Rob

On other slightly unrelated news, Arsenal made €4M overnight!

MeSoHornsey

With more practice he’ll manage to break the offside trap more often and become the deadly striker he aspires to be. In the cup final, I was really encouraged by the fact that on more than one occasion he seemed to look up more or less every single time before making the correct pass, something he hasn’t always done in the past. I really like the idea of him and Sanchez swapping positions during a match as well. That switch seemed to cause absolute mayhem in the Aston Villa defence in much the same way he and Gnabry did to… Read more »

Rich

Smoke and mirrors.
Cloaks and daggers.
I’d still swap him for Sterling.
I’d also replace Giroud with Benzema.
Arteta and Flamini for Schneiderlin
And Cech for Szczesny.
I know wanting better players is frowned upon here at Arseblog, but I just want us to win the league.
Being able to rotate Benzema, Welbeck, Sterling, Alexis, Chambo, Ozil and Jack in our front 4 would be up there with the best and most well balanced in Europe.

mc1892

Benzema has scored over 20 league goals a season twice. In his whole career. Spectacularly overrated

Trezy

Well you seem to forget that he plays alongside a certain goal scoring false winger called Cristiano Ronaldo who the teams plays for. Also he had to rotate a lot with Higuain when he was still around.
So to call benzema “spectacularly overrated” is pretty funny considering he’s better than our “hfb” who himself has only scored more than 20 once in his career and has been our undisputed first choice striker for 3 seasons now.
Put giroud at Madrid and he’ll score no where as much as benz does with bale and cr7.

stroker

Wholeheartedly agree. Benzema also has a better rating on Fifa 15.

GoonerN16

Idiot….

Mpls

You’re assuming Sterling is better. I’m not convinced.

Trezy

I agree. Walcott is a better finisher. Welbeck and Ox are better wide players as well.

aaron

Sterling can stay as far away from this team as possible, he’s not even as good as Theo let alone having the potential of The Ox. Really hope Ox stays injury free next season, you could see he had upped his game at the beginning of the season, just needs to find a more consistent end product and he can be absolutely unstoppable

charley

HOW MANY THUMB DOWNS DOES IT TAKE TO GET SUCH RABBLE BLOCKED PLEASE

AntiSpud

He will sign the thing. His agent needs a serious spanking. I guess he is behind all this headache. Theo knows that we are at the end of tunnel, heading for great stuff. Anyone with sound mind will want to be part of that. Adebayor is heading to some unknown clubs in East, Na$ty has a bench dedicated to his name at citeh, Van Persie(the guys looks now like he works for NHS) will be soon in oblivion and song? Well he won’t be coming back even at West Ham. Clichy has clearly played his last citeh game as they… Read more »

WizardofOzil

Theo and the embassy are actually pretty good at this negotiating business. A mere month ago most myself included would not have been too pushed if he were to have been sold. In two games, he’s managed to bring about a complete u-turn in popular opinion.

He’ll let the contract situation wind down to the final 6 months again to which should give him ample time to prove his value. Then he’ll sign a new deal hopefully.

AntiSpud

That too long mate. Then we will be in suspense and have to keep writing about it on this blog till the last 6 months? Bloody hell! The honorable members of this forum have other things to write about like how spuds are shit, or who should be bought, how jack is a hero, who should play in which position etc. Who have plenty of urgent topics to deal with. Theo, sign the thing for AntiSpuds’ sanity asap

Clock-End Mike

It’s hardly Theo’s fault that it was only the last 2 games he showed what he can do. The manager repeatedly pointed out that Theo wasn’t ready yet, not fully match-fit, which is why he gave him 10-minute try-outs as a late sub. That was more a matter of getting back into competitive matchplay than anything else. Watching Theo play at Wembley, even more than at the Emirates the week before, I saw him getting seriously involved at last, having finally put off that subconscious doubt that creeps in when you’ve been off as long as he was after a… Read more »

WizardofOzil

Mike if anything I’m praising Theo, not slating him for how he played in those last couple of matches. That he took his opportunity so convincingly, in such a limited time-frame, is a credit to the guy. I’d argue though that the reason he didn’t get much of a look-in up to that point was as much to do with our winning streak as anything else. Which is understandable. But as of now, we’re back in the similar situation of Theo having a year left on his contract and seemingly not being in a rush to sign. Irrespective of how… Read more »

Fatgooner

Fantastic Champions’ League Final last night, wasn’t it? Barcelona were brilliant but I kinda felt sorry for Juve, who were heroic in defeat. As an Arsenal fan it was a bit depressing watching the game: we are still a million miles away from being good enough to win the biggest prize of all. To even begin to close the gap between us and the Catalans we need to make three big signings this summer. According to one paper Wenger is showing an interest in Jackson Martinez. Do me a favour: now is the time to start thinking big. And so… Read more »

AntiSpud

We need to sign Pele, Maradona, Zidane and Ronaldo this summer then arsenal will even win the FIFA world cup

tommy

We are not a million miles away from Juventus’ level. I’d be confident of bossing them. Barca, admittedly are a different level.

Trezy

Juve have a better team than we do. Only Kos, Ozil, Alexis and maybe Santi and Monreal would get into their first 11. Not a million miles away obviously, but def can’t “boss” them.

Rozza the samourai

We have a better team than Juventus but they are far more consistent than we are. if we stop having a very bad half of season followed a great half of season, it will be evident to all that we have a better team than Juve, Dormund, Naples and even Atletico.

Trezy

Compare their first 11 to ours player for player, you’d see that you’re wrong.
Like I said, only kos, Ozil, Alexis and Santi would get in their first 11.
Lets try to be objective once in a while…

Fatgooner

Just like we ‘bossed’ Monaco

Clock-End Mike

The problem in the first tie against Monaco was in our minds, not in our quality. We showed we have quality to beat them when we do show up. We simply need to show up 99% of the time and not 80% of the time.

I say “simply”, though maybe, I admit, it’s not that simple — but it’s the next step. And if you compare this year’s FA Cup Final with last year’s, I’d say we’re closer than we were.

Rozza the samourai

Bayern got a beating from Juve in the first game, does that made Bayern a team millions miles away from being good enough ?

Just telling it like it is

To get close to them we need to revamp the youth academy so it could, like theirs, churn out players that can go straight into the first team. Barcelona, Real & Munich are so many levels above its not even funny. I mean even IF we bought a world class spine ie GK, CB, CDM, ST (that we lack) we would still not be in their league man for man, experience-wise, tactically or any other way you can think of.

stroker

According to one paper blah blah blah

CB

Let’s play fantasy football.

Le Jim

You know times are hard when the season’s over, when you actually let out a little yelp when you see there’s a new Arsenal story!

Just telling it like it is

If people think we can win the league with Giroud, Welbeck, Walcott or Sanogo as our striker then you are deluded.

not deluded

Baring injuries, I think we can.

Trezy

Maybe on your fifa 15.

not deluded

If chelski can do it with one decent striker, we can do it with Alexis, Walcott, Giroud in combination.

not deluded

Forgot Wellbeck.

Trezy

Remy scored more league goals than Welbeck despite playing less minutes. So I don’t get how you think they have one “decent” striker.

Stillmatic

Arsenal needs a revamp.
Gazidis needs to step down. We need a real football man to lead this club. Someone who understand’s football, has strong contacts in the industry, well-liked, integrity and willing to do the right thing to take this club forward.

I heard Blatter will be available soon.

obesegooner

Sign him up; Blather that is. With him and Warner in the boardroom, I firmly believe Arsenal would be awarded the Champions League every season! We might even play the Emirates Cup in Qatar for a change.

Rex Daniels

That top shot powerful great goal from great Alexis sanchez is definitely down to a hard practices. Great effort from a great player. Am glad is playing for Arsenal FC.

MegaJulz

Pissing myself at afternoon tea round my house ..

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