Arsene Wenger says that Theo Walcott can be a prolific goalscorer for Arsenal despite the fact he missed a number of chances against Stoke today.
Selected ahead of Olivier Giroud, Walcott got the opening goal but fluffed some very promising opportunities, however the Arsenal manager says this is something that the England international will improve on.
“He can be a prolific goalscorer,” said Wenger. “When you come out of the game and look at the amount of chances he scored. The bigger the belief he has to score the more he will score. But he gets in good situations.”
Speaking about why he selected Walcott up top for the second game in succession, he said, “To use the movement of Walcott. I know Stoke are a compact, organised team in their own half and Theo could find little pockets to get in their and maybe that you get two or three chances to counter attack at home so maybe you can use that.
“He scored a great goal because you needed technical quality to score and timing in the finish. It is good Giroud came on scored as well.”
And overall the Frenchman was happy with how his team performed.
“If I wanted to be critical I could say that that there is too big a difference between the number of chances we created and the number of goals we scored but that will come quickly once you win your games at home.
“I also believe we have stabilised out defensive record, we have not conceded after a difficult start we did not concede against Liverpool and at Newcastle and today so that is good for our future.”
The team definitely seems to be on an upward trajectory, which is hugely encouraging. Hopefully the competition between Walcott and Giroud will bring out the best in both of them this season.
That picture of Wenger is vogue.
visage
Struck a pose al right !
Got to say, must be a contender for comment of the season. Well spotted mate !!
‘Blue Steel’ the technical term.
That pass from Özil to Walcott though
That pass and also the subsequent touch from Walcott. Nobody’s really pointed it out but it was a superb touch to take the ball under control at full speed, and under pressure. I think blogs has made a point about Walcott (worrying thing is I read this 2 or 3 seasons back), that Walcott when given time to think and assess his options; often pick the wrong ones. When he plays on his instincts however it becomes natural, case in point his goal today. This is where I think Wenger is coming from in this article, he needs to develop… Read more »
Also Coq’s tackle-cum-pass which turned the play on a dime.
Yes, the entire passage of play was the peak of the season so far.
Coquelin’s tackle was perfect and got a deserved roar from the crowd. Everyone then knew when the ball was taken by Ozil he could attempt the pass…he did to perfection and as noted Walcott’s touch was superb.
That was a unique passage of play from start to finish that few teams are capable of putting together.
The touch was good, but the push just before the touch was great! Was a little reminiscent of Henry’s “can’t touch this” move slightly before shooting.
Just saying…
Forever COYG!!!
Lots of missed opportunities today. But hopefully as confidence and momentum build we’ll start burying more of those chances. Can’t help thinking somebody is going to get a real stuffing soon. Here’s hoping it happens next weekend!
We are creating shots at a higher average rate than Munich, Madrid or Barcelona (and City). Which is daft because all of those teams are padding their numbers by shooting lots AFTER the first goal goes in rather than before.
Seen enough to be optimistic. If Giroud and Walcott can convert 33% (one out of every 3) of their chances, we are looking at 20+ goals from them both. But they need to have the hunger and desire that will drive them to spend longer times in training to work on their finishing.
We have enough in our midfield to gurantee constant supply of ammo.
Let’s hope we will be lucky on the injury front; at least till January.
33% is a very high success rate. Pretty certain no one else in the world is that high.
50% would be impressive.
Should say 25% would be impressive….. ooops
Walcott scored with 25% of his shots last season and Giroud 24%, but both are well below that so far this time around. A conversion rate of 33% should be the level they consistently achieve at a club like Arsenal.
What direction do we go against Chelsea? I think given how slow their CBs look at the moment, especially Terry, I would favor Walcott. I like how, when played down the middle, he glides across the entire back line and presents a threat to all of the opposition defenders rather than just the left side. It seems to open up more space than when we use Giroud, especially when Ramsey is played on the right, which limits our speed threat. By the way, it’s bullshit that we play in Croatia on Wednesday before Chelsea at the early Saturday time, while… Read more »
He has a good record against Chelsea but i think Wenger will go with Oli up top!
Not sure if he can play up top against the top teams
I think it’s more about the style of play rather than the level of the team.
If a teams priority is to defend then all strikers have a problem but he’s less suited for it.
Play them both, Giroud should have come on for Ramsey. I love the Welsh Jesus, but right now it’s not working for him. He’s dwelling on the ball and slowing the attack too often. Although since I wrote this, he’ll start on the right against Chel$ea and score three.
Giroud for Zagreb, Walcott for Cuntski. For what I saw, Cuntski defenders, mainly Ivanovic and Cunt Terry are currently struggling with pacey and penetrating opponents. Walcott suits that well and hopefully we’ll take the chance this time again.
The number of chances wasted by Walcott was beggar belief, but if it took time to put Henry on track, hopefully we’ll see the same end for Walcott. Without underestimating Zagreb, it’ll be also good to rotate some of our XI.
He had a fantastic and prolific season several seasons back. He has improved in use of the ball and touch. I don’t understand why many feel that things will always stay the same. They don’t. That would otherwise mean Bellerin and Coquelin whom we paid so much for would never have stepped up. Players go through patches. Santi had a rough patch coming back last season where he could not find his feet never mind the target. Then he went into a brilliant spell that propelled us back up the league and stabilised us with his performances next to Coquelin.… Read more »
The realist shit you ever wrote…
Forever COYG!!!!
Santori. You call other fans pompous and self righteous because they do not share all of your views. Where is your humility?
For that matter, a shout to Ozil who has been EXQUISITE with that pass and has created 76 goal scoring chances, more than any PL player. You won’t hear the media trumpet that. The experts like McNulty would rather defer to the opinion of Piers Morgan. They would prefer the view that Moanrinho was right to get rid of Cech for 11m to us. They would rather view Liverpool as an outstanding team on the up with ambition to spend 80m ++++ this season and point to their first half against us where they near ran riot albeit against an… Read more »
Funny how there’s a completely different Ozil who plays for Germany, who the commentators and pundits rate as one of the best players in the world.
You’d almost think the cunts would say any old cobblers to put an Arsenal player down…….
but Ozil almost wasted his great game by not tracking back a few times. You could hear the groans around the stadium; it’s not because he lost the ball, it’s his attitude after losing it.
Sanchez is getting off the hook for missing his chances as well. Bit unlucky, but he has to start getting that ball inside the post!
3 points on Wed please!
I really hope Theo ‘does a Ramsey’ and goes from source of frustration to player of the year in a few months.
Really really really hope we fuck up the Trump of football!
Dont care how.. Just fucking wipe them! Including Fabregas dont care …Humiliate them!! Doooooooooiiiiiiittttttttttttt
I believe Walcott has 11 in his last 11 premier starts, ,not to be sniffed at.
Also as someone who played the game at a half decent level i think it is harder for players now to get continuity into their game with larger squads and rotation.
Personally i always felt sharper after a run of at least ten consecutive gsmes before i felt match sharp
I would like to see us change to 4-4-2 and have Theo up front with Cash Reserves. With Self Sustainability ready to come on if Coq gets injured
Theo did well (bar glaring misses), but reading Wenger’s description of why he picked him…. is it just me that wonder’s why not Sánchez up top?
Those little pockets of space Theo finds, Sánchez finds more so, plus has more energy to give CBs the run around and the dribbling ability to run at them.