Arsene Wenger says that he sees Theo Walcott as a striker more than a wide man, after the player came out this week and said he’d prefer to play on the right hand side again.
Despite years of talking about how much he wanted to be a centre-forward, the 27 year old admitted he’d more or less given up on that ambition, preferring a return to the right hand side where he has played most of his football for Arsenal.
However, it seems unlikely that he’ll be granted his wish as the manager wants to use him as a striker and feels that’s his best position.
“I believe that he has all the ingredients to be a great striker, because of the quality of his runs,” he said.
“He is an intelligent player, a good finisher. I believe that to use his runs in the final third for us could be very efficient.”
One the main reasons Wenger stopped picking Walcott on the right was his lack of defensive awareness, something the Arsenal manager pointed out.
“He is not a great defender,” he continued. “On the flank, today there is much defensive work asked from the players that you lose a lot of his qualities when you put him there. For me in my head I will use him more up front.”
The Frenchman pointed to Walcott’s dismal performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford last season as one which has sapped the player’s confidence, but has backed him to come good again.
“On the day he didn’t perform well, but it was not only Theo Walcott who didn’t have a great game, it was everybody,” he said.
“From then on, people became sceptical. You know a year ago he was more confident to play through the middle and I’m convinced that changed his mind, the fact that he was not selected for the Euros was a big blow for him.
“Theo is intelligent, he analyses well what’s happening to him and he’s mentally very strong, and the way he practises, the way he works since the start of the season, I think I’m very positive that we can get a great season from him.”
Quite what it says about Theo’s mental strength is open to question, and the Arsenal manager always tries to boost his players confidence publicly. Although, the fact he rarely selected him as a striker last season – even when Olivier Giroud went through his goalscoring drought – says a lot.
If Arsenal do sign a striker this summer (hahahahaha, etc), it means Walcott is likely to be pushed further down the pecking order.
All in all it’s a confused, unhealthy situation with the player saying one thing and the manager something quite different. After ten years at the club, there really should be more clarity than this.
I’m beyond disappointed. I can’t bear to watch us with Theo up front. Contemplating not watching any games where he’s starting. I know nobody cares, but I’ll save myself frustrations and heartache. No other big club with an ounce of pride would’ve kept theo.
I don’t want to cut Theo much slack, but Wenger is really at fault for this as much as Theo.
He waited and then caved into Theo’s desire to be a striker (where we all suspected he would struggle), and now that Theo wants to move back to his better position Wenger says, “Nahhhh.”
I love Arsene, but this is gross mismanagement of a player. I don’t understand his logic at all. The obvious solution for the player and club is to move on. This makes zero sense and it makes me sad.
Right then lads, here’s to another shit season. Looking forward to being out of all competitions by February/March time. Can’t wait for the Emirates to be a pit of anger and fire, when the inevitable meek performances start showing up, and the fans start tearing each other’s throats out… and what makes it all better is I’ve paid for the privilege.
Can’t.
Fucking.
Wait.
Who says anyone actually wants him? Theo HAS value. We can’t just wave a magic wand and get someone to pay the 12-15m I would guess Wenger would want for him. Wenger has seen he is struggling and I have faith he is trying to get a striker in.
Theo Walcott is just an average player with exceptional speed. He is not suited up front because he doesn’t know how to hold on to the ball play with his back to goal use his body to shield the ball. I was paying close attention to him against vikings and noticed he also comes to the ball dropping into midfield and doesn’t know where to be sometimes in the box. He prefers running on the shoulder of defenders which is not bad it’s just he needs the other things mentioned above to be effective. Knowing when to run to the… Read more »
Evidently westham were very interested in Theo and ready to table a legitimate bid. Even if Wenger used Walcott as a squad player it can’t be justified with the insane wages that I dare say he earns. Theo needs to shut his mouth and put in a shift. Work for the team and maybe track back now and again.
Table a bid. Classic.
Don’t they usually fax it in?
No the player comes on to radar and is a target, then they swoop and carve the offer into a table and then get send the table over. And other stupid transfer phrases.
I think all the people thumbing you down have forgotten what it felt like at the end of last season. Imagine someone had told you after that Sunderland game when Walcott, consistently terrible for us, skipped out of that challenge rather than take the ball to the goal, that not only would we be going into the new season without a new striker, but also that Walcott was our only available striker for the opening games, and that we’re not linked with anyone. Frankly, it’s incredible. Like Walcott, this club lacks decisiveness, and it will be costly, as it always… Read more »
By the same token you forget that he hasnt always played so poorly or skipped out of challenges. I recollect him being flattened on the byline and getting up to collect the ball and score.
Three years ago, was it? Four?
Absolutely spot on. Farcical situation. Can’t blame Walcott realy, he’s just an average player thinking he’s better than he is. AW picks the team and decides who stays and who comes/goes
Precisely. The blame for this is entirely Wenger’s. He’s had more than a year to scout the planet for a striker. They came up with Vardy. Well all of us could see that watching TV. No scouting system required. When that failed, there’s nothing.
A shocking indictment of Wenger’s cack handed ineptitude. Beneath abysmal.
It’s not just scouting players. It’s convincing their club to sell them. It’s trying to work out how much to offer knowing that everybody knows your club is filthy rich with TV money, but that there are some even richer teams out there. It’s catching them at the right time in their contract. It’s convincing them that Arsenal is a better destination than Real/Barca/United/Citeh/Chelsea/Liverpool/PSG/Juventus/Bayern Munich/Any other team they really want to join. Its convincing them that they only “think” they’re happy where they are now. its convincing them that England and its food and its weather isn’t as shit as… Read more »
We get all that. But Wenger is paid £8.5 million a year to get this right – and he doesn’t. Given other teams make things happen, teams often with less resources than us, not just more, it begs just how ‘effective’ our set up is ? Wenger is supposed to have a global scouting network. What do they do ? Who do they scout ? Given Vardy was doing nothing three years ago and the likelihood that there are other Vardys out there, are they looking ? Or are they fucking about playing Pokemon ? Because it looks like 18… Read more »
Either way we need him to up his tempo to make sure the team benefits if he stays, or command good value if sell..West Ham would have put derisory offer for him should they opt to sign him this transfer window.
I say..
Improve him now so that the team benefits and sell him in January so that the club benefits. And everybody is happy
My guess is that Wenger means to use him as a 70th + minute Sun when we need some runs and not much else.
Sub*
In all honesty pal, youre considering not supporting your club because we have Theo upfront? Real fan obviousley WHAHAHAAAAHHAA!!
I think at this point we should all just let Theo do his thing. If he plays well and scores, he will be selected. If not then Wenger won’t play him.
I don’t think walcott’s situation has any bearing on whether or not we sign another striker.
So no need to insult or discredit the guy…let’s support him instead.
He’s played well up there before. Hopefully he can do it again.
He can control a football, he’s actually quite good at it
https://youtu.be/DxMc6uGZRdU
That guy looks quite good. Sign him up.
Should have sold him years ago. Waste of a roster spot.
The attitude from alot of our fans is more disappointing. We all support a club that has a specific philosophy, and its part of the reason i love this club. Is it frustrating sometimes, yes. Would i like better players at the club, also yes. Does spending big always work, no (falcao). Do players always develop into world beaters, no. This club represents an ideal that in this “crazy” world of football. I have no problem with people holding onto their values and principles. I dont see the need to act so entitled and disgusted. Its football, it should be… Read more »
I understand your point, but it is not on the field that is my major concern when it comes to theo Walcott. I worked in the private sector for a number of years, and whilst you are not supposed to know what wage/bonus your colleagues are on, the information is always leaked (usually after a few Christmas party beers). When you hear that one of your colleagues is earning more than you, and you know in your mind that you bring more value to your department/team, then it is exceptionally demoralising. If the reports are true and theo Walcott is… Read more »
Neither Theo, the boss, the team, nor us fans win in this situation.
MINDGAMES! MINDGAMES I SAY!!!
We can’t be doing this again can we? Going into a new season completely underprepared and underwhelming in the transfer market
?!??!?
In other words “he’s a really good striker anyone want to buy him?”
Nope – in other words “look world! See! I have a striker, I’m not as desperate as you all think I am to buy one”.
At least I hope 🙁
Xxxrob, exactly right.
He’s planting the seed for no new striker. It’s becoming obvious as he’s also been complementing Iwobi and Chuba..
Anyhow it’s the defence that scares me most.
Same old same old. Until 60’000 middle age mugs stop going to every game nothing will change.
My glass was half full. I meant he’s trying to play down the desperatation to keep prices down lol
Club legend
Well he’s been here a long time if that’s what you mean
If we don’t buy a striker there really aren’t any words to describe the ineptitude of this club. We go into first game of the season without a striker, captain and rushing players back from pre season. I want to be positive (Xhaxa was a great signing!) but the reality is that this is just not good enough.
So you would prefer to pay a 50% to 100% premium just to buy a big-name striker? This is not how to run a club responsibly. Look what happened to Leeds United in 2003 when the club just did that! They bought Robbie Fowler when they were hopelessly in debt on the risk of qualifying for the Champion League. As a result the club went bankrupt and went down two divisions. Is that what you want for the Gunners? Look, each club has a valuation model to be used for buying players. If you consistently pay above the evaluation, soon… Read more »
James Milner – damn predictive text!
You’re trying to compare apples with oranges. Actually you’re comparing apples with an orange elephant sitting in a bank vault on a mountain of cash. Leeds built an entire business model dependent on champions league qualification. They never actually had any money at all, as the minute they had any success they borrowed more in anticipation of the next success. We, on the other hand, have plenty of money sitting in the bank, have season ticket waiting lists and are consistently listed in the top 10 richest clubs in the world. I think the scenario where we aren’t as competitive… Read more »
“Look what happened to Leeds United in 2003 when the club just did that!” Leeds were playing with borrowed money the whole time. Arsenal have tons and tons of cash in the bank. A couple of purchases where we pay more than market value (by the way, who determines market value?) isn’t going to send us into League One. “If you consistently pay above the evaluation” How about if you just do it once, when need dictates it? There’s a discount grocery store near my place, and I almost always shop there. But when they’re closed and I need something,… Read more »
Lewandowski for more than Pogba and We gona have record 😉 and sell of merchandise gonna go crazy up 😉
Arsenal’s new striker wishes shot down by Wenger.
I may be overly cynical but Wenger does have a habit of talking up struggling players just before he sells them. Food for thought.
Walcott should have been sold 5 years ago but our idiot of a manager gave him two contracts worth £100k and £140k.Thats why we cant get rid of him.His wages are £7.5m a year!!!!
To be fair, he played well for us the season after RVP (cunt) left and was showing great form before his injury. Everyone was desperate for him to extend.
How quickly we forget eh
For the record I’m not overly fond of him at the moment either but I think there is a weapon of a player there to use in certain circumstances. The problem is our manager hasn’t equipped us with the options (thus far) to deal with those games where the circumstances don’t suit Walcotts skill set.
rob, we were desperate for him to extend because he just had his best season and we had no alternative, i remember battling with blogs about his worth then and to blogs credit he was right the bloke is almost useless, but the theo had us backed into corner because the club as per usual dithered in the transfer market, the world and his wife knew that rvp was leaving and we had fuck all options up front. its just total mis management from the the club that we have this tosser on 140 k a week and all because… Read more »
How quickly we forget that last year, he signed another contract extension. The season prior he spent nearly all of it out injured. So much for the great form….
Don’t agree with the manager part. In the matches where Walcott doesn’t work (deep sitting defences) he has Giroud who fives physicality and aerial threat in the box. I just think that Walcott would be better suited for a counter attacking team which Arsenal is only against top opposition, he will never succeed as the main man at arsenal.
At this point, I am left frustratingly hoping that this will be the season Akpom breaks through…He seems to have that hunger to score and join his mate iwobi, a little over-eager, but nothing a couple of early season goals wouldn’t cure… I don’t see us signing anymore if all we are betting on is other clubs doing their thing on deadline day.
I agree. I’d rather see Akpom up front than Walcott. You might get a goal with Akpom. You know you aren’t getting one with Walcott.
Come on, Theo score goals. His form wasn’t good last year but he had good goal return previous seasons.
But the second half of last season alone should be enough to sell him and try someone else. That’s what other clubs do. I like Wenger and his style of management but he has given Walcott too many chances.
However a new striker is needed should Walcott stay or not.
Im not so sure about Akpom but i’d love to be wrong.
On the brightside (amidst plenty of shade), our youth and young players looks really exciting. Bielik, Chambers, Zelalem, Iwobi, the Jeff and Willock are all really exciting, particularly the matter four.
I’d like to see them run out against City in Gothenburg.
It is hard to give a shit. About this and about the entire season. I have honestly never felt like this about Arsenal. Theo does make good runs and is a good poacher at times, but this is massively offset by his lack of concentration and footballing skills. There was a pass he misshit against Viking which i know i’d have made at any age past seven of my life. How can he be that poor? Takuma Asano scored a lovely goal a few days ago; Santi is back, Xhaka and Holding to look forward to. But has anyone ever… Read more »
It’s time for wenger to leave, sad but I think it’s done. This is not an ambitious club right now, and I wouldnt blame ozil or Sanchez in the slightest for wanting out. This summer like so many others has been a joke. No prep for season ahead, obvious holes in the team. Wenger shopping for a bargain instead of doing what is needed, again.
Talking up Walcott as a striker is proof positive how little ambition this club has. No other club with title aspirations would ever in a million years have Walcott in the starting eleven let alone their squad.
Your inability to deploy stock phrases like “let alone” correctly (it should be “he doesn’t belong in the squad, let alone the starting 11”) matches the unpersuasive nature of your analysis.
I don’t find your response persuasive, as it rather pathetically resorts to an attack on the language rather than the point…which was crystal clear, judging by your churlish response.
Walcott is a midtable player at best. Although he would have slotted in brilliantly with the England squad. Maybe he should have Made the final roster.
I went to school with Theo and have always had a soft spot for him, really nice guy and seems like a good professional. Just so sad to see a situation like this where after 10 years his role in the team is still not know. I think its probably in the best interests if he where to move on. He has such great qualitys with his pace and his finishing ( as long as he only has 2 seconds to think about) but he lacks the dribbling ability needed for our style of play. I honestly belive in a… Read more »
Totally agree. And the situation is more a reflection on the club than it is on Theo personally. We needed his goals when we couldn’t afford to upgrade and the club has saved millions relying on him while we passed on an entire generation of strikers. It’s a shame that Theo and Jack go into a new season still in possession of the iconic number 14 and 10 shirts, because it’s starkly symbolic of how we’ve handled a period of transition; expecting young, unproven players to step into the shoes of club legends, and valuing their growth over the club’s… Read more »
Walcott- “I want to be a striker.”
Wenger- “No, I see you as a winger”.
Theo practices and becomes adept at attacking from the right wing. Albeit still shit at defending…
Theo- “Ok I get it boss, im a natural winger.”
Wenger- Actually nah I changed my mind mate, I think you’re a narural striker now!”
Lol!
There seems so little harmony between the two, it’s quite scary.
Theo Walcott is just about a footballer, nevermind a striker. I don’t see him winning any strength battles considering the amount of times the fresh air beats him.
Feel sorry for him. He’s so short of confidence it’s pitiful. For his own sake I hope he gets off this lull. Knowing wenger, he’ll go get a RW and Giroud and Theo will be our options. I pray to God this doesn’t happen. I’d rather play Ramsey and Ox at rw and get a world class striker.
Another season with Walcott in the team and they wonder why they can’t win a bloody thing.
Areas we should be looking to improve: Centre half Left-sided midfielder/forward Striker Our season nose-dived last season when we lost Cazorla, we struggled to get the ball into the opponents half and Ozil’s assists dried up. Xhaka was the second best player at doing this in the bundesliga last season. We’ve also got Elneny who seems to have beefed up in the six months at the club and looks a steal at £5mill. Arsene has said we’ll buy a centre half and a striker, if Lacazette or Mustafi were our top-targets we’d have already signed them IMO if we get… Read more »
Did arsene really say “he’s an intelligent player”, thought intelligence included learning from mistakes.
You’re talking about Wenger, the king of not learning from mistakes
Watch Walcott stumble into one of his consistent patches all of a sudden. I doubt Liverpool will play 10 behind the ball, maybe Klopp’s high Gegenpress will magically make him look the business again. Maybe not. Any new players that do come in won’t be ready by next week (and we all realize by now that if they do come in it will be on August fucking 31!) so Theo is what you get. Playing Sanchez for 90m would be madness. Funny how a lot of people thought it (Theo as Striker) would work after the first ManU match last… Read more »
He’s certainly due for a consistent patch.
Not so sure we DO testimonials any longer…. Super Tom didn’t get one 🙁
Such a fokin hypocrite Wenger is. Walcott ain’t no TH14 and will never be in fact never put him anywhere near the starting XI. What gives if he said not too long ago his preferable position on the flank then you came up with this ‘I liek Walcott on front position’ crap thing. Last season we gotta get thru dis shite.
I find it hard to understand why everybody is ripping on him so much tbh … he isn’t actually shit at all … i know he has been recently but still.
Theo Walcott has been nicking a living his whole career… An amazing run against Liverpool (In a match that saw us go out of the Champs League) allowed him to go two seasons doing NOTHING, but people said ‘He has potential’. A hatrick against an international team that consists of painters, decorators and farmers…. Once again followed by NOTHING but ‘He has potential’. He moans week after week, season after season that he wants to play up front; after being absolutely abysmal out wide and realising that he acquires no ability or desire to take on an opposing player. His… Read more »
I want Walcott to succeed. But the fans do not make it easy in my opinion. It doesn’t help and we can borrow a leaf from our first opponents when the EPL gets underway in two weeks time. We vilify Arsene for not doing some things right. We finished second last time out. Yeah, some may say that other big four teams failed. But they did actually plan for that season and had their own strategies that amounted to nothing! And some of them broke the British transfer records. I only have one wish – for a different season from… Read more »
Well said.
We’ve got star players. Players other managers would love to have.
It’s a lottery in the end, not just who you sign but who stays fit, who fights and gets a bit of luck.
I dunno, am honestly surprised that at this stage of his career Wenger isnt going all out to build his dream team…EARLY in the window, so he can have a great season/final few seasons. He is acting in the same way he always has like he has all the time in the world.
I think he is a classic example of “not wanting to lose (money), more than you want to win”. Very surprising though
Sometimes you really get the impression that those involved in the Arsenal don’t actually speak much with each other. All that happens is that they agree to speak to the media on the same day. It’s almost like the PR department give each of the 2 involved 2 seperate statements (option A & option B) & say “which one would you like to go with?”. Whilst the PR dept intend both people to speak with each other & choose the SAME option…invariably the 2 don’t & both choose different options! Can be someone from management & AW with the “we… Read more »
Walcott: I’m a striker
Wenger: you’re playing out wide
……………. Years pass …………..
Walcott: I’m a winger
Wenger: you’re playing up front
Mental.
This is becoming a meme.
I give up on this blog.
Wenger be trollin’!!!
Will the Ox suffer a similar fate? I fear he too lacks defensive awareness though not to the extent as Theo.
I think he lacks football intelect (e.g. Like in chess you need to predict at least few moves ahead, and he can’t) to be trully great. Same as Theo, therefoe same fate. You can see that both players decisions are not fluid and in a pressing situation they are stumbling and thinking what to next. You can almost see their brain bizzing amd whirling contemplating decision. Just compare them to Henry, Bergkamp, Pires or even current players like Cazorla and Ozil.
How long left on Theo’s contact?
He always hits great form when it gets towards the end of his contract and he needs to negotiate a new one.
It’s obvious that Theos confidence I shot. Getting dropped last season and not getting picked for the euros has certainly put doubts in his mind. However I still do think he could be a decent back up option. He may not be world class but he certainly isn’t as bad as he was last season. He just needs a couple of good performances to get his confidence back.
It’s still early in the window….
Are other teams’ fans as awful as ours? I mean this place is positively…well, positive, compared to some of the other Arsenal sites. But the sheer negativity you see even here really wears you down sometimes. It’s not a great situation, no doubt. But whining about it solves nothing. Many of you people seem to honestly take pleasure out of slagging off the club, and if you get to that point as a fan I think it’s time to take a long look in the mirror and either (1) get over it or (2) give up on being a fan.… Read more »
Unfortunately this is where football is now. I don’t think it is only our fans, even though we do have our fair share of moaners. What I find astounding is the lack of understanding of our ethos. We continually bring through world class talent, and right now look to have a very solid squad. We don’t sell big players anymore, and have invested in some truly world class talent in the last few years. Özil and Sanchez are up their as the best in the league, along with Koscielny and Bellerin. Not to mention Cech, who bar a couple of… Read more »
Tell me about it. Positivity breeds positivity.
Translation – we ain’t buying a striker. Jesus wept.
We will need to have him for at least forst half of season and preferably in some form Particularly even if we bring in a new striker, this striker may need time to adjust Giroud will need some sort of viable back up alternative in addition to the new striker That may have to be Theo If he doesnt weigh in by Jan, writing may be on the wall but in any case it us hard to move a less than productive striker with a high wage bill. Therefore some form of Walcott up top may have to suffice till… Read more »
I believe that we will sign at least one to two players before the transfer window closes. As always, Wenger is not one to show his hands before he has landed his target(s).
To be fair to Theo, being dropped by England should be enough to put doubts in anyone’s mind.
Can’t disagree that it’s pisspoor to go into the season with him starting but I can’t see why any of us need to be that depressed before we’ve even kicked a ball in anger.
At least this is a sensible response rather than the emotive winged from almost all other contributors.
So Arsene is going to allow the second half of his time at Arsenal be defined by Theo. That is just crazy.
Someone sit this kid down and tell him that if he wants to stay playing football, then his future lies in China.
He doesn’t care about the club, can’t control a football and is just annoying to listen to in an interview.
He’s very strong mentally but his whole season fell apart because of a bad performance at old trafford. OK…………
I’ve said this for a while now…Agbonlohor is a poor mans Walcott.
Actually, talking up Walcott shows what an astute manager Wenger really is. Bybacking him like this, it may help him turn around his mental attitude and that might lead him to improve. We need this if the negotiations for other strikers do not work out. In a similar vein, his support of the Ox is also similarly astute. The players need confidence and if the manager can bolster that isn’t it a good thing? Not everyone is like ibrahimovitch or Rinaldo with rock solid egos. Some people on here would prefer to knock our players rather than support the club.… Read more »
Well said ma man. Fans should not just love a player when they are playing well, but also when they are not. It’s amazing, what abit of love can do.
I said in late June that I would not panic about the striker situation until AW began talking up theo Walcott circa early August, by which point we’d know that we are fucked. Well here we are
i dont know about theo’s state of mind but its as baffling to the fans if Arsene dont know in 10 years where his best position is, we have little option but to play him in the first few games up front, for me Theos best position is from the bench last 20 minutes when teams are tired and he can use his pace, for me campbell is a better all round player but wenger still never played him when fit and available last season. we have good strength in midfield and 3 options for right side, worrying thing is… Read more »
This negativity is not just toxic but bullshit. Wenger made early moves to sign a striker with bids for vardy and lacazette, this much is public knowledge. So the raving and ranting about lack of ambition and focus is disgusting. None of u knew when the bids were made, neither can u tell what’s going on now. Have you also considered why theo looks so lost on d pitch, u guys are making his life hell with ur hate. U think it doesn’t get to him, if this level of bile is directed at you in your work place how… Read more »
“support the club or move on” that happened last year at the Emirates.. People had enough and didn’t bother showing up. In my opinion the club is not even close to turning that negativity around, this summer is enforcing it.
The club needs to sign big names, not just for the squad, but now more than ever to please the fans and create a better atmosphere at the Emirates.
Looking at the strikers available (yes Giroud had a drought bla bla bla) if lacazzete was better than giroud he would have been leading france in the euros, if giroud had to feed of rebounds from ronaldo, bale, modric, kroos, isco, james etc he would score double the 20+ goals he already scores feeding off campel, iwobi, coq, theo, gnabry (see what I did there lol) and we’d be asking Wenger to sign him. Morata doesn’t score enough to warrant his price tag. So maybe I’d aboumayeng, lukaku, griezman other than that there aren’t a lot strikers that will be… Read more »
that Wenger for you people the man is a dictator is only what he wants one else matters in arsenal but him.now he is going to force a play to play in a position that he does not want to play and we complain if he does not play well.I have given up about this season just wait for our usual top 4 parade and for the dictator to die by that I mean in goes but arsenal give him a new contract which is looking likely then there should be a serious consequence for the board and the manager.because… Read more »
2017; Walcott’s 25 goals and 10 assists propel The Arsenal to their first league title in thirteen years.
C’mon Theo, get your shit together