Arsene Wenger says Theo Walcott’s renaissance is being driven by his disappointment at missing out on yet another major international tournament.
The attacker, 27, was one of Arsenal’s stand-out players in the 3-0 victory over Chelsea scoring his third goal of the campaign and working hard to help out at the back.
The energetic performance marked a sharp contrast to Walcott’s consistently limp showing last season and has been warmly welcomed by his manager who was quick to highlight the disappointment of missing out on selection for Euro 2016 as a factor.
“What was a big blow for him was not to go to the Euros,” Wenger is quoted as saying by The Times [paywalled].
“He went at 16 to the World Cup in 2006 [and didn’t play]. He was not picked for 2010 [and was injured in 2014]. We are now at 2016 and he hasn’t been to another World Cup.”
“He’s matured,” Wenger added. “When a player survives this type of disappointment from what was promised for him at 16, the way he dealt with the situation I always felt there was something special in this guy.
“He’s intelligent, Theo. He assesses well his own performances. He’s 27, it’s a very important age.
“He used to be 90 per cent forward and 10 per cent defending. Today he’s 50-50. He does the job both ways and he does it with commitment. I always felt there’s character and intelligence in this boy.
“He’s a guy with a good assessment of his performances and qualities. I said at the start of the season that we’d see a different Theo Walcott. I could see he made a decision and sticks to it.”
(Quote) I could see he made a decision and sticks to it. (End quote)
So long as he is sticking them into the back of the net, his decisions off the field don’t matter. Really impressed with his overall play though.
The only things missing from his game were closing down and tracking. If he can do those consistently he can be a hell of a player. It’s just a bit of a mystery how it’s taken him so long to realise that.
Completely irrelevant I know, but this is what €100 million gets you…
https://mobile.twitter.com/Kloppholic/status/779658389316132864?s=08
I don’t understand why it always takes a snub from the national team for players to actually give a shit. It seems like an English thing. Cazorla’s commitment/performances haven’t dropped and he’s been in and out of the Spanish team (mostly in).
Maybe it’s a Theo Walcott thing and has sod all to do with him being English
Same thing happened to Wilshere as well.
Then maybe it is some English Arsenal players thing, lol.
Probably because if you can’t get in this England team it’s a proper wake up call.
..haha..nailed it.
“Am I so sh*t?” kinda thing.
Haha. That must be it! Well said, Matt.
That’s a little unfair on Theo – it’s not about being in and out of the team as much as it is about being told you’re great at 17, when you really aren’t. I dont know about you, Mannyg but if someone told me I was the next big thing at 17, I wouldve started taking my talent for granted as well.
That is well put. It’s very unfair what the hype does to these players. Same thing happened to Ox.
I’m very glad that iwobi is not in the England national team. Headlines would have read “why iwobi is a better footballer than Ozil”
Absolutely. I can easily imagine a Buzzfeed type articles – 5 reasons why Iwobi is the next David Beckham (which will obviously draw unnecessary correlations between the kind of sandwiches they like).
I was going to add something very similar. So underperforming for the club that pays you a ridiculous salary isn’t enough to give you a kick in the pants? It takes a miss on the England team? Really?
“He’s a guy with a good assessment of his performances and qualities. I said at the start of the season that we’d see a different Theo Walcott. I could see he made a decision and sticks to it.”
Message to Theo from AW – Stay at RW and don’t pester me to play you as striker ever again.
Good to see the motivation coming from him. Once you are on a big wedge for a number of years then it must be harder being motivated by that.
He worked hard over the summer, so you can see that effort paying off.
I was also impressed by his interview afterwards with Iwobi, not for the words but the fact he was obviously tired, leaning against the wall. Gave his all.
Asides from Hector burning up and nailing Pedro, this was my favourite part of Saturday’s deliciousness. Seeing an intelligent player talking to the media (appearing all the more articulate next to Iwobi’s grunts (bless him!)) who was that knackered was so gratifying as a fan. Finally, even Theo is givig it his ALL. Maybe now’s the time to hope….
This was bound to happen after the high profile drop.
Its good he and the club decided to stick together and work it out.
It would have been disappointing after all this years of hard work, that he went to another club and stepped up.
So would we prefer the current Theo or Joel Campbell?
What’s the point having to pick between the two ? Why don’t you add Marhez, MilkTarian, Draxler if you love assumptions ?
Obviously, both Theo and Joel play for Arsenal, the others don’t so this isn’t hypothetical.
Wenger has chosen, given Campbell is on loan. Has he made the right decision?
Certainly Theo when he’s playing at this level. He has proven in the past that he has the ability to consistently provide an end product. Joel, while promising in spurts, has not had the same impact.
I have to say that I was someone who was very critical of Theo in the past. I am over the moon that he has started the season this well. I have never seen him play as hard and as dirty as he did against Chelsea. He was battling for the ball even making a few fouls and in general making it a nightmare to play on his wing. I loved it and if he continues in this form then hats off to him. In regards to Joel I think it’s a bit unfair to him really. He had almost… Read more »
It’s a shame that Theo needs these extra motivations to try. It’s like enormous wages and general pride in a performance aren’t enough these days.
To an extent I agree, though also I don’t care, so long as it is there!
Once you are his age I guess you see the end of your career coming closer and you want to play for your legacy as well as being at peak physical fitness and experience. So we may well see 2-3 v good seasons from Theo if he stays fit.
For me Theo has started brightly but his performances over the last few seasons is a huge worry,the reason he didn’t go to the World Cup was his form,he was abysmal last season, I fear this is short term,for me he’s not good enough for our first 11
Ramsey,xhaka,alexis,iwobi,cazorla,elneny,coquelin,ozil are all better on the ball for me!!
I agree 100% and what more can one say?…….if a player get all the criticisms he got for playing poorly, and instead of crawling into a corner and whine, he acknowledges those criticisms, knuckled down to work hard in training on his weaknesses, and turn himself around, the way he appears to have done, he deserves all the praises and accolades he is now getting……… well done Theo! Ox, please borrow a leaf. It can be done.
Annoying the 2010 snub didn’t do this for him to be honest but long may it continue.
Theo has done really well so far but I wonder how he’ll do if/when Giroud comes back and Alexis goes back out wide.
Maybe Xhaka’s long range passing will help free him early
I don’t think Alexis is up front due to lack of other options. Wenger has long implied he can be a Suarez-type forward. The mix of qualities of Iwobi, Alexis and Walcott is quite special, and I get the impression that Wenger is persevering with Alexis so that he develops as a centre forward. If he wanted to play Giroud, he’d have been doing more to get him back to match fitness.
giroud aint getting back into this team as a starter, if you watched his cameo last Saturday you would know why , he slows everything down .Our new formation is the way forward. Ozil will not want him back up front
1. you have about as much idea of what Ozil wants for breakfast as you do of what he thinks about his teammates
2. What Ozil ‘wants’ is irrelevant, as he is neither a manager nor a coach. To suggest he would resent playing with a particular teammate is anathema to the notion of team sport. more likely he would listen to the boss’ instructions and follow them to the best of his abilities, whoever he was playing with.
don’t be silly.
What Ozil wants isn’t irrelevant if it also happens to be what’s best for the team. It’s so refreshing to have a team that can counter attacks again.
That has nothing to do with the fact that he probably doesn’t enjoy playing with giroud and giroud absolutely slows down the attack. Arsenal look stagnant and lack any real creativity when he’s in the lineup. Players most definitely prefer playing with one teammate over another.
Giroud is a good player who has his place in this team regardless of who else we’ve recruited during silly season. If not for anything else than to rotate and allow others time to rest and avoid injury.
Xhaka Walcott sounds delicious… Remind me of Gerrard Owen in their early Liverpool days.
Theo and Olivier worked up a very effective partnership when they were playing regularly together before Theo’s injury.
We have yet to see how partnerships develop with the new members of the team — though there already seems to be a growing understanding between Özil and Iwobi, and the Cazorla-Coquelin partnership flourishes. Will Mustafi, Lucas, Xhaka and Elneny, for all their individual talents, develop effective partnerships with their team-mates? I well remember how, for example, Wiltord flourished in partnership with Henry, or Petit with Vieira. Such understandings make for a so much more effective team.
Some of the most effective players I can remember have had massive limitations in their game – think Ljungberg, Inzaghi, etc. Walcott’s finally looking like someone who knows what he can and can’t do, and has the confidence and assertiveness that goes with that. That run he made at the end of the season, where he started at speed, dithered, and eventually ground to a halt and gave up the ball, as though someone had dropped their Xbox controller, summed up perfectly how lost he was. Finally he’s looking like an asset to the team – a player who’s difficult… Read more »
All the more an asset because when a player with such frightening pace is willing to backtrack and do the chasing when off the ball,the opposition has very little time to construct a move.
So true. Most CBs in the league are picked for their reading of the game and ability to perform defensive actions. It’s really only us, Spurs and City that have a defence that can play the ball out from the back under pressure.
The best thing that happened this summer for him, not going to the Euros. At least he is not associated with the failure and lack of bite that others suffered.
Good luck to the man and may Walcott continue with this attitude.
Wasn’t a snub.
He had no reason to be in that squad, based on his form last season. He was crap.
Good to see him put in a shift on the wing and track back to defend vs. Chelsea.
Credit where it’s due, I don’t believe anyone that says they believing in him this season. He was universally panned and derided last season, particularly as the harder working Joel got shipped off regardless of how we he performed. But all hail new Theo. Just proves you can win fans over again if you put the work in. He’s finally trying to make the RW spot his, rather than just seeing it as practise for CF (I suspect he willingly wouldn’t be defensive as a RW in fear of solidifying him as a RW. Now the CF role is gone,… Read more »
“Credit where it’s due, I don’t believe anyone that says they believing in him this season. ”
Speak for yourself! 😉
“Just proves you can win fans over again if you put the work in.”
And most of the time it’s no more complicated than that. A bit of effort on the pitch and fans will forgive almost anything. Even the much derided Bendtner had some love sent his way after scoring a couple of times in his last season for us.
“The energetic performance marked a sharp contrast to Walcott’s consistently limp showing last season” Hang on, we all thought Theo was doing quite well until his injury in the first half of last season. Games against United, City and Bayern stand out. And even then, there was a steady decline until the nadir that was the reverse at OT against the United U21s. I’m not sure what happened to him exactly but he became a lightning rod for criticism after that and we’ve forgotten the promise from the start of that season completely. As for his new motivation, I think… Read more »
Good point. Now that Theo seems to be judging his own performances on more than the goals he personally scores, he is really playing well. Against Chelsea he looked like a perfect winger.
I totally agree. I personally thought he was Man of the Match. The number of times I saw him backtracking and disrupting play on his wing was astounding. He looked like a man possessed and I felt that Chelsea had no idea how to handle him. He just needs to make sure he consistently performs this way no matter the opposition. If Theo is playing like this come January/February imagine what position we will be in.
Just a bit worried about how long it will last. I hope for the rest of his career!
Yeah I completely agree. I wonder as well if whether he was so badly hoping to go to the Euros, he didn’t commit himself in games through fear of injury and missing out again. A certain 50/50 with Kaboul comes to mind among others.
I’m not making excuses for him but it would go some way to explaining why he seemed to be playing in 2nd gear for the majority of the second half of the season.
Six months ago I genuinely believed Theo was beyond redemption in his Arsenal career, but look at him now. This humble pie tastes damn good when he is playing so well. If he can avoid injury then Theo has a real chance to finally achieve his potential.
I was in the same boat. I was personally hoping we would sell him and bring in a different option. I have never seen him look as good as he did against Chelsea. He was a machine on that wing. I just hope he keeps it up and he’s playing like this come January/February. He just needs to keep on putting in the effort and hard work and no one will be able to touch him.
I think having Alexis play through the middle has helped Theo a bit.
Arsene always likes one creative wide player in his team, which doesn’t really accommodate Theo and Alexis as the two wide players.
That meant Iwobi and Alexis last season. Now, because Alexis is up front Theo gets to be the wide player that can be a goal threat and who plays as an auxiliary striker.
I think his stint up front was good for him. Improved his movement, instinct and understanding. His goal evidenced that.
Probably could have done this 3 years ago!
yeah this great thing is shit because it wasnt a great thing three years ago…
He owes everything to Wenger.
No other manager would have persisted with his consistently shit performances.
“I said at the start of the season that we’d see a different Theo Walcott.” – Wenger is continuing to play his magic flute and is drawing out the tiger from within the lamb.
Best performance of his career against Chelsea. Hopefully it’s clicked in place for him now.
I also think his performance in our 5-3 win against Chelsea back in 2011, when Terry slipped for Van Persie’s hat-trick was also phenomenal….Chelsea does seem to bring out the best in Walcott
That’s true.
He scored his first every goal against Chelsea, and has a really good record against them.
If we had evenly won those recent games, there’s every chance the media would’ve acknowledged Theo as Chelsea’s boogeyman as Drogba was to us.
I love the fight and bite from Alexis….it seems to be rubbing off onto players like Walcott and Mesut,,, I hope Iwobi also learnt a thing or 2 from Walcott’s desire yesterday. He needs to learn to fight and be a bit more aggressive in every game. He seems to leave a Monreal sometimes a bit exposed sometimes….but once he locks in his defensive duties, we jus might see a forward line quite similar to the MSN and BBC of Spain….long may this continue…COYG
Why did it take an England snub to play better ? I thought his shit and lacklustre performances last year might have given him more incentive!
Also bearing in mind Theo has only played well for a few games so far let’s not go overboard on hear saying he’s finally reached his potential because he can turn it off as quick as on !
We’ll need goals like his and from all over the pitch to continue all season, the last time this really happened was in Ramsey’s stand out season when we properly challenged for the league. The last few years it’s mainly just been Giroud and Sanchez chipping in with everyone else scoring 3 or 4 for the campaign which just doesn’t win you titles. I remember the season when RVP scored 30 odd goals he praised Theo so highly at the end of the season, almost like to say “I’m off soon, but this guy will fill my boots and be… Read more »
Let’s not forget as well that he had an ACL injury, which is considered massively disruptive for most athletes. He was written off a bit too quickly after coming back I think, though I must admit even I was convinced this summer that maybe it was time to part ways.
Yes, AWs ‘Missed the Euros’ story is just covering for Theo only now regaining the confidence in his body that he needs to play at the top level. Unfortunately you can’t regain that confidence by just training, it’s got to be under match pressure. Regrettably too few fans understand this.
Yeah that’s a good point. I am no pro athlete but I did do my ACL almost 5 years back. Till this day, I don’t feel 100%. Especially when riding a tackle or having to do a drastic change in direction, I feel my twisting of the knee and body isn’t very natural anymore.
So anyone having done their knee, I always don’t expect them to be near 100% for a long long time.
Guys take this with a pinch of salt this is classic Wenger he will always stick by his players but the reality is this is a make or break season for Theo and Wenger knows this he will give him every chance and stick by him till the very end
Alot of players who did not deserve it got picked for the Euros just because of team affiliation, so understandable he was dissapoinred. For example Delph and Sterling who did shit all last season, Not to mention Wilshere who had barely played pro football in two years and was clearly nowhere near match fitness. Guys like Noble and Antonio got overlooked because their club is not prestigious enough, those guys had real reason to be dissapointed. Anyways, hope Walcott keeps it up, but not very proffessional having to be dropped from the national team before you start working hard. Maybe… Read more »
Yes he is playing much better. Undoubtedly his confidence has returned. Other players also seem to trust him again. He is still missing some opportunities. However, the team feels new, so I am sure his sense of where his team mates are positioned will improve.
I put my hands up, I had written him off and was surprised he was still here this season. I think his return to form also can be put down to the team playing a much faster and more direct style of play in the final third.
I think we can assess Walcott at the end of the season. Performing well for 6 or 7 games at the beginning of a season is the least I’d expect from someone getting £140k a week!! He needs to play like this consistently for the next 3 years. Like Sanchez does! Like Özil does! Like Kos does! Like Carzola does! After 10 years at the club a good half a dozen games isn’t going to convince me he has finally become the player we’d hope he would be, as pleasing as it is.
Fine little ray of sunshine you are..
Bask in this wonderful combination of skill, hard work & team spirit we’re seeing right now! COYG!!
I’m a realist. The difference between a very good player and a great player is consistency. We have seen this before with Walcott. I genuinely hope it’s a real turning point in what by and large has been an underwhelming Arsenal career.
Spot on. The Premier League is all about consistency of performance over a long season. If he can pull that off then he will have earned his wages.
In truth, he’s never really warranted an England place in a major tournament. But he’s always been a flashy player within a fashionable team, so England managers can’t resist him – even if he hasn’t played a full season of football. He was just a kid when he first got selected, so he’s completely normalised his England team involvement. I wouldn’t say he’d taken it for granted, but I can understand how this notion of not being selected has put a rocket up his arse. He’s clearly a smart lad (maybe too smart for his own good), so hopefully he… Read more »
Good on him. Hes proving us wrong. Watch the match again. Phenomenal work rate. Plenty of defending. Maturity too. He still needs to improve on touch but he should also just do what he does best. Cutting in from the right and having a go at pace. Like Alexis from the left, he can plunder plenty this season (I think he’s set his sights on a modest 10 minimum) And the other thing to note is Wenger bought Mustafi for several reasons. One of which is the fact he is comfortable at Rback and naturally bias to protecting that flank… Read more »
All we need from him is consistency and 10 -15 goals a season. Never doubted his atitude and his want to do well for Arsenal.
Not to be too critical of Theo, because he has been much improved so far. But… I do have to wonder if his renewed motivation is related to a contract thing?