Theo Walcott admits he was to blame for Manchester United’s goal at Old Trafford after he failed to track goalscorer Juan Mata into the box.
The Spanish midfielder was left totally unmarked on 68 minutes as he raced into the box and calmly slotted home Ander Herrera’s pull back to give the home side a deserved lead.
Replays showed Walcott hesitate in his defensive duties, a mistake he was quick to admit when he faced the media after the game.
“I’m just disappointed because my positioning on the goal was disappointing from my side of it,” Walcott told Sky Sports. “Because defensively I want to (cover that). I’ve been doing that all season.
“I knew that was my man to get in there. So on a personal level that’s very disappointing for myself. But the guys, they did well and we managed to get that point that we deserved.”
Luckily for Walcott, Mata’s goal wasn’t enough to secure the points for Jose Mourinho. Olivier Giroud’s crashing header on 89 minutes stole a point for the Gunners on an afternoon when their performance was well below par.
“Maybe in years gone by we would have probably lost that game,” Walcott reflected.
“We need to turn these draws into wins… But in years gone by this is a very tough place for us to play and we managed to get a result today.”
In years gone by Jose would have had another win under his belt. United lost 2 points and we gained 1. Happy with that however, we need Santi back!
The Santi injury seems to be one that could rumble on I’m afraid, but that’s not even the most frustrating thing for me. What annoys me most is that we have an excellent replacement for Santi in Xhaka, but Wenger’s STILL so reluctant to use him! I know he’s not N’golo Kante in terms of his defensive work, but if Wenger was going for a conservative approach against United then Elneny’s no better defensively than Xhaka (perhaps not even as good), so surely he could have started alongside Coquelin? Doesn’t make any sense to me. Really hoping to see him… Read more »
I thought Wenger picked Elneny over Xhaka yesterday to ensure we kept 11 on the field if the match got a bit tasty (UTD & Mourinho away).
The team dynamic looked better when Ramsey was put in the middle. His passing range & directness is clearly there to use, but pitting him against pacy full backs isn’t playing to his strengths. Hope we don’t see him out wide too often as it seemed to disrupt our flow, just as much as Bellerin missing on the other side.
I’m not sure I agree with that either. With the exception of that ridiculous refereeing decision against Swansea, Xhaka’s never been given a straight red in his senior career (the three occasions people always referenced when he arrived at Arsenal were for second yellows). And the big occasion didn’t seem to bother him too much in the north London derby when he was completely assured all game. Maybe he does have some aspects to the mental side of his game Wenger’s anxious about, but I just don’t like this perception people have of him as “a walking red card”. We… Read more »
Ramsey being on the pitch was the biggest problem. He was awful in every way. Iwobi is a much better option and it showed. We are now going to go weeks looking at Ramsey playing like absolute crap and still in the starting XI. Will never understand Wenger’s insistence on playing him at the expense of the team.
In years gone by, Jose was a Special one and United were the best team in the league. Old trafford isnt difficult anymore, we just made it look it.
A keep it tight, hit on the break is easier to replicate on a more regular basis unlike WengerBall.
Hence, I’m not disappointed with the performance at all.
Infact in the years gone by a performance like ours by a Fergi team would have been praised as getting a point while not playing well.
However, I’m disappointed that we didn’t win either against the Tots or ManU.
There has really been a change in terms of attitude from Theo. Works way harder on the pitch and is way more critical with himself. I admire that. Long may it continue.
Yes, admitting to your mistakes is the first step to learning from them. I’ve been impressed with his attitude and hope he keeps it up
I am not sure that in the past Theo would even have realized he made a mistake. Both his attacking and defensive play this year have demonstrated a huge increase in understanding of the game. And I wonder if he would have made the mistake on the goal, failing to follow Mata in, if he had felt more confident about the security of the the right side–in other words, if Hector had been there.
Totally agree. And he’s not lying when he says he’s been tracking those runners all season.
On a serious note you should not neglect your duties. Let us get back to winning ways. PSG is in trouble….. Unleash the BFG
You probably meant HFB.
For some reason Mertesacker and ‘unleash’ in the same sentence don’t quite do it for me.
The Big French Giroud?
Beautiful Furry Gentleman?
Play Ramsey in his best position (CM) or drop him altogether. Playing him on the flanks is wasting him and denying the team the service of a more suited winger (Ox). With Ox and Giroud on earlier enough we’d have won the game.
I know Theo gets a lot of criticism for “talking too much”, but credit to him for identifying his flaws. As long as he learns from stuff like this then this could be his season.
Not sure how you think Jenkinson “looked terrified at times” ? I thought he had a very good game and kept the lid on Rashford. Not a fan of Ramsey as I believe he unbalances the team when he plays. The amount of times he either passes directly to an opponent or directly into touch is also a big negative for me. Never wants to do the simple thing. Always has to try the flick or backheel when the simple direct pass to a teammate goes begging. I accept he’s being played out of position, which might account for my… Read more »
Agree that Jenkinson had a good game but in fairness to Ramsey, he shouldn’t play on the wing anymore and was much improved in the middle. Seeing that we don’t get a lot of creativity from Eleneny and Coq partnership I’m surprised Ramsey or Xhaka didn’t start in the middle!
Oh. He knows. That’s good then because I noticed that too and I’m happy he did. I just imagine what if we had two shots on target? We could have won 🙂
Yesterday Jackie’s performance showed that a fit wilshere can easily fill the boots of Cazorla.
Okay, just make sure you score against PSG on Wednesday. Giroud’s got to start and Sanchez has to be rested. Such a big risk to play him with the injury he’s clearly got.
Damn, the Ox has looked sharp doing that rush down the flank a couple of times this season…
Can Theo be banned from sayin “the guys” please
The team was very balanced.. Selection is always influenced by your opponent… Unfair criticism to Ramsay
I read the other day that Wenger doesn’t say anything at half time or believe in the hairdryer treatment. I think having a rant at your team can drag them across the line. You think Klopp or Giardiola sit on silence? It’s weird.
Walcott’s not the underlying problem.
To be honest I don’t think that was really Theo’s fault, his man was the left back not their right sided attacking mid. The question I’d be asking is what’s the point in having 2 defensive midfielders if they aren’t going to mark anyone in the box? I also don’t think we stopped a cross from our left flank all game!
yeah, I like Nacho, but he’s not had the best run of blocking crosses.
Watch the video of the goal. Not sure who should have been marking Mata but Walcott was about 5-10 meters away but left him alone. He had a chance to spot an unmarked man in a dangerous position and put a body on him but was slow to react.
Unfortunately I think he is right here and not just covering for someone else. Hope he learns from this and it doesn’t happen again this season.
Our performances haven’t been great recently but we’re still picking up points. we could go on another run of wins soon.
If United did what we did yesterday..
People would be talking of ‘Fergie time’ and the cult of Old Trafford. Fuck this shit. Mourinho was made to moan. I’m just going to enjoy that
I believed he put Elneny instead of Xhaka is because he was afraid that Xhaka might get sent off in this kind of important matches. Elneny is much more calm and doesnt commit to reckless challenge. Its a little too late to bring on Xhaka though, i thought his long ball were pretty good. As for Coquelin you could see he is playing slightly much more offensive for the past few matches, wondering if Wenger is making Coquelin a box-to-box midfielder somehow. Still miss Santi though <3