Theo Walcott says there was a chance that he could have taken the penalty awarded to Arsenal early in the second half of the 4-2 win over BATE Borisov, but says he left it for Olivier Giroud as he wanted the French international to join him in the 100 goals club for Arsenal.
Having already scored twice, there was an opportunity for the England man to grab a hat-trick, but knowing the HFB was just one goal away from his century for Arsenal, he didn’t Neymar his teammate, and watched as the former Montpellier man coolly slotted home from the spot.
Speaking after the game, he said, “Being a forward you want to score as many goals as you can. There was a chance for me to take the penalty but knowing that Olivier was on 99 goals I felt like he should.
“It’s a great moment in his career to get 100 goals for Arsenal, I’ve achieved it myself and I know the feeling.
“It’s brilliant so that was why he took the penalty. There were chances but I can’t be too selfish.”
Very generous by Theo.
But the right thing to do.
Love the Arseblog tattoo he’s got. He obviously loves you too.
Surprised it’s not on his bottom though.
Hahahaha that is top work.
He’s got blog’s face tattood on his arse. Just can’t see it in this picture.
I hope you have all voted for Giroud here:
http://www.fifa.com/the-best-fifa-football-awards/puskas-award/index.html
Should have been even more generous and squared that ball to Jack too. Would’ve bee a great moment to cap off a great game from Wilshere.
And no doubt sent it back to highbury. Wise choice theo
Given that Giroud has generally been a first choice penalty taker (certainly ahead of Theo) this seems like the dude giving himself undue credit : P
Don’t know why but Theo really grates on me, seems to have become a big time Charlie, one of the least talented players at the club, but can run fast…Could so easily set up JW for a tap in last night, but had to be a greedy twat, probably would have shanked the penalty wide anyway..
Cue Walcott bashing in 3,2,1….
Must have missed it by a whisker ^^^^^
Liability. Glad he’s been chucked onto the reserves bench for the league.
Theo Walcott (with the exception of lingerig a bit on contract negotiations) has been a great servantto Arsenal Football club and has stayed on to be a squad player when he could have been the star of a lesser team for many years now. He has had great periods in his career and frustrating individual moments.
Dial Square – Would you really deny him taking the chance for his hatrick late on with a comfortable lead and having given up the penalty duties?
Lesser teams can’t afford his wage demands. He is comfortable where he is.
Yes, because the last few minutes were nervy as fuck and had he not been selfish and actually fed the ball to his team-mates instead of trying to get his hat-trick, we would have put the game to bed earlier.
So he is a liability.
But I forgot this comment section changes its mind about players more often than Trump combs his fucking hair.
I dunno… maybe if the midfield held onto the ball and managed the game it would’ve been a bit less nervy. And I would say the comments section on here is consistently full of morons wanting to use any excuse to have a pop at Walcott. Even after his goals have literally won us the game. It’s so obsessive it’s almost weird.
I have always thought Walcott was a liability. One game doesn’t all of a sudden transform him into a good player. We should have cashed in ages ago. He is second rate now, and it’s clear from the fact that he barely gets a start in the Premier League. Those are facts. How long has he been with Arsenal now? 11 years? Has he improved at all since his first season here? No. Ergo, we should get rid to buy someone with actual quality and a footballing brain. Kind of like we did with Chamberlain… He really set Anfield alight… Read more »
For a moment there I thought “servantto” was Italian for “little servant”
Maybe I just miss Tomáš though 🙁
@simon, “a great servant to the club”, are you serious? The only reason he is still at the club is because of his rediculous wage, who else is going to pay him that much??
And as for denying him the chance of a hatrick, didn’t he deny JW a tap in!!
A liability who scores goals
Did you see the goals he scored and did you see the opportunities he missed to create goals for others just so he can get his hat-trick?
Yeah. He scored two shitty goals. Woohoo, he’s an asset. Come off it.
Although you may disagree with their statistics-based rating system, Who Scored gave Theo a 9.8 and man-of-the-match. No one else got above 7.8 (Giroud and Bate’s Ivanic). I saw ONE unjustified selfish attempt by him, where he should have rolled it to Jack.
Errr….Olli is our penalty taker, so you didn’t ‘let him have it’
What’s with the Neymar référence?
Neymar and Cavani recently had a bit of a tiff over penalty duties in a Ligue 1 game. Further childishness ensued after the game when Neymar unfollowed Cavani on Instagram and allegedly went to the PSG powers that be demanding Cavani be sold.
There were also times you could’ve squared the ball to him and Wilshere for a tap in but poor decision making and selfishness got the better of you. Good to see the both of you score though.
Not unusual for forwards. Unselfish strikers are few and far between (Alexis is one, I’d suggest), but Theo’s no worse than most. He’s also one of our most clinical finishers.
Clinical finisher? That is not something I’ve seen Theo Walcott described as before.
They could have scored 2 more goals if he had passed instead.
Thanks Walcott, very insightful.
Well played Theo.
‘Notice he doesn’t really ‘celebrate’ with the fans of late. Can’t blame him; considerating it would now appear that he’s persona non grata forever at arsenal.
I thought I knew how to spell in French.
But I missed the class where:
Jennifer is spelled arseblog.
As to Theo, Ollie is ahead of him for penalty duties.
BUT players will take penalties so to get a hat trick.
Ollie is unselfish and he could have deputized Theo.
And he may have wanted #100 to be spectacular.
Like a scorpion kick or a salmon-leap header.
Or some other imagery from other animals.
I, for one, would have liked a bicycle kick.
I am waiting for a hoverboard or Segway kick (bicycles are so 20th century).
You also could have passed to him and Jack for a goal. Also, I think there is no chance Giroud, a second penalty taker after Sanchez (third now with Lacazette), would have let you.
Would have loved Giroud to score the 100 with a spectacular effort but well done.
Walcott’s certainly been up to task reacting to the new competition. He seems to play better when having to prove he deserves a new contract or a starting berth in lieu of new players.
Great movement in tandem with Jack. A little sharper and he would have got his hattrick too.
He scored 19 goals last season when Hazard scored 17. Did he also played for contract renewal last season? Your narrative of walcott is not fit to be an arsenal player is always disproved whenever wenger gives walcott playing time. Your narrative of Mahrez being better replacement is also disprove since last season. Walcott has 106 goals and about 50 assist for arsenal. Joint second highest scorer in arsenal. Second highest scorer last season with less playing time. Relegated by Wenger for our workaholic Welbec that scores with shoulder. Yet never complaining. Haters will continue to hate
Nice tats