Theo Walcott admits that Arsenal’s performance against Newcastle left something to be desired, but that taking the points in the 1-0 win was the most important thing on the day.
The Gunners struggled to click as an attacking force, and had Petr Cech to thank for a string of excellent saves, but Laurent Koscielny’s 7Xth minute goal was enough to clich the win over Steve McLaren’s side.
“The performance wasn’t there to be honest,” said Walcott, “but the work rate is always there and when you have work rate you always get the success that you need, want and deserve.
“The three points are crucial at this moment in time, especially when teams slip up as well.
“We’ve had a blip at times but it’s important that we get those hard-fought three points today. In previous seasons we would have lost that or drawn, so that’s a very good sign for 2016.”
The England man also had words of praise for Koscielny who, not for the first time, grabbed a winner against the Barcodes.
“He joked that he only scores against Newcastle, but he does produce massive goals at massive moments,” he said.
“There was a sense that he just lifted his game in the last 30 minutes. I could tell how hard he was working and how much he wanted the team to win. The fact that he goes forward on every corner shows how much of a massive threat he is. He got the goal he deserved.”
I think our biggest miss is Cazola and they way he holds and distributes from midfield.
Huge loss Paul, we don’t seem to be able to control the middle. Still I guess that’s expected when your first choice pairing are out and you play the reserves in there. Coyg
I think Coqueline is missed even more than Santi. He shields the back four very well and has energy to do that for whole of the game. Can’t wait for him to back this month.
Hi Paul, I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday. Sanchez for Walcott would have been nice too, but we missed Cazorla’s composure and ability to just control the ball and look around a bit for teammates. I think the Coq was missing when we didn’t have the ball; Flamini and Ramsey were giving Newcastle way too much space.
I would like to see Chambers replace Flamini. He looked real good in the game he played. His passing helped to get things moving, and he also had good defensive control. His passing is not equal to Santa’s, but he is still learning. I really like him in that midfield role.
I would love to see a run of games with Alexis and Campbell starting on the wings.
Their industry and work rate could really help out the midfield and defence, whilst both have a goal or two in them going forward!??
Cech,
Bellerin, Mert, Kos, Monreal,
Campbell, Flam, Ramsey, Alexis,
Ozil,
Giroud,
Chambers could take Flam’s place, but not if it’s a PL home game.;-)
Bench: Ospina, Chambers, Gabriel, Ox, Walcott, Gibbs, The Jeff
I know everyone is knackered but with Alexis back (please God)… all of a sudden we have a strong team and bench!
Swap Walco55 for Giroud when opps have bog slow defenders!
Theo doesn’t half talk a lot of rubbish.
Not as much rubbish as many fans do… 😉
He uses seven words when three would do
Haha. . Comment of the day even though that’s like only 6 comments so far.
Well done!
He was our worst player against the toon. Not interested in his opinion jus want him to step up and be the player we all want him to be.
Not knocking him though. He’s a great player
He wasn’t worse than The Ox
we’re missing Coquelin massively… heard he’s running again which is good.
It’s strange because Flamini is the most defensive minded player but the amount of times I see him on the edge of the box is pretty frustrating. Ramsey needs to learn just to sit deep too (like Santi) just to make us more solid. Its pretty clear how it changed when Chambers came on to sure things up and Ramsey had a freedom to roam. Joel also made a great impact.
Hopefully Alexis will be back for the Liverpool match and we can start rotating more.
Work rate is a prerequisite, but it certainly doesn’t always give you the success that you need, want and deserve. Newcastle had work rate too.
We are better than Newcastle and have better players,if we work harder than them 9 times out of 10 we win,that’s the point he’s making and he’s right,Newcastle we working harder at points and it was nearly enough for them to beat a superior Arsenal side,hard work is almost everything,no disrespect intended to Newcastle
I thought everyone looked bloody knackered. Pretty much the same team for the last 6 weeks.
Why isn’t he playing striker anymore? Arsene throws dirt in our eyes every time one department is ailing by installing a quick fix from within the squad when questioned on transfers. Walcott suddenly became a striker when Giroud was having a stinker and he didn’t want to sign a soul. Chambers is now a DM because Coq is out. When Baellerin is out, you’ll see him mysteriously develop “the qualities of a rightback” as Arsene would have us believe. Then of course there’s that “I see him as future CB” you get in the event of an injury to Mert/Koscienly.… Read more »
He’s not playing striker because we don’t have Alexis wide at the moment
Herold (the ark angels?) have a look at my suggested team a few posts above…no square pegs…?
Theo looks like he’s trying to do some Kylo Ren style mind reading in that photo. Probably on the ref. Probably trying to find out what was going through the ref’s mind for the whole 90 mins (it certainly wasn’t competence!)
Walcott, “we won didn’t we! Stop pointing at me.”
I feel January and February will be our make or break period. Most of our injured players come back in February and then they’ll need a month to get match fit due to their long-term injury. In the meantime, tiredness will kick in for the rest of the team since they’ll have to play every match. If we are still in the title challenge after February, I believe we will win it. I don’t mind cruising through winter on 1-0 victories only.
I’m quite disappointed Watford didn’t hang on yesterday. We could’ve used that 6 points cushion.
I would take shitty performances if they produced 1-0 wins. It’d be nice to ping 20 passes together game after game but it won’t happen.
I know it sounds odd, but does anyone have any statistics of how we perform when it’s raining? Might just be my selective memory but usually we come apart when it rains.
“We come apart when it rains”- Taylor Swifts next hit single.
Ps: I ‘effing hate her and their ilk who think their legs are anything to be but insured worth millions.
Seriously some peoples children.
My impression too — I said as much on a recent comment about the Newcastle match.
I’ve long thought that the current Arsenal players don’t seem to enjoy playing in bad weather. Stats would be very interesting…
Ozil and Giroud are the main reasons we are top of the League but I still regret that Theo didn’t get games as CF to establish himself as a striker of the Henry type. Arsenal would be a more complete team with two fully developped strikers in their respective styles.
I’m hoping Walcott will get some games as our striker again when Alexis is back. Him playing there really seemed to bring out the best in him as well as Giroud, and we have Campbell or Ox to play on the right (preferably Campbell, as far as I’m concerned)
It is all about points. NO point playing beautifully and not coming away with anything. We’ve done it before. No rubbish by the Geordies about the best team losing. The best team will always find a way. The media and some fools still babbling on about us having to reinforce in 4 positions because we are ‘unconvincing’. Look at the table. Were City convincing against Watford? We were not as poor as media suggest and had our chances against Newcastle. Had Ramsey’s late effort gone in, they would be singing a different tune and praising Ramsey. Instead they like to… Read more »
Well said.
Spot on! As for the issue of a World Class striker, unless you can get the quality of Messi, Neymar or a Rinaldo, there is little wrong with Giroud and Walcott. With Wellbeck coming back and some youngsters like Akpom coming through, I would not panic buy a striker. In 2002, Leeds United laid £11m for Robbie Fowler and failed to achieve Champions League. They went bankrupt and look at where they are now. Pundits wind up fans because it is more hits or audience. Real logic suggests we should be cautious in recommending big purchases. The squad looks good… Read more »
The greatness of Arsene Wenger is that he has a vision and keeps faith with it through thick and thin.
Therefore he keeps deaf, dumb and blind to media and fan pressure to buy for the sake of buying.
In the end he will be vindicated. In Arsene I trust.
Meanwhile, thanks Santori for your wonderfully uplifting posts. Every word in them is true as well.
I don’t disagree, but that was painful reading.