Arsene Wenger has paid homage to Theo Walcott’s recent renaissance after the England winger set-up both the Arsenal goals in last night’s late win over Newcastle United.
Benefitting from the return of the dependable Bacary Sagna at right-back the 22-year-old has put in effective shifts against both Spurs and AC Milan in recent weeks as he continues to rack up the assists this season.
Speaking after the match about his player’s revival, the boss went so far as to suggest that the player he signed as a 16-year-old from Southampton had just produced his finest all-round display.
“Theo Walcott was outstanding,” said Wenger. “From the first to last minute he was great. I feel it was his best performance for us.
“Against Milan, Theo was hitting top form and he has continued it tonight. He played with intelligence and power.
“Newcastle gave the impression of a strong team and to come back quickly was important.
“The equaliser was provided by Walcott. We speak many times of many other players and he deserves great credit this time because he was exceptional.
“I think that he is so long in the spotlight that people forget that he is 22 years old and getting now to an age where you perform. It is as simple as that. He develops well because he is intelligent. Tactically, technically tonight he had a complete game.”
It’s hard to argue with Wenger’s assessment of Walcott last night. From the outset he was eager to roast Davide Santon and when the Italian was replaced at half-time, James Perch was subjected to similar treatment in the final third.
Of course, while the sight of Walcott sparking himself into action in the final third is not unusual, arguably more interesting was his willingness to track back and close down opponents as the Gunners pressed from the front.
With so much pace his ability to panic less technically-gifted defenders by charging around the pitch like a horny bull is a weapon which must be deployed more often. As has been said many times before…if it’s good enough for Lionel Messi, it should bloody well be good enough for Walcott.
Sign him up!
We knew he had the talent and can be almost unplayable on his day. He now needs to add consistency to his game, and the world could be his lobster.
He’s a nice honest kid and really hope he finds the consistency that we are all hoping for.
And when he’s on top, his finishing is just superb. His 2nd against Sp*rs made my mind cream in its pants, incredible.
Hoping he’ll come inside more often for more creaming
“Hoping he will come inside…”
The creaming was unnecessary 😛
I really like walcott and i am sure he will be a great asset even more than he is right now. but i would like him to improve on his passing the second ball after he worked hard to win it. i saw him losing it many times. #up the arsenal
A bit off topic…
I was just wondering… if finishing fourth is ‘almost like a trophy’ is finishing third ‘almost like winning the double’?
No it’s not like doing the double this is getting boring when people say this utter dross that spews from there fingers on to this screen. 4th is a minimum achievement this club wants every season so we can get some nice money from UEFA. Finishing 3rd is just miles better as it means we get to avoid the midweek qualifier for the group stages
Easy now Chris. Don’t take things so seriously, I didn’t mean to offend you. But you did a fine job illustrating the difference between third and fourth: it is exactly like winning the double.
Considering the season we’ve had, finishing third will be almost like a miracle
That’s what I’ve been saying! We’re on course to complete a miracle
Yep – cos it means duffing Sp*rs as well as a guaranteed champions league spot ….. I’d actually call that winning the Treble!!!
A new kit deal is like winning a trophy according to ‘king kenny’….
An Arsenal away strip I would be seen dead in in my personal Champion’s League final.
As Alan Davies said, if we let walcott go he will come back and absolutely destroy us. Sign him up!
Hopefully Walcott can continue performing like he did last night and in the second leg against Milan. He can be really dangerous when he’s on top form, so long may it continue!
If you compare him to other 22 years olds he’s doing alright I think. The fans jumped on his back around Christmas but he’d actually been playing well until the Villa away game. Yes he’s one dimensional but when he is in the team the opposition are always concerned that he will do them for pace. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he always looks most impressive when we play the high tempo pressing game.
True, it’s the quick game that suits him best. If he can just turn his pace on like a tap in a more cagey game, drive into the box, which he has being doing more recently then we don’t have to rely on forcing the pace of the game all the time. When teams try to stifle and slow us down, as The Toon tried to do in the second half, then a burst from Walcott would be welcome. High octane for 90mins is all very well but sometimes the element of surprise works too. if he can just be… Read more »
One of the big differences I saw particularly last night, is that recently he has begun to cut back inside rather than head for the bi-line and run out of space. He took two Newcastle defenders out in the first half in a prticularly effective manner doing just this. Notably he started doing this more since The Ox had a run in the team and started doing it. I am sure Chamberlain has, unintentionally on his part although almost certainly deliberately on Le Boss’s part, given Theo the kick up the backside he needed. Sagna has no doubt aided this… Read more »
My thoughts on Walcott exactly. A lot of times when people say he is shit, I often forget he’s just 22, or 23. Good God.
I was very pleased with him yesterday. Only two passing mistakes that I noticed though. First the pass to Rosicky when he had an open goal was way to hard, didn’t give Rosicky much of a chance, and he sent a diagonal cross towards RvP in the second half, and it sailed 20 yards too far. But his work rate was great, he tracked back better than I ever remember seeing, and he didn’t take balls into the corner, just to lose them. I hope this improvement can keep up, and his young age is still very encouraging.
i think he suffered badly when we had our 4 full backs missing. yesterday we pushed gibbs and sagna high up the pitch and they were comfortable doing that when vermaelen, djourou and coquelin never were. theo just needs a bit more confidence in himself to be a top player. he should be running at the defender as often as possible. with sagna behind him, he can do that with less fear about what will happen if he loses the ball. with everyone fit, we are as good as united or city and probably the only team in europe that… Read more »
don’t include le coq. He always offered magnificent forward penetration.
Well yesterday he got the news he was linked with redknapp and spuds no wonder he felt disgusted.
Joking aside there was a change of attitude yesterday and a lot more confidence in him and i for one had no problems if the game was constantly played on right in the first half even if there was a certain ox on the left.
A bit more performances like that Theo and you will silence your critics including me.
Theo is “you know” a very ” you know” good talent “you know”. Just needs to, “you know” keep performing like this “you know” week in week out.
Huh?
‘Newcastle gave the impression of a good team’, did I just catch willy old Wenger call the Geordies shit?
sophisticated troll
Yesterday’s Theo looked like the Theo we bought. As he cuts in and left people sprawling I could only remember that West Brom game in his first season where we won 5-0 and he was just awesome (think Thierry bagged a brace that day). Its just so sad that Theo only shows up sporadically now. But he will surely get a new contract as he is a Wenger favorite: just like Santos is mine and I can see him do no wrong even as he marauds forward and refuses to track back.
Theo is better than Perry Groves, but then again Groves was a £50,000 buy from Colchester. So he ought to be. He’s seeming to be over the endless shoulder injuries, looks stronger, has kept his pace and is getting a little better at finishing. I don’t know whether Theo will ever be the player to spot first time through balls but i do know i’d rather see him lining up for us than on the right wing for a team playing the Arsenal. At 22 he’s such an obvious keeper that it’s sad there are some who think he should… Read more »
A lot of sense here, I’d be terrified having Theo play against us when he’s in top form like now. Even if he’s one-dimensional, it’s that dimension that works for his position. Take away a striker’s finishing and he’s useless, take away a winger’s pace and he’s just a wide midfielder, trickery might not get him to the byline.
One-dimensional but so what.
To be honest Sam ( ? ), it’s not obvious to me, he’s too short for a start, I don’t think he’d be much of a keeper, IMHO.
Even Almunia is better than Walcott between the sticks . . .
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lol
Honestly Adam: i would rather have Theo as a keper rather than Almunia, he might be short but he’s so fast he’ll get to the ball before the striker takes a shot!
The two players that pissed me of most at the start of the season were Walcott and rosicky but they have had some turn around and I’m delighted I was wrong, keep up the good work and come back stronger next season
Walcott is boss