Is Theo Walcott Actually Any Good?

It is a serious question.

His omission from the England squad was the biggest news regarding the 7 man cull yesterday and for me it was surprising because the England team is full over average players. It’s an average squad and an average team. If you wanted a definition of average then this currently England squad is it.

So Theo can feel hard done by because he’s no less average than anyone else in the squad.

Robert Green, Glenn Johnson, Stephen Warnock, Matthew Upson, Michael Carrick, Shaun Wright-Philips, Peter Crouch and Emile Heskey are extremely average players. At least Theo has a bit of pace.

But it begs the question, how good is Theo Walcott?

Because for me, he hasn’t developed. When he first arrived at Southampton, I saw footage of a young teenager with blistering pace and an eye for goal. Obviously it was in the lower divisions, but he was fearless and took on players with ease. But since joining Arsenal he hasn’t progressed.

When he first arrived I described him as “just a sprinter”. Harsh perhaps, but his vision, passing and crossing was raw. He is great at latching onto a through ball but the intelligence isn’t there for me.

And maybe I’m being harsh, but surely training with players like Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas would improve your skill on the ball. I’m astounded that he hasn’t picked up any tricks or ways to beat players. He is so one-dimensional it’s unbelievable. Intelligent defenders know exactly where he’s going – he doesn’t feint, he doesn’t shift the ball and he doesn’t knock it passed a player and run onto it. With a player gifted with his outstanding pace he doesn’t make the most of it.

He doesn’t make the defender think about what he might do. Pace is a defenders worst nightmare but if you just run in straight lines then it’s easy to defend against.

But is that Theo’s fault? You would think that Arsene Wenger would sit down and tell him to work on certain things. Thierry Henry and Ronaldo have proved you can be both skilful and have incredible pace but all Theo has is pace. His ball control and delivery is severely lacking and I’m not sure why neither of those things have progressed in the last 4 seasons.

There is the theory that Wenger’s approach to developing players is letting them work on their own ideals. So did Thierry Henry develop into a world-class player because he was more intelligent and knew what to work on? Some of the things Henry did were mind-blowing and maybe it was down to his own vision on the game.

The problem I have is seeing a position for Theo in the current Arsenal team. He can’t play as a central striker and I don’t think he has the intelligence to maximise the wide positions. Unfortunately, it seems like his biggest impact is from the bench because of his pace.

 

11 thoughts on “Is Theo Walcott Actually Any Good?

  1. This is humiliating now that cesc is gone and gallas is gone…surely we can not stop and watch our club going down the gutter…Walcott is shit as capello just proven, we do not have except 1 Center back and now our Star player is moving on….lets make our voices heard let the board know that we want them out, and if wenger is not going to strengthen then let him leave as well….we are tired and we want trophies, we want loyal players and a board/manager that can keep those players at arsenal. I bet that fabregas is going for 40 and if he was at man utd he will be going for 60-70 m….We are becoming a joke and we can’t stand there and make this board make fun of our dear Arsenal lets boycott the Emirates cup, for god’s sake lets boycott all matches in the premier league and tell them we have had enough of bad decisions…let’s form a group and fight this lets’s fight for our club

     
  2. HE’S BETTER THAN SWP FOR SURE, HIS THE ONLY WINGER OTHER THAN JOE COLE IN THAT SQUAD TO PLAY IN THE BIG STAGE AND MAKE AN IMPACT AGAINST THE BIG TEAMS.
    THATS RIGHT HE FADES IN MATCHES BUT PERFORMS AGAINST THE BIG BOYS.
    E.G THAT RUN AGAINST LIVERPOOL IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER FINAL TO SET UP ADEBAYOUR, THAT RUN AGAINST AC MILAN TO SET UP THE UGLY GUY AGAIN, THAT CARLING CUP FINAL GOAL AGAINST CHELSEA ON HIS FIRST SEASON, THE GOAL AGAINST CHELSEA IN THE FA CUP SEMI LAST YEAR, YES THE DAMAGE AGAINST BARCELONA IN BOTH LEGS THIS YEAR AND DONT FORGET PERFORMANCE AGAINST CROATIA.
    NO OTHER WINGER HAS THAT ON THERE CV FROM THIS ENGLAND SQUAD.
    THAT IS EVERY EVIDENCE THAT WALCOTT WOULD HAV PERFORMED WELL AGAINST THE SPAINS, DUTCH, BRAZIL, ARGENTINA ETC.
    MCLAREN REGRETTED IT WHEN HE DROPPED BECKHAM AND NOW FABIO WILL REGRET THIS AS WELL, WHEN NOTHING IS WORKING, ENGLAND 1-0 DOWN ON THE 81ST MINUTE, LENNON TIRED, SWP NOT GOOD ENOUGH, WHO DOES FABIO BRING ON ?????? CARRICK, UPSON AND HESKEY, YEAH THEY CAN CHANGE A GAME. LOL

     
  3. All the talk about boycotts is complete rubbish, I have suported Arsenal for 51 years and apart from the Wenger era the football played was only for devout supporters. We now have a side that pleases the eye of everyone and also being fairly successful whilst doing it. There are 16 clubs that would have liked to have finished where we did and many more that would have relished the opportunity to play in the CL quarter finals.
    Walcott sadly does not have much of a football brain but his obvious position would be like Michael Owen, in the centre playing off the last defender, his speed and his eye for goal would make him a real asset to any club in the world but sadly I cannot see Arsene using him in this position unless he offloads the more obvious contenders or perhaps he is just waiting for him to get older and more experiened, if so let him go out on loan.

     
  4. what walcot is 21 now and all hes done in hes life so far is 2 good runs against liverpool and ac milan a goal against chelsea and a one off night against croatia thats at. the guy talks alot hes got a very big mouth. all he can do is run but got no skills or power. and if realy is so good why ant he in the england team. this is the world cup this is england they dont have time for no youth policy shit like wenger.

     
  5. Theo is not going to the WC because he is too good for this shitty English team. Mark my word, they are going home after the 1/8 final. I can guarantee you at least 6-7 playears from that team will not clock even a second playing there. England missed their chance in Germany. They were not good enough at that time as well but now they are even worse.

    Go Dutch, Go!!!

     
  6. Amr – A bit strong don’t you think?

    Iceman Gunner – The thing is Theo was hailed as the next wonder-kid, so obviously the expectation levels are higher even though he’s only 21. The concern is whether he’s actually progressing at all – Henry, Cesc and Vieira grew at a fantastic rate and ended up world class by their mid-twenties. Walcott doesn’t look like making that kind of standard at the moment.

    Mo – Good points about the top teams he’s done well against, but again, that was a substitute. I’m surprise Capello didn’t take him just on the basis that Walcott could change a game if needed, especially in a tournament as tight as the World Cup.

    Goonerbob – Never thought of it like that. I like Theo would be better down the middle just latching onto balls and being a Michael Owen type player. Theo seems to be a better player when he’s not thinking and just instinctive – which is a problem out wide because he actually has to think about what to do next.

     
  7. Agree with Goonerbob that Theo fits the Michael Owen prototype more. The problem is, the modern game does not rely on Micheal Owen type players anymore-see Micheal Owen as an example. In other words, although a player with some amazing physical gifts, there is no place on a modern team where Theo can really be employed. He will unfortunately never be more than an impact sub, or playing against BArca, the only team in the world that can pin us back with their possession.

     
  8. Walcott has a trumendous future instore for him.
    He’s a player that just needs that spark to make him more skillfull.
    Walcott’s a player that needs to work on his final ball when his delivering in the box. It’s been poor from his perspective last season and I think he’ll have a bigger impact this time round.
    Been already dropped from the England Squad to the world cup is hard to take, but Walcott will get over it sooner or later.
    COME ON WALCOTT !!!!

     

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