Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would have heard that Theo Walcott has signed a new deal with Arsenal. His current (well, previous) contract was due to expire in the summer which would have meant he could have left on a free to the highest bidder. Reportedly, Liverpool and Chelsea were leading the chase for the speedy 23 year old.
But quite surprisingly, yesterday Arsenal confirmed he signed a new deal.
He rejected a 5 year deal worth £75,000 per week and stalled on signing a new contract until this weekend, which is a 3 year deal worth £100,000 per week, which makes him our highest paid player. For his “loyalty” as well, he was rewarded with a £3 million “signing-on bonus”.
So all the speculation (for now) about Theo leaving will finally be over. But how do you feel about the way it has been handled, what Theo did and whether it was worth it?
There is no doubt Theo is a talented player, who on his day can be devastating. His pace is unrivalled and his finishing (and crossing) has improved greatly. But he still has the same flaws – namely that when put against intelligent and experienced defenders – he struggles.
Against lower league opposition he can be a major handful. But as shown against Manchester City last weekend, he was hugely ineffective. And we still don’t know where Arsene is thinking of playing him.
His refusal to sign a new deal over the last few months has brought up another problem, which is where he wants to play. Comparisons to Thierry Henry have been banded about but Titi was on another level – he was special and one of the greatest players to have ever graced the game, never mind Arsenal Football Club. Regular readers will know that one of the biggest annoyances I have is they Thierry never won the World Player of the Year. That being said, Theo is not in the same league.
With the ball in behind he is pretty much unstoppable. But strikers need more than electric pace and finishing, they need to hold the ball up and be able to compete in the air sometimes. That’s why Theo should concentrate on developing his game from wide positions where his pace can be used to greater effect.
But then Arsene could solve this by scrapping the 4-3-3 system and going back to a 4-4-2. That would please Theo by allowing him to play up top and give him a partner to play off, like Giroud. I can’t see why that wouldn’t happen and it would give us much better balance in the side. Our best sides have always played 4-4-2. Cazorla and Oxlade-Chamberlain are quick, skilful and intelligent enough to be like Bobby and Freddie on the wings and Arteta and Wilshere in the middle would be a hell of a central midfield pairing.
But without wanting to drift away from the topic too much, now that Arsene has pinned Theo down to a 3 year contract, we can start concentrating on developing our first eleven and matters on the pitch.
Now that Theo has committed to Arsenal (and is “like a new signing”) it might be worth actually going out and making some actual signings to strengthen our squad.
Is Theo deserving of being our highest paid player? Is he our best player? I don’t know how much Jack and The Ox are on but I’m pretty sure it’s peanuts compared to what Theo is now on. If anyone has details on what wages our players are on I would be interested in knowing!
From a pure goal-scoring point of view,he has the highest scoreline in this season in the team. Point one.
From a potential with age perspective,he is only “23”. Point two.
From a special asset point of view,he shines above most with his pace. Point three.
From a WIP skill level n tenacity perspective,he is improving all the time. Getting up to beat defenders to score is in his game play now. Point four.
Most important of all that he is willing to learn n improve. Point five.
While even AW was on tender-hooks for his resigning,n we have people see no further than emotions,fantasies. Unbelievable. Walcott is THE signing of Jan 2013,period.
Just 1 point that that summarized all.
A over-hyped player that is overpaid and not good enough even if you give him another 5 years. Period.
I also agree with the huge amount he is getting when he is not worth it, intelligence wise.
Don’t get me wrong, he is still.very young and and can still improve but with such demand, he held the team to ransom.
He has good pace and has improved with his crossings and still has a lot to do with his timing.
He shoots when he should have just passed the ball and always tries more passes too many when he can play the ball to a teammate.
Always has been a very overrated and overvalued player. Extremely inconsistent, only has speed and a good finish going for him. Will always suffer from a lack of awareness and composure and usually poor ball control when under pressure. Not fit to tie Marc Overmars or Anders Limpars shoelaces. Has benefited from Arsenal’s current striking predicament which has exagerrated his real worth. Is laughing all the way to the bank. Watch him quickly return to mediocrity and get injured again.
I wish he would be sold last year instead of RVP for say 12 million. That proceeds with 100k/week saved could be paid to RVP @ 180K/week.
good thing is that he signed the only thing that annoys me is a 3 and half year contract that means in the next 2 years he wants more money which means he will be sold
It is an extreme amount of money for a very mediocre player,If Wenger have any sense he will off load him in the summer for 30 or 40 mil,there will probably be some nutcase club willing to pay that amount of money or they should sell him to some rich russian club.
Not worth the money – Lets see how well he performs. Hopefully he’ll be played on the right hand side where he’s much more effective.
With the right service will score 20 plus every season. His pace forces opposition to drop deep to prevent his runs in behind. Which means we can push higher up and pen teams in.