Tag Archives: Theo Walcott

Could Julian Draxler be the man to finally replace Henry at Arsenal?

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Thierry Henry left Arsenal in 2007. Ever since that day, Arsenal have attempted, and failed, to replace what the legend bought the time. Pace, power, height, assists and goals. Whether it be by lack of ability, lack of desire, lack of physical attributes or lack of heart, Arsenal have not, in 6 years, got close to replacing the Frenchman.

First to attempt to replace him was Emmanuel Adebayor. He seemed to have it all. The pace, the power, and the technique. unfortunately, he is footballs answer to Audley Harrison. All the technique and physical ability to be one of the best, but none of the heart or desire.

Robin Van Persie was next up to attempt to replace the great man. He came closer to anyone else, with 59 goals in 2 seasons. However, leaving for Manchester United meant he became nothing in the eyes of Arsenal fans. And at the age of 29 when leaving, and with a history of injuries, it is unlikely he would ever become a true replacement for Henry. More like a short term option. He also did not have the dynamism of Henry.

Next up was Theo Walcott. He took Henry’s number 14 shirt. With pace to burn and a fantastic eye for goal. He could have had it all. Except the stature. 5 inches shorter than Henry, he does not have the ability to play up top on his own.

Finally, Olivier Giroud. The polar opposite to Theo Walcott. All the physical attributes, but none of the pace. Whilst he is important in the way we line up, there is a worry that he does not have the natural gifts to be a game winner. What he does is work well for the team, but when push comes to shove, he does not strike fear into a defenders heart the way Henry did. He is also not an individual game winner.

For 6 seasons, Arsenal have struggled with their forward line, with none of the attempted replacements being ideal, however, Arsene Wenger might be about to sign the man who could well replace him on a long term basis. Julian Draxler is top of his shopping list for summer 2014.

Julian Draxler is a 20 year old German player currently plying his trade for Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga. A midfielder by trade, he is comfortable playing anywhere behind the striker. Left wing, right wing or central. He is a talent. Arguably the most talented under 21 year old in Europe at the moment.

Looking at the German, he seems to have the ideal attributes for Arsene Wenger to turn him into a top young midfielder into one of the world deadliest strikers.

It is well known that Arsene Wenger likes having his strikers ‘learn’ how to play out wide. His theory is that wingers having less space and less time on the ball, whilst also receiving more of the ball then a striker. He is of the belief that playing on the wing when younger is a good learning curve to become a striker in the future. At 20, Draxler will be a year younger than when Henry signed from Juventus.

Looking at the two players, it is clear that Draxler ticks so many of the boxes which Henry also ticked (or tuck?).

At 6 foot 2, he is the same height as Henry, meaning that he has the frame to bulk up and bully defenders. In a world where 1 up top is the favoured formation, the main man has to have the physical capabilities to occupy 2 defenders. Draxler might be 10kg lighter than Henry, but at the age of 20, he has the time to bulk up – he is not a wirey frame – and be fully physically prepared to be the main man up top.

Draxler, like Henry, also has pace to burn. Whilst he might not have the raw pace of Thierry Henry, he is very similar to Gareth Bale, in that he has the ability to run away from players over the longer distances.

One of the most important factors in Henry’s game was his assists. It is something that no other striker has got near to matching. Being able to provide to others as many as you score. He originally broke through for Schalke back in 2011 where, at the age of 17, he became the 4th youngest Bundesliga player, and a week later, the second youngest to start a Bundesliga game, behind Nuri Sahin. Draxler originally started playing in behind the striker, but was often pushed wide left to accommodate other players.

This positioning has meant he has the eye for a pass. Whilst his vision is not Bergkamp or Ozil level, it is certainly better than any other striker in the Premier League at the moment. He has played much of his career on the left wing, similar of Henry at Monaco and Juventus.

On top of his vision, he is also technically brilliant. Whilst Henry had to work on his technique, Draxler is more naturally gifted. He also has fantastic dribbling skills, making him the double threat that only Ronaldo, Bale and Henry have had in recent games. Being able to run with the ball whilst maintaining a high pace.

The main question over Draxler is his finishing. Unlike Henry, he has not spent his entire childhood as a striker. Henry’s trademark finishing was learnt with hours of practise playing up top for CO Les Ulis, US Palaiseau, ES Viry-Chatillon and Monaco, as well as refined at the Clairefontaine academy. Henry was always destined to be a striker.

Draxler does not have the same history. Always a midfielder, he does not have the background of playing upfront. So whether he has the coolness that is ingrained with hours of training at a young age, the instinctiveness that playing upfront from the age of 7, that Henry has is questionable. With just 25 career goals it will be a question mark over his head.

However, comparing both of their early careers, Draxler has shown an equal ability to finding the back of the net:

When Henry was 20, he had played 122 games for Monaco, scoring 27 goals. Draxler, currently 20, has played 122 games for Schalke 04, and scored 25 goals.

Draxler ticks so many boxes that Henry also ticked. And at 20, he also has the time on his hands to become a legend at Arsenal, not become just another player.

Having failed to qualify for the Champions League last season, Schalke 04 are currently sitting 5th, 8 points behind joint leaders Borussia Dortmund & Bayern Munich, with Bayer Leverkusen sitting in 3rd, also on 22 points. Just last year, they had debts over £248m. Add in a rumoured €45 million release clause, Draxler is very gettable.

Yesterday he indicated that he turned down a Premier League move in the summer. Arsenal were the club rumoured to be looking at him, with an offer of £26m plus Lukas Podolski being on the table before he picked up his injury. What is for certain it is highly likely he will join a Premier League side next year after stating:

“I have my favourite team, but I am at Schalke and I don’t want to talk about other clubs.”

Mesut Ozil took Arsenal to another level. Julian Draxler would take us a step further, and would finally be the man who replaces Thierry Henry.

Keenos

Walcott v Townsend (and Sturridge, Welbeck, Ox & Bale)

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After 6 goals in 2 games, a lot of England fans have been asking the question “Will Walcott get back into the team.” Well, here is some breaking news. Yes he will.

The player currently occupying his position on the right hand side of a front 3 is flavour of the moment Andros Townsend. Some have claimed he is already better than Theo Walcott. Others say that he will become better than Theo Walcott. Both statements are a fallacy and as likely to come true as me getting below 12 stone. Do not believe me? Theo Walcott is currently 24, Andros Townsend 22. So that no one moans (usually from up the road in North London) I have made a fair comparison. What had Theo Walcott achieved up to the season when he was 22 years of age, due to turn 23, in comparison to Andros Townsend:

Walcott-Townsend

There is nothing to show in Andros Townsend past to prove the statement “Andros Townsend will become better than Theo Walcott”. And taking into account that the year after 2011/12 (my cut off year for Theo Walcott), he went on to score 21 goals and get 14 assists, it is also a fallacy that “Andros Townsend is better than Theo Walcott”. Townsend has 14 career goals. Walcott scored 21 in 1 season. I think some people need to learn the definition of the word ‘better’.

For a final note on this, Theo Walcott has had a ‘terrible’ start to the 2013/14 campaign, whilst Andros Townsend has had a brilliant start. Yet they have both scored just the 1 goal in all competitions, whilst Theo leads the assists 2 to 1. Just shows, Theo being useless so far is still better than Townsend’s best season so far.

Expanded this a little more, there are 3 attacking positions up for grabs in the England squad. In the last 2 games, they have been occupied by Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Andros Townsend. Now some are saying that these 3 will be the front 3 for the World Cup, and that all 3 are better than Theo Walcott. Well, lets look at some more stats: England Striker

For the 3 forward positions, there are 5 players in contention (Sorry Manchester United and Manchester City fans, but Ashley Young and James Milner are useless, as for Lennon, if he gets in, Townsend, the future of English football, won’t be there). I have also stuck Gareth Bale in the comparison just to see how the English players compare to the most expensive (and therefore surely the best?) player of all time.

What is obvious from the statistics is Daniel Sturridge is by far the best goalscorer and his lightning form justifies his selection. 17 goals in his last 2 seasons (28 games) is a decent return and whilst he might not be a World Class striker, he is certainly the best England have. As for the wide positions, the one that stands out, obviously, is Theo Walcott. The two statistics a wide forward needs to be judged on his goals and assists. In his career, he is pretty much level with Gareth Bale, and last season they also averaged a similar number. So how much does that make Walcott worth?

It also makes a mockery of people saying he will not get into the side. Last season, Townsend, Welbeck & Chamberlain scored 4 goals and got 9 assists between them. Theo got more than these on his own. Walcott has made the right wing his own at Arsenal, and will be one of the 1st names on the team sheet for England.

The other interesting comparison is between Welbeck, Townsend and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Welbeck currently has the left hand side, but he showed against Poland he is useless. Townsend is left footed, played most of his youth career on the left wing, but he broken through this year playing right wing. And Oxlade-Chamberlain played left wing at the last European Championship for England. It is clear it is between these 3 for the left wing position. So what do the stats say?

Over his career, Welbeck is the more effective, but interestingly, they all averaged around 5 games per goal/assist last campaign. When you consider Walcott averaged 1.3 and Sturridge 1.5, it is clear England’s left wing will be the week side of the attacking trio.

What is also interesting is how poor Oxlade-Chamberlain’s stats are. I have felt since joining Arsenal, his hype does not come through on his stats and 3 goals and 5 assists in his career perhaps highlight this. Although he is just 20 so the youngest of the group. And he has still got more goals and assists then the future of England, Andros Townsend, despite him being 2 years younger (which again makes a mockery of people calling Townsend ‘England’s Future and saying he is better than Theo Walcott).

If England can get the left wing sorted, and with Rooney playing in the hole with 3 ahead of him with pace and finishing ability, England could surprise a lot of people in Brazil. It would be a fairly exciting forward line!

Theo Walcott is nowhere near losing his England spot, least of all to Andros Townsend. And what is clear by the comparison’s is that he is every bit as effective when it comes to playing as a wide forward as Gareth Bale.

Keenos

Arsenal missing Theo Walcott

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Over the years, Theo Walcott has been much derided by Arsenal fans, England fans and the media. Brilliant one game, anonymous the next. Despite last season being our top scorer with 21 goals, and also adding 14 assists, many still question his place in the side.

It is often said you only realise what a player contributes to the team in general when he does not play. A lot of people underrated Gilberto Silva massively during his early years at the club. It was only during a 7 month lay off with a broken back during the 2004-05 season that many realised how important the invisible wall was to the teams make up.

We saw in the 1-1 draw against WBA how much we missed Theo Walcott. Back in the middle of September, I posted about how Arsenal were playing like a Brazilian side with their new 4231 formation, and how this formation was heavily reliant on having a player with pace on one side. We saw against WBA how when you take this pace away, the side becomes too narrow and does not break the line of the defenders enough.

The WBA game was probably our worst attacking performance of the season. With Wilshere and Ramsey out wide, but both drifting in, we often ended up with all 5 midfielder’s in the middle of the park. No width and more importantly, no pace.

A few instances spring to mind where we desperately missed Walcott. The first was a break away from a corner. Normally whoever brings the ball out looks first for Walcott. With his electric pace, he is key to our counter attacking. Unfortunately, without Walcott, we had no other pace options. Mesut Ozil had the ball and he had a choice between Giroud or Ramsey going forward. He played a good ball to Ramsey, but he had to check in side and by the time he did this, the WBA players were back in droves and the chance was gone. Had Walcott been on the pitch, I am sure we would have seen him rampage down the right before playing the ball into Giroud or Ramsey for a tap in.

The second scenario happened a few times. Often Theo Walcott is a cross field out ball. When play is tight down one win, he is usually in acres of space on the other, allowing us to switch the play and exploit this pace. Unfortunately, without Walcott there, that space went unexploited. Jenkinson tried to push into it, but did not get far enough forward. This meant that play often became to congested and then break down on the other side of the pitch.

Theo Walcott also creates space for others. He often gets ‘chalk on his boots’ which widens the pitch, and his dangerous play usually results in teams having to use their full back, and either a centre back or winger, to close him down. This then gives more space to either his full back, or the midfielder’s. Too often, we were easily closed down against West Brom, as they pushed us into a congested middle, we were unable to create space for ourselves. Had Theo Walcott been playing, this would not of happened.

Yes, Lukas Podolski or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could have also made a difference. Their pace on the wings would have supplied a similar threat to that of Walcott, however Walcott has shown himself in the Premier League to be the better performer of the 3 and we missed him.

With the International break now upon us, we have 2 weeks for Walcott to get fit. I am sure he will play in our next game, and we will be back to our swashbucking best.

The fact we managed to get a point out of a tough game with the amount of injuries we currently have (Sagna, Diaby, Walcott, Chamberlain, Podolski, Cazorla, Sanogo) is testament to both our squad depth and current mental strength. As players start to return, we should begin to see just how good this Arsenal side are, and if we are truly title contenders.

Keenos