Tag Archives: Theo Walcott

Time running out for Arsenal stalwart

The fence is completely divided. Some keep full of confidence in the darkest performances. Some have wanted him gone for a long time.

We’ve had some good times.

Always stayed loyal, won trophies. Always full promise and sense of feeling that the future will be better, will reach full potential. A couple of steps forward, a couple of steps back. A few false starts.

We’ve had some bad times.

Constant injuries and excuses. Huge underperforming when it matters, especially in the big games. Some mistakes and errors over and over again. Predictable.

Questions are always asked when he’s given a new contract.

Ultimately he is paid one of the biggest wages at the club which is meant to reflect the world class performance he should give. In this sense, he is a failure. His performances have been average, minimum, far of anything special.

For our wages do we not deserve something better?

Should we not get rid, try a new idea? Fresh approach.

Am I talking about Arsene Wenger or Theo Walcott??

Both are an epitome of each other are they not?

Both need to go in the summer. Average is not good enough. Especially given how much each is paid. You have both not delivered.

And do I say, Thank you for the memories, but goodbye.

Bradley
Follow @BradMartinPitt

Goodbye Theo Walcott

13 Replies

Theo, Theo, Theo Walcott, his an Englishman at Arsenal.

He is also a bottle job. A disgrace. A player who’s time is up.

I do not usually like such aggressive criticism of players. But sometimes it is needed. Sometimes there is a straw that brakes the camels back. And the performance in the 0-0 draw against Sunderland was that straw.

For many a year, I back Theo. I saw a player in him. Whilst many wrote him off, I was rewarded with my faith in the player.

In 2012/13, he scored 21 goals in 43 games, adding 11 Premier League assists that season. As a comparator, that year Gareth Bale scored 26 in 44 with just the 7 assists. The summer of 2013 Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid for a lot of money.

Theo Walcott was still just 24 at the time. He seemed patience had been rewarded. That he had finally arrived as a top player.

Half way through that season, he held the club to ransom. With Robin van Persie, Alex Song, Samir Nasri & Cesc Fabregas having recently left the club, Arsenal were in a fragile place. They could not afford another summer where the sides best performer leaves. He got a bumper new contract.

The next year, he bounced from injury to injury, but every time he came in he looked in good touch, including a terrific cameo appearance against Manchester City (when we lost heavily). 2014/15 was very much the same. One injury followed the next.

That summer Arsenal were in a quandary. Walcott had one year left of the contract. Do the club offer him a new deal, offload a player for cheap, or risk losing him at the end of the season for nothing. Arsenal did what was probably the right thing at the time and offered him a new contract.

On the 31^st July 2015, Theo Walcott signed a new (reportedly) £140,000 a week 4 year deal, thus making him one of the clubs highest earners alongside Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

The value of the contract at the time was baffling. Here was a player who had been injured for 2 years. The ball was no longer in his court. He could no longer bully us like he did in 2013. But it seems he (and his agent) did.

Arsenal could easily have called his bluff, told him to take a lower deal or be sold, and replaced him if necessarily. Instead, the club bowed down to his demands and did not sign a single outfield player.

Theo Walcott had just secured his future. A contract through until he was 30, earning him nearly £30,000,000 before tax. Count the zero’s. That is thirty million quid.

And then as suspected, this season followed the last two, and the majority of his career. Injuries.

So here was a player who in 10 years at Arsenal, had performed consistently at a high level for 1 season, and two half’s of a season, tied to a lucrative contract that will set him up for life.

And then we come to Sunderland.

With the goal gapping, he had a 50/50 challenge with Younes Kaboul. It wasn’t even a 50/50. It was probably 80/20 in his favour. He bottled it.

In that selfish moment, he showed he is more interested in himself, in his chances of making Euro 2016, than that of the team.

He would rather not risk an injury to make the ferry to France, than score a goal which would keep us on the coat tails of Spurs.

It was an utter disgrace.

The club had stood by him after 2 years of injury. Had rewarded him with a £30m contract. And that is the way he thanks us. It was a two fingers up to everyone. To the management, to the fans, and to his team mates. You certainly would not want to see Walcott in the trenches with you. He is more likely to throw you infront of the bullet than take one for you.

I do not want to see Theo Walcott in an Arsenal shirt again.

More than that, I do not want him picked for England. I am going out to France for the Wales game, Walcott does not deserve to be on that plane.

I then want Walcott bombed out in the summer.

He comes across as a nice lad, yet on numerous occasions has held the club to ransom, and then showed no commitment to the side when needed. He certainly does not go the extra mile.

It is time for him to be shipped out, hopefully to somewhere awful like Hull or Burnley.

Theo Walcott, we can not even say thanks for the memories but it is time to say goodbye.

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC

Arsenal to sell English gems

6 Replies

19^th December 2012. With not much to cheers about in recent years, Arsenal announced, to great fanfair, that “Five young internationals sign new contracts”.

Kieran Gibbs (then 23), Carl Jenkinson (20), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (19), Aaron Ramsey (21) and Jack Wilshere (20). The future of Arsenal. A bunch of young British lads. At least if we did not have trophies to cheer about, we knew we had home grown lads on the field, progressing, knowing what it means to play for The Arsenal.

At the time, Arsene Wenger said “I’m a strong believer in stability and I believe when you have a core of British players, it’s always easier to keep them together and that’s what we’ll try to achieve going forward.”

Fast forward 6 months to the unveiling of the final Nike shirt.

Nike knew how to market a product, and they decided that they would use the British core to promote their final shirt.

To the 5 players who had announced a new contract, Theo Walcott was added in making it a magnificent 6.

A British core. Something that had been levelled at Arsenal for so long. Not enough English players. Well the future of Arsenal was bright. And the future of England seemed in Arsenal hands.

We are now in 2016. Over 3 years on from the announcement of the new contracts. In that time, Arsenal have won 2 FA Cups and got the trophy drought monkey off the back. Things are a bit brighter at the club, even if this years bottling of the title race has put a bit of a downer on the last 24 months. Arsenal are back on the up.

But then you look at the line ups of our last two games. A 2-0 away victory at Everton, a 4-0 home win against Watford. Two excellent performances. And yet just one Englishman started. Danny Welbeck. Who in 2012 was at Manchester United.

What has happened to Arsenal’s British core? And are we now in a situation where the 6 players at the 2013/14 shirt unveiling could all be sold and improved on?

Jack Wilshere – In 2012, Wenger clearly had Wilshere pegged as the next Arsenal captain. “Jack is certainly the best known, the leader of this group.” Just 20 years old, He was an extreme talent, showing his potential in 2011 with a world class performance against Barcelona, Xavi and Iniesta.

In 2012, there were already warning signs about his future. He had missed the entirety of the previous season injured. And had already been involved in numerous off the field incidents. Arrested in 2010 after a fracas outside a bar. Given a police warning in 2011 for spitting on a taxi driver.

Roll on 3 years and history is repeating himself. He has once more missed an entire season injured. And news yesterday breaks of him again being involved in a night club brawl were police had to intervene.

Clearly a good player, but he is now 24.

I am not massively concerned about his off the field antics. He should be making headlines for his on the pitch performances, but we have had worse at the club. I am concerned about his injury record.

It was at 24 we gave Abou Diaby a new 5 year deal. He had played 76 games in his previous two years. It is a contract offer which 3 years down the line caused a lot of fans to attack Wenger. In the last 5 years, Wilshere has played just 91 games.

Do we continue giving him a chance, or do we learn from the mistakes we made with Diaby and cut our losses?

Verdict: Sell

Aaron Ramsey – Ramsey is certainly the ying to Wilshere’s yang. 3 years ago it looked so bright for the pair. They could become our Scholes and Keane. The new Vieira and Petit.

Wilshere had the silkiness, Ramsey the engine. Wilshere the nastiness. Ramsey the calmness. They would have complimented each other brilliantly.

In 2013, it seemed like Ramsey had finally arrived. After recovering from that leg breaking assault by Ryan Shawcross, he was our player of the season in 2013/14, cumulating in scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup Final. Since then, he has digressed.

He stopped playing his simple game that saw him become so successful in 2013/14, returning to back heels and Hollywood passes.

Over the last 2 seasons, he has had many minor injuries, resulting in him struggling to put a run of games together.

He has gone backwards in the last 2 years. But is still an important player. Into next season, he needs someone to get hold of him and say these 3 words. Keep it simple.

Verdict: Keep

Theo Walcott – In 2013 when that shirt was unveiled. Walcott was the father figure of the group. Despite only being 24 himself, he had already played nearly 200 Premier League games.

The year leading up to the shirt unveiling, he was exceptional. Scoring 21 goals in 43 games, adding many assists as well. He had finally arrived as a player.

Then the injuries returned. And now, 3 years later, he is a shadow of his former self. He looks scarred. He hides. He does not want the ball.

His time is up.

Verdict: Sell

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – The most overly hyped up player of the magnificent 6. People used to say Walcott did not have a footballing brain. Oxlade-Chamberlain is no better.

Another who’s recent years have been hampered by niggling injuries (seeing a theme here!). He is a player who has never impressed me. Plenty of talent, but no end product. That might be good enough for someone like Crystal Palace. But not Arsenal.

Cash in before the rest of the Premier League realise he is a myth.

Verdict: Sell

Kieran Gibbs – Another who just has not pushed on over the years. I remember him playing for England under 21s many a moon ago and he looked a class above. The issue with him is he was always older than we thought. When he was put forward alongside the others as the future in 2012, he was already 23. People were going on about his potential, but he should have already been established.

At the time of signing that contract, he had played barely 50 Premier League games. OK for a 19 year old. Not OK for a 23 year old.

At the start of next season, he will be 27. He has not yet made 100 Premier League starts.

His career is disappearing before it has even gotten going.

No longer can he be considered as the future long term solution at left back. The heir to Ashley Cole’s throne. Nacho Monreal is comfortably ahead of him. And there is a point when we will have to start thinking about giving a younger option a chance.

For now, Gibbs is worth keeping as back up to Monreal. But as soon as the next youngster shows any promise, it is time to move him on.

Verdict: Keep

Carl Jenkinson – The least known of the 6. At the time, you felt he was just an add on. A spare part. Like the bloke in the boyband who is always at the end but never has a solo.

And with the rise of Hector Bellerin this has been the case.

Jenkinson however was never bought to be an Arsenal regular. He was always destined to be a squad player. And with Debuchy likely to leave at the end of the season, Jenkinson will be 2^nd choice behind Bellerin.

Worth keeping around as he is a Premier League standard player. Would surely rather be sitting on the bench of Arsenal, the club he loves, then playing week in week out for someone like West Ham or Crystal Palace.

He could become a Wes Brown type player at Arsenal.

Verdict: Keep

3 years ago Arsenal were the future of England. Now it is natural to glance at Spurs with a hint of jealousy. Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, all performing for their country. It is time now for Arsenal to be ruthless. If the British core are not good enough, not reliable enough, cut them loose and replace them with the quality that is needed to win the league.

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC