Tag Archives: Townsend

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

Tottenham’s Andros Townsend the future of English football?

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I did not watch the England game. I was travelling for a weekend away in Suffolk whilst the match was on. I have not seen the match. By the time I got to where I was staying, the final whistle had just gone, so I settled down to watch the highlights of the goals. I did, however, read many a news report the next day, and most were saying the same thing, that Andros Townsend was the future of English football.

Let me get straight to the point, Andros Townsend is not the future of English football. He is the 4th choice English right winger, behind Walcott, Lennon and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Andros Townsend is 22 years old. He has played for 10 different clubs as a professional footballer. His career reads played 136, scored 14. These are not the statistics of the future of anything.

He has got lucky this year, and in fairness, has taken that luck and made the most of it. An injury to Lennon, Bale being sold, and Lamela settling in has meant he has gone from QPR last season to Spurs 1st team this season. And injuries in the England squad left Roy Hodgson with few other options. He is not even the future of Tottenham Hotspur’s right wing, let alone England’s.

I first saw Townsend a few years back in a Tottenham v Arsenal youth game, where Arsenal took around 3,000 fans. A young lad called Jack Wilshere was by far the star of the show, running in a game which Arsenal comfortably run. Townsend was Tottenham’s best player, but he was mainly just pace, with very little end product. He has not changed that much.

Earlier this week, I wrote about how young players are getting too easily hyped after just a couple of performances. It seems after one game for England, Townsend is getting similar treatment. Tipped as the next big thing, despite not doing much, and already being 22.

Yes, the goal he scored was a brilliant finish, but a wonder goal does not make a brilliant player. Both David Bentley and Danny Rose have scored wonder goals against Arsenal in the past, neither of them have gone to do anything special.

The gushing over Townsend during the post-match summary even went as far as claiming he assisted the 1st goal. This despite it being a poor cross from Townsend and at least another as touches of the ball from other players before Wayne Rooney put the ball in the net. The pundits conveniently ignored a poor cross to use the clip as another example of how Townsend was the future.

In one report I read, someone jorno even said he was the ‘New Gareth Bale.’ That he was quiet in the 1st half but exploded into life during the second when he dropped inside in a Bale-esque performance. Gareth Bale is 24. Andros Townsend 22. He is nowhere near the talent of Bale. He is on par talent wise with Serge Gnabry, who is 4 years his junior.

Infact, Townsend is most similar to Shaun Wright-Phillips. A player of pace who would score the odd worldie, but never have the talent required at the highest level. His raw pace enough to make people remember him, but not good enough to be a consistent high end performer. Townsend also compares to SWP in that he is older than what many think. For years SWP was put in with Walcott and Lennon as ‘exciting young wingers for England’. This despite SWP being 7 years older than the other two. He is now 32!

I am sure Townsend will end up similar. Continual comparisons with those 4/5 years younger as he broke onto the scene so late. At 22 he has no potential. He should be England’s star now, not an England star of the future.

He is of similar ability to the likes of Scott Sinclair, Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge. He is just pace, and like these players, will suffer from second season syndrome. As players work out how to defend against him, his tells, whether he go’s inside or out. The top players such as Lennon and Walcott are able to continue improving, adding to their game, these players, like Townsend, have not, as they are just pace.

England’s future lies in the hands of the likes of Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley and many more better, younger players then Andros Townsend. The future for England is brighter than some make you believe, and it is these players who Hodgson should be looking at taking to Rio to gain experience, not a ‘never gonna be’ like Townsend.

Again, to remind you all, Townsend is 22. Not exactly a young star. He is only 2 years younger the Mesut Ozil!

The one thing I would say about Townsend is that he is testament to not giving up and working hard. In the youth game I mentioned, he was outshone by the likes of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Emmanuel Frimpong. Neither of these have done much of note since then, so credit to Townsend for wanting to be better, not sitting on his laurels and accepting earning a good wage whilst being mediocre.

You have to feel that were Townsend not playing by the presses love Spurs, there would not be as much love for him. Were he playing for an unfashionable Stoke, Villa or Southampton, the hype would not be there. The only surprise is that Harry Redknapp has not yet come out and said how it was he who developed Townsend at Spurs and QPR and that if he were England manager, Townsend would have been in the England side years ago.

Andros Townsend will not be going to Rio.

Keenos