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Arsenal Comment: Why Arsenal and England need more than just pace and potential from Theo Walcott
Young star seems to be going nowhere fast
22 Feb 2010 09:10:00
Theo Walcott, Arsenal (Getty Images)
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Theo Walcott, Arsenal (Getty Images)
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By Matthew Weiner | Arsenal Correspondent

The England manager Fabio Capello wasn’t the only one studying Theo Walcott during Arsenal’s nervy 2-0 victory over Sunderland at the Emirates on Saturday. Gunners fans, especially English ones, were keen to see if this young man could prove to be the match winner he has promised to be for so long.

The performance, however, was a disappointment. Yes, he still has pace to burn - Walcott is the fastest player in the Premier League. According to data captured by Castrol, he hits top speeds of 22.72 mph – making him only marginally slower than double Olympic champion Usain Bolt.

Yet, when it comes to speed of thought, Walcott is still more tortoise than hare. He rates as the eighth most effective midfielder in Arsenal's squad in the Castrol Rankings. The truth is that the 20-year-old star appears not to have significantly developed technically or tactically since Arsene Wenger signed him from Southampton four years ago.

This lack of progress is revealed in the harsh light of the player’s statistics. In the three seasons he’s played professionally for Arsenal, Walcott’s figures have not changed – if anything they’ve grown slightly worse. In 2007-08, he played 25 games in the league, got four assists and scored two goals. In 2008-09, he played 22 times, made two and scored two. So far this season, he has only played 13 times, notching a single assist and goal.

With only 11 matches left, Walcott cannot top his appearance record - and judging by his performance against Sunderland on Saturday neither will he top his contribution to Arsenal’s assist and goal tallies.

When I gave Walcott four out of 10 in Goal.com’s match ratings for the game against Sunderland, a number of readers responded in disgust. Had I been watching the same game, they asked? But the truth, as I saw it, is that despite repeatedly terrorising Sunderland’s left-back George McCartney and subsequently his replacement Anton Ferdinand, the Arsenal winger actually produced very little.

In the first five minutes of the match, Theo outstripped his marker after being put through by a long ball out of defence, but then shot wide of the goal. That was his best moment of the game. Subsequently, he repeatedly failed to capitalise on the advantage that his incredible speed gave him. On one occasion, his errant cross was even met by a bad reaction from the on-looking Capello. Many Arsenal fans will know exactly how Fabio Capello feels. Frustrated.


On a wing and a prayer | Will Theo play at World Cup?

Since he became the youngest player in history to score a hat-trick for England in that World Cup qualifier against Croatia in September 2008, Walcott was expected to kick on. But that hasn’t been the case. According to Opta, he scores just one in 11 of his chances, the average being one in six for a forward. While on the wing last season, his cross completion was only 17 percent – compared to 30 percent from Andrey Arshavin.

There are mitigating circumstances. Walcott has suffered with injuries. Saturday was only his seventh start in a season ravaged by a series of back, knee, hamstring and rib problems. While in 2007 and 2008, he had to undergo operations to repair a hereditary weakness in his shoulders. There is no disguising that these ailments have held back his development as a player.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not arguing that Theo Walcott, aged only 20, is ready to be consigned to the history books. He’s capable of moments of breath-taking football. There was for example, his coolly-taken debut strike for Arsenal against Chelsea in the 2007 League Cup Final, and the pitch-length dash against Liverpool to set up Emmanuel Adebayor in the semi-finals of the 2007-08 Champions League. But alarmingly, for England and Arsenal fans, these occasions appear to be happening with decreasing frequency.

Part of the problem, of course, is the hype and the hope that weighs heavily on Walcott’s dodgy shoulders. England are wary of being over-reliant on Wayne Rooney at the World Cup and desperately want Walcott to be another match-winner for the Three Lions.

Arsenal fans also crave an Englishman to cheer at the Emirates among all the foreign stars. Combined, that’s a lot of responsibility for such a young man.
Fortunately, Theo has much on his side. He has the balanced personality and strong family to help him handle that pressure. And, crucially, he still has time.

There is still a couple of years before he must start delivering on his potential. Wenger himself has said of Walcott’s questionable form: “I’ve said many times that players get there when they are 22 or 23 and yet Theo is still 20.”

what do you think? do you think Theo was worth it, have your say