Bournemouth (H) | PL | Sun 27 Nov 14:15

[Henry Norris 1913]

In terms of technical ability merson is miles ahead of wally. End of.

[Redarmy]

In terms of technical ability merson is miles ahead of wally. End of.

absolutely.....

[falkirk goon]

In terms of technical ability merson is miles ahead of wally. End of.

absolutely.....

I concur

[DB10GOONER]

But stats do not lie, and so far this season, the stats prove Walcott to be a 1 goal every two games wide player, which is more than worthy of inclusion in the first team.

Actually, stats do lie. You cannot just say Walcott has scored 1 goal in every 2 games and that means he is worthy of inclusion. Qualify the stats. How many of those games did we end up drawing or losing where Walcott scored but maybe missed two or three easy chances to either score a winner or fucked up setting up a winner? How many of those goals came in 3 or 4 nil wins over cannon fodder? How many in so called big games. How many chances did he miss that might have turned a draw into a win?

Also you have to look at how many chances he has to score. Walcott's conversion rate is only 20% so he is wasting far more shots than he is scoring. His crossing accuracy is only at 19% and crossing is a big part of a wide player's game so he is not contributing near enough there.

And then we must look at the wider season as a whole and his consistency. This is his 11th season with us and he has only ever hit double figures for PL goals once. What's the bets Walcott will finish this season on somewhere between 6 and 9 goals?

[Herd]

Wally and the Merse comparisons , oh please ,Wally and Martin Hayes maybe !

[Wilson]

But stats do not lie, and so far this season, the stats prove Walcott to be a 1 goal every two games wide player, which is more than worthy of inclusion in the first team.

Actually, stats do lie. You cannot just say Walcott has scored 1 goal in every 2 games and that means he is worthy of inclusion. Qualify the stats. How many of those games did we end up drawing or losing where Walcott scored but maybe missed two or three easy chances to either score a winner or fucked up setting up a winner? How many of those goals came in 3 or 4 nil wins over cannon fodder? How many in so called big games. How many chances did he miss that might have turned a draw into a win?

Also you have to look at how many chances he has to score. Walcott's conversion rate is only 20% so he is wasting far more shots than he is scoring. His crossing accuracy is only at 19% and crossing is a big part of a wide player's game so he is not contributing near enough there.

And then we must look at the wider season as a whole and his consistency. This is his 11th season with us and he has only ever hit double figures for PL goals once. What's the bets Walcott will finish this season on somewhere between 6 and 9 goals?

Who would you replace him with then? Surely not Ramsey on the right, or Chamberlain and Iwobi - both of which dont find the net.

Sure, if Wenger can bring in Griezmann or Rues, then Feo is on the outer, but as far as current players go, I dont get why anyone would say he shouldnt be in the first 11.

[DB10GOONER]

In terms of technical ability merson is miles ahead of wally. End of.

absolutely.....

I concur

Totally. Merson was a gem in a time when football was often played in the air over the midfield. Merse had great vision and technique. I hate when people try to go all revisionist and make statements like "Merse wasn't great". What next? Wrighty wasn't as great as people would have you believe? ffs.

[markyp]

god this place makes me larf,recently everbody was slagging off merson saying he was bang average now he was pele!! wtf

[DB10GOONER]

god this place makes me larf,recently everbody was slagging off merson saying he was bang average now he was pele!! wtf

Who said he was like Pele?

[Clash]

But stats do not lie, and so far this season, the stats prove Walcott to be a 1 goal every two games wide player, which is more than worthy of inclusion in the first team.

Actually, stats do lie. You cannot just say Walcott has scored 1 goal in every 2 games and that means he is worthy of inclusion. Qualify the stats. How many of those games did we end up drawing or losing where Walcott scored but maybe missed two or three easy chances to either score a winner or fucked up setting up a winner? How many of those goals came in 3 or 4 nil wins over cannon fodder? How many in so called big games. How many chances did he miss that might have turned a draw into a win?

Also you have to look at how many chances he has to score. Walcott's conversion rate is only 20% so he is wasting far more shots than he is scoring. His crossing accuracy is only at 19% and crossing is a big part of a wide player's game so he is not contributing near enough there.

And then we must look at the wider season as a whole and his consistency. This is his 11th season with us and he has only ever hit double figures for PL goals once. What's the bets Walcott will finish this season on somewhere between 6 and 9 goals?

Great post! Says all that needs to be said about Walcott.

I think it was similar with Adebayor, In 2007/08 the records show he scored 30 goals ... but anyone who watched the games that season will see that his finishing and performances contributed massively to our PL & CL collapses. He could/should have had 60+ goals that season.

His goals came in purple patches (6 were against an appalling Derby County side), he went missing when the pressure was on , he missed a sitter at Anfield in the CL , far too often he got caught offside ... and worst of all was he didnt pass the fucking ball to Bendnter at Birmingham for a certain goal that would have won us that game and spared us Gallas' cringe-worthy histrionics

Stats do indeed lie.

[Wilson]

But stats do not lie, and so far this season, the stats prove Walcott to be a 1 goal every two games wide player, which is more than worthy of inclusion in the first team.

Actually, stats do lie. You cannot just say Walcott has scored 1 goal in every 2 games and that means he is worthy of inclusion. Qualify the stats. How many of those games did we end up drawing or losing where Walcott scored but maybe missed two or three easy chances to either score a winner or fucked up setting up a winner? How many of those goals came in 3 or 4 nil wins over cannon fodder? How many in so called big games. How many chances did he miss that might have turned a draw into a win?

Also you have to look at how many chances he has to score. Walcott's conversion rate is only 20% so he is wasting far more shots than he is scoring. His crossing accuracy is only at 19% and crossing is a big part of a wide player's game so he is not contributing near enough there.

And then we must look at the wider season as a whole and his consistency. This is his 11th season with us and he has only ever hit double figures for PL goals once. What's the bets Walcott will finish this season on somewhere between 6 and 9 goals?

Great post! Says all that needs to be said about Walcott.

I think it was similar with Adebayor, In 2007/08 the records show he scored 30 goals ... but anyone who watched the games that season will see that his finishing and performances contributed massively to our PL & CL collapses. He could/should have had 60+ goals that season.

His goals came in purple patches (6 were against an appalling Derby County side), he went missing when the pressure was on , he missed a sitter at Anfield in the CL , far too often he got caught offside ... and worst of all was he didnt pass the fucking ball to Bendnter at Birmingham for a certain goal that would have won us that game and spared us Gallas' cringe-worthy histrionics

Stats do indeed lie.

Ive always been skeptical of the notion 'such and such should score more goals playing in this team'. You say Adebayor should have scored 60+ goals, which would smash all of Henry's records and make Adebayor the only player in a major European league to have matched a goal tally by Ronaldo and Messi. Henry best year for us, was 03-04 when he scored 39 goals, now are you saying the 07-08 team was so much better at creating chances than the 03-04 team, to the point an inferior player like Adebayor should have scored more than 20+ Henry's best year with us?

Cmon mate.


Theo scores these goals himself, no one else scores them for him. Iwobi doesnt score, nor does Chamberlain. Sterling doesnt score more for Man City, Nolti doesnt score more for Man City. Pedro doesnt score more for Chelsea. Are we supposedly creating more chances than these clubs? I

Its also very arrogant and assuming to believe we are so good, to the point we should expect goals galore from our wide players. Theo is currently with Sadio Mane, the top scoring wide player in the league. Now are you saying we are so much better than Liverpool, that its a disgrace Walcott isnt by far and away the highest scoring wide player in the league?

There is criticism, then there is nose bleed criticism.

[Clash]

But stats do not lie, and so far this season, the stats prove Walcott to be a 1 goal every two games wide player, which is more than worthy of inclusion in the first team.

Actually, stats do lie. You cannot just say Walcott has scored 1 goal in every 2 games and that means he is worthy of inclusion. Qualify the stats. How many of those games did we end up drawing or losing where Walcott scored but maybe missed two or three easy chances to either score a winner or fucked up setting up a winner? How many of those goals came in 3 or 4 nil wins over cannon fodder? How many in so called big games. How many chances did he miss that might have turned a draw into a win?

Also you have to look at how many chances he has to score. Walcott's conversion rate is only 20% so he is wasting far more shots than he is scoring. His crossing accuracy is only at 19% and crossing is a big part of a wide player's game so he is not contributing near enough there.

And then we must look at the wider season as a whole and his consistency. This is his 11th season with us and he has only ever hit double figures for PL goals once. What's the bets Walcott will finish this season on somewhere between 6 and 9 goals?

Great post! Says all that needs to be said about Walcott.

I think it was similar with Adebayor, In 2007/08 the records show he scored 30 goals ... but anyone who watched the games that season will see that his finishing and performances contributed massively to our PL & CL collapses. He could/should have had 60+ goals that season.

His goals came in purple patches (6 were against an appalling Derby County side), he went missing when the pressure was on , he missed a sitter at Anfield in the CL , far too often he got caught offside ... and worst of all was he didnt pass the fucking ball to Bendnter at Birmingham for a certain goal that would have won us that game and spared us Gallas' cringe-worthy histrionics

Stats do indeed lie.

Ive always been skeptical of the notion 'such and such should score more goals playing in this team'. You say Adebayor should have scored 60+ goals, which would smash all of Henry's records and make Adebayor the only player in a major European league to have matched a goal tally by Ronaldo and Messi. Henry best year for us, was 03-04 when he scored 39 goals, now are you saying the 07-08 team was so much better at creating chances than the 03-04 team, to the point an inferior player like Adebayor should have scored more than 20+ Henry's best year with us?

Cmon mate.


Theo scores these goals himself, no one else scores them for him. Iwobi doesnt score, nor does Chamberlain. Sterling doesnt score more for Man City, Nolti doesnt score more for Man City. Pedro doesnt score more for Chelsea. Are we supposedly creating more chances than these clubs? I

Its also very arrogant and assuming to believe we are so good, to the point we should expect goals galore from our wide players. Theo is currently with Sadio Mane, the top scoring wide player in the league. Now are you saying we are so much better than Liverpool, that its a disgrace Walcott isnt by far and away the highest scoring wide player in the league?

There is criticism, then there is nose bleed criticism.

Admittedly 60+ sounds exaggerated. just came up with that figure from the amount of chances Adebayor missed that season. He was not a clinical finisher like Henry and Wright and missed more than he scored ... yet somehow he still ended up with a total of 30 goals.

The 07-08 team wasnt better at creating chances that the 03-04 side but I do think there was some shite opposition around at that time. That Derby side Adebayor got 6 against are one of the worst PL teams ever.

With Walcott it doesnt just come down to goals. I do not think the amount of goals he gets (which may compare favourably to the others you metioned) justifies the amount of woeful performances he puts in every season.

Stats do not tell the whole story. They are misleading and can be manipulated. For example a player can score a hat-trick in a 7-0 win, then not score for the next 5 games ... and over those 6 games have a respectable looking 1 in 2 ratio.

And I dont think it is arrogance to think Arsenal should have better players than Theo Walcott. I've said nothing about the amount of goals I expect from wide players. I think assists is a better stat to judge wide players on if we're going to look at stats but I still prefer to judge a player on how he plays.

[Wilson]

I think its arrogant to assume Walcott should be scoring more based on the chances we create, when there are other players like Nolito, Sterling, Pedro, Willian, Martial and many others, who dont score as much as Walcott. As , it assumes we are better than these teams, and Walcott should be at fault for not having scored more goals (which if he did, would be one of the leagues top scorers).

And I just dont get the constant bashing of a player who is getting on the score sheet on a regular basis. Sure I get the argument that his link up play, crossing dribbling, and passing is often average at best. But Iwobi, for all his link up play, passing and dribbling - hasnt won us any points with his goals.

You cannot substitute a player, who gets on the score sheet on a regular basis. I was Theo's biggest critic last year - because he scored 9 goals in 42 matches, and as I said, the other aspects of his game are average, so if he is not scoring, he is useless.

But this year, 6 goals in 12 league games, 9 goals in 15 games in all competitions - you wont find anyone in our team, or any other pright wide player in this league who is going to get those goal returns.

But as I said, he needs to keep scoring, because once the goals dry up, the argument to make for Theo is non-existent.

[Redarmy]

But stats do not lie, and so far this season, the stats prove Walcott to be a 1 goal every two games wide player, which is more than worthy of inclusion in the first team.

Actually, stats do lie. You cannot just say Walcott has scored 1 goal in every 2 games and that means he is worthy of inclusion. Qualify the stats. How many of those games did we end up drawing or losing where Walcott scored but maybe missed two or three easy chances to either score a winner or fucked up setting up a winner? How many of those goals came in 3 or 4 nil wins over cannon fodder? How many in so called big games. How many chances did he miss that might have turned a draw into a win?

Also you have to look at how many chances he has to score. Walcott's conversion rate is only 20% so he is wasting far more shots than he is scoring. His crossing accuracy is only at 19% and crossing is a big part of a wide player's game so he is not contributing near enough there.

And then we must look at the wider season as a whole and his consistency. This is his 11th season with us and he has only ever hit double figures for PL goals once. What's the bets Walcott will finish this season on somewhere between 6 and 9 goals?

But he can run fast....Wally that is

[Redarmy]

Wally and the Merse comparisons , oh please ,Wally and Martin Hayes maybe !

yes mate...thats about right.....will go with that comparison .....

Hayes was unpredictable scored some useful goals....but never a top player

Merson was a naturally skilled footballer....betting and drinking too much maybe....but on his day was Top quality