As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
I Hate Hleb wrote:I'M NOT SAYING THAT HE WON'T EVENTUALLY TURN INTO A GREAT STRIKER - MUCH LIKE HENRY DID - BUT AT THE MOMENT ANY MENTION OF HIM BEING READY FOR THE FULL ENGLAND TEAM IS PURE FANTASY AND JUST WISHFUL THINKING.
You miss the point, my Hating friend. I agree Theo is a long way short of being the finished article (and I think Sven was mad to pick him for the WC squad) but England have very few options up front. And given a choice, right now, between Bent, Johnson and Theo, I'd go for Theo - he wouldn't start but if England needed someone to run at tired defenders for 20 minutes at the end, who better than Theo?...
S.W.P. PERHAPS? HE HAS BEEN IN THE FULL SQUAD AND PLAYING MORE OFTEN THAN THEO HAS.
LOOK, LET'S GET THIS STRAIGHT: I LOVE THEO AND WAS DEFENDING HIM ON ANOTHER THREAD THAT CLAIMED HE WASN'T DOING THE BUSINESS AND QUESTIONING WHETHER HE WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ARSENAL. HOWEVER, I HAVE BEEN WATCHING HIM IN THE UNDER21's AND I'M TELLING YOU HE IS NOT READY!! FRIDAY'S GAME FOR ENGLAND WAS HIS FIRST DECENT ONE IN ABOUT HALF A DOZEN AND EVEN THEN, HE WASN'T THAT SPECTACULAR, JUST BETTER THAN A RATHER BAD BUNCH. THE TRUTH IS HE ISN'T READY FOR THE FULL TEAM JUST YET AND ANY TALK OTHERWISE IS DELUSIONAL.
26may1989 wrote:..And if it's fantasy to think of Theo playing for England now, I'm in good company - AW said it a few weeks ago.
AND OF COURSE ARSENE HAS NEVER BEEN WRONG IN HIS JUDGEMENT OF A PLAYER BEFORE? LET'S BE HONEST HERE, ARSENE WAS TRYING TO BOOST THE LAD'S CONFIDENCE, AND THAT'S ALL. MAYBE THAT OPINION WOULD CARRY MUCH MORE WEIGHT IF ARSENE HAD BEEN CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO PLAY THEO UP FRONT ALL SEASON FOR ARSENAL, INSTEAD OF FOR A FEW MINUTES TOWARDS THE END OF AN OCCASIONAL GAME!!
GALASSO,
PLAY HIM IN FRONT OF DEFOE JUST TO SEE THE SPUD'S REACTION? NOW YOU ARE JUST BEING CRUEL, MAN!!
breaking news, hargreaves and darren bent called up to england squad for wednesday, theo man of the match and gets overlooked again, so arsenal aint got fuck all to do with englands faiklure, its the england manager for not having the bollox to call up players who deserve there choice, instead he gose with fatty, hargreeves and downing , if england fail to qualify blame mclaren not arsenal!!!
rebel gooner wrote:im sorry but why does theo deserve a call up to the senior team
a young man with lots of talent, but let him mature first and if and when he becomes an arsenal regular then maybe it will be his time
was actuly meant to also write not only theo other players like barry swp who only got/get played due to injurys, same as richards, needs to take more risks all over the pitch!!!
rebel gooner wrote:im sorry but why does theo deserve a call up to the senior team
a young man with lots of talent, but let him mature first and if and when he becomes an arsenal regular then maybe it will be his time
To be honest, I'm not really that bothered about Theo not being called up, because like most of us, I care about Arsenal much more than I do England, and I agree with IHH and you that he is not ready to be an England regular yet.
But looked at purely from an England fan's point of view, I just don't see anyone else who offers as much threat in Owen's absence, esp given Theo's recent form. Bent getting a very unsurprising call-up only confirms that view.
But you're right, it'll be a few years before Theo really comes into his own.
It was better he played up front against Portugal, alone up front will have been an intresting experience I'm guessing, for the U21's with Pearce backing him despite erratic performance then for the senior side where he can get his confidence shattered.
Walcott played well, alright in first half and a real threat in second when we switched to 4-5-1 but man of the match should have been the Bulgaria and Liverpool keeper for me, looked confident, good in the air, good positioning and some very good saves including a blinding one from Walcott.
Magic Hat wrote:It was better he played up front against Portugal, alone up front will have been an intresting experience I'm guessing, for the U21's with Pearce backing him despite erratic performance then for the senior side where he can get his confidence shattered.
Walcott played well, alright in first half and a real threat in second when we switched to 4-5-1 but man of the match should have been the Bulgaria and Liverpool keeper for me, looked confident, good in the air, good positioning and some very good saves including a blinding one from Walcott.
All good stuff for Theo and us, but the question remains, could he have done more vs Croatia than Bent did? Bent tried but he just doesn't have the quality to change things. Theo might have done.
