Theo OUT

[I Hate Hleb]

If he wants to play for France, he's welcome!

Hang on, he's not that shit!!!

[Radford149]

Everyone continues to post about Theo's footballing ability - or alleged lack of it.

I was talking more about treating a pleasant young man with decency, respect and compassion than about footballing ability.

If Theo can't cross a ball properly what the f*** was he even doing in Austria?

radford has been sying this since the lad started, fuck the compassion bollocks he's a professional and was and is picking up a huge wage for what he does.

he may well be a pleasent yong man but he can't play football and that's the bottom line.

he got told by a phone call, big deal.

[proudtosaythatname]

Odd how so many players suddenly recovered from injury just in time for the World Cup - Gareth Barry, Joe Cole, Aaron Lennon, even RVP, to name but a few; and I thought Mr L King couldn't play more than about once a month - anyone would think playing in the World Cup was more important than home to Wigan. Strange that? So is it fair to criticise Theo for his ambition - especially given what happened in 2006?

Does anyone know - has Wenger made any comment yet on what happened to Theo?

[Radford149]

The Croatia game, plus his goals in Cardiff etc shows that Theo potentially does have it in him but Theo needs motivating not destroying.

That's what I was talking about with a fellow Arsenal fan at work today.

He clearly has the ability, but he needs to add confidence and consistency.

radford respects quartz but he says quartz has got this wrong. this lad has not got the ability. it has been painful watching him play for Arsenal.

[Radford149]

Sure, we can slag him off for running into defenders countless times, and for being frustrating to watch, but like i said before, his inability to be a world class footballer should not amount to him being labelled a c**t or make him void of any sympathy. This is the point that Radford seems to be missing. Just because Walcott is not producing what is required at this top level, it does not mean that all of a sudden he should be hated. If he was doing an Adebayor and strolling around like a lazy c**t then fair game, he would deserve not to go to the world cup, and deserve to be slagged off to the heavens, but when, in my personal opinion, he seems to be trying his hardest when he's out on the pitch, then there is no need to slag him off like that, because at the end of the day he simply isn't a world class player and that isn't his fault.

MM9 yes radford has little sympathy for mr walnut as he has had enough of watching the theo theo show. players are paid to perform walnut does not perform and therefore deserves all the critisim that he gets.

he may well be a nice lad but radford is not interested in that he wants a player to deliver. he cares not if you are partying the night away or banging any thing that moves. if you do the business on the pitch that will do for him.

[QuartzGooner]

The Croatia game, plus his goals in Cardiff etc shows that Theo potentially does have it in him but Theo needs motivating not destroying.

That's what I was talking about with a fellow Arsenal fan at work today.

He clearly has the ability, but he needs to add confidence and consistency.

radford respects quartz but he says quartz has got this wrong. this lad has not got the ability. it has been painful watching him play for Arsenal.

I agree it has been very frustrating watching him play. He is capable of top notch stuff, but too often his final ball is not good enough.

But I have seen enough of the good stuff to want him to stay, work hard, bulk up a bit, and see what he can do on the back of a good injury free pre-season.
At age 21 he deserves more time.

[Rob]

So he's a decent lad with his feet on the ground is he ?

And where were his feet - as opposed to his ego - when Wenger publicly and privately told him this time last year not to go on the England under 21 tournament, because having just handed him a 5 year £3 million per year contract, he - Wenger - felt his - Walcott's - priorities should be Arsenal; and not something else ?


QUARTZ SAYS:

It is believed he was put under pressure by the FA to compete in the tournament, and my guess is he would think not competing would affect his world cup chances.

Walcott thought he knew better. And the result was injury, followed by missing pre-season, followed by lack of practice followed by injury.....etc etc.

If he's so demure - as you suggest - why do we see lots of him in Nike Ads, OK Magazine with his dippy bird and Beckhamesqe ventures into publishing kids books (which are ghost written for him !).


QUARTZ SAYS:

He is a very down to earth bloke. If he is able to earn a few quid advertising sports gear or England related products (Nationwide ad), or fronting some kids books about football then good luck to him.
His "bird" is far from dippy, she is a physiotherapy student.

Wouldn't it be nice if we saw him out on the pitch playing well for Arsenal ? Or is that just superfluous to the lifestyle choices, he otherwise prefers ?

QUARTZ SAYS:

Walcott has come back from serious shoulder injuries. That would have taken a lot of hard work in the gym and rehab. Whilst his skill is debatable, no one can accuse him of not running around the pitch.


If he wants a roll model, forget Beckham and try DB10. Arsenal to the core. Total commitment. Astonishing skill, Real dedication. And NO ego.

QUARTZ SAYS:

You think DB10 had no ego! Get real. I have met both, Walcott was very down to earth.


As it now is, he's on the slippery slope to nowhere and he needs to be - just like DB10 - first on the training ground and last off it come pre season - and indeed the real season, until next May - because he has an awful lot of catching up to do.

QUARTZ SAYS:

Agree that he needs to work hard pre season and hopefully it will be good for him and Arsenal.

Rob welcomes Quartz back to the forumn as we need more like him - 'Quartz' that is.

However Rob also suggests that Quartz and Theo need to take their respective heads out their own arses and get real.

Rob has no agenda against Theo but stands by all the comments in the above and suggests he plays and trains more and fucks about with England, Nike and other things less.

Rob suggests Quartz by contrast could lighten up and therefore Fuck about more !

[Rob]

So he's a decent lad with his feet on the ground is he ?

And where were his feet - as opposed to his ego - when Wenger publicly and privately told him this time last year not to go on the England under 21 tournament, because having just handed him a 5 year £3 million per year contract, he - Wenger - felt his - Walcott's - priorities should be Arsenal; and not something else ?

Walcott thought he knew better. And the result was injury, followed by missing pre-season, followed by lack of practice followed by injury.....etc etc.

WTF has that got to do with him having an 'ego'? Is wanting to play for your country an ego issue now? No. It's just a player who wanted to represent his country. How that amounts to having an ego i will never know.

If he's so demure - as you suggest - why do we see lots of him in Nike Ads, OK Magazine with his dippy bird and Beckhamesqe ventures into publishing kids books (which are ghost written for him !).

I'll pick you up on that one point otherwise this will become a game of ping-pong without and end.

You say that playing for your country is no sign of an ego. And I would agree.

But I would also glean that you are one of the 'Arsene Knows' brigade and therefore you can't have it both ways.

If I am wrong, in telling Walcott - having played for the full England team, not to revert to the England under 21 side, then I am not alone. That's what Wenger did. And he did so for very sound reasons not the least of which was that he wanted Walcott fit and focused, for the beginning of last season.

Thanks to his inclusion with the England Under 21s he was neither. And he stayed neither, until about February 2010, 7 months after the season started.

Now you tell me how this benefited Arsenal who pay his weekly wage - England don't - but we do. So where was the benefit ? Answer - NONE ! For us.

And that - and not the England Under 21s, is all I care about.


And Wenger confirmed that when at a November press conference he reacted with considerable anger to a journalist who asked him about Walcott playing for England by suggesting that he - Walcott - and the journalist do what he - Wenger - says he tries to do - concentrate on delivering for the people who pay his/your weekly wage.

I disagree with Wenger on a lot of things but on that point he is right on the money.

[QuartzGooner]

In hindsight I think we all wish Walcott had not played for the under 21's last summer!

The commercial work he does, cannot see the harm if it is on the odd day off.

Gotta balance that as MM99 says, with the players who are falling out of nightclubs, doing a lot more harm to their physical ability. After an initial boost, Terry's form dipped during that business with Wayne Bridge's missus.

Thanks for the welcome back though, and just to show I have a lighter side, here is a man who actually did look like a Walnut.

[Rob]

Sir Sydney Ruff Diamond - and a whole host of others. Including the Lavender Hill Mob !

[Bergkamp-Genius]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Wenger is thinking about unloading him this summer, i can't believe he isn't totally frustrated with him.

The problem isn't that he is inconsistent or that he gets injured a lot or that he seems to be lacking a football brain, if it was just those things i would be all for giving him more time, it really is the technique thing. If you have been a pro for four years and you still can't strike a ball properly,accurately consistently there is no hope for you. You should have mastered that stuff long before you left school, to be still having problems with it four years in to your professional career is laughable and even more so when you realise this guy has become a multi millionaire without actually learning his trade.

I think best all round if we sell Theo to a team that suits his strengths, i'm sure if he played for a side that play more of a counter attacking style he would look less limited and very dangerous. But for us, a side that play possession football and for the most part press teams in to their own half giving him less time and space, he hasn't got the intelligence or the technique to shine consistently in that environment and i don't think he ever will have...

[MM99]

I'll pick you up on that one point otherwise this will become a game of ping-pong without and end.

So does that mean that you accept the other points that i have made?

You say that playing for your country is no sign of an ego. And I would agree.

Glad that we're in agreement over that point at least!

But I would also glean that you are one of the 'Arsene Knows' brigade and therefore you can't have it both ways.

Erm, i'm not, i can assure you that. Wenger DOES NOT know that he shouldn't leave subsitutions until the 85th minute. Wenger DOES NOT know many things that he has gotten wrong over the past few seasons, he SHOULD NOT have played eboue as right mid in the 2007/2008 season. He SHOULD NOT think that diaby can play on the wings. I actually do see faults in Wenger's choices, so i'm not sure why youre labelling me as being in the AK brigade
Anyway this is totally irrelevant to what we've been discussing beforehand.

If I am wrong, in telling Walcott - having played for the full England team, not to revert to the England under 21 side, then I am not alone. That's what Wenger did. And he did so for very sound reasons not the least of which was that he wanted Walcott fit and focused, for the beginning of last season.

Yep, fair enough, but i still don't see how that makes him have a big ego or big headed etc... It just means that he made a stupid mistake in joining up with the U21 international squad. Maybe it was a desire to do too much, to try and play as many games as he could, to actually strive to play for his country. I would put that down to naivety and a bad choice, i wouldn't put it down to him having a big ego.

Thanks to his inclusion with the England Under 21s he was neither. And he stayed neither, until about February 2010, 7 months after the season started.

Now you tell me how this benefited Arsenal who pay his weekly wage - England don't - but we do. So where was the benefit ? Answer - NONE ! For us.

And that - and not the England Under 21s, is all I care about.

This is all well and good, but isn't relevant to what we were original debating about. You've moved onto something completely different now.

And Wenger confirmed that when at a November press conference he reacted with considerable anger to a journalist who asked him about Walcott playing for England by suggesting that he - Walcott - and the journalist do what he - Wenger - says he tries to do - concentrate on delivering for the people who pay his/your weekly wage.
I disagree with Wenger on a lot of things but on that point he is right on the money.

Again, i agree with you that in Walcott's case he should be concentrating on Arsenal first and foremost before anything else, but this doesn't make him a bad character because he's looking forward to playing at the World Cup. It's not like he's saying he wished he could play for another club, is he? He's wishing he could play for his country. It's totally different.
Although i do share your frustration at how he is constantly talking about England as opposed to Arsenal, i'm not going to begrudge him that much because i understand that as a kid the greatest honour is to play for your country, and with theo being a bit too keen and naive, he seems to be taking this a bit too far. But still, it's not enough to dig him out and subject him to abuse (not saying that you personally do that Rob).

[Almunia is a clown]

Us older heads will remember Peter Marinello, in the early '70's, promised much but failed to deliver, even seem to remember the milk adverts & other commercial stuff

Walnut will end up the same, luckily for him he's on a slightly bigger contract

[Nick Bendtners Ego]

Poor ol' Forrest Walcott . I think we have to allow for the Impetuousness of
Youth . He IS still only a kid and Poor decisions i.e playing U21 last Summer an and poor Communication Skills i.e his overstated England ambitions certainly make an easy stick to beat him with.
Can there be anything more frustrating in football than seeing the guy in plenty of space , flying down the wing and somehow nutmegging the Linesman .
Do think there's more to come from him , huge potential but time is ticking.
Other than his dalliance with Injuries , the WC ommital is his biggest kick in the teeth to date but probably the biggest kick in the Arse he needs too.
Me , i'd hate to see him go . I sit behind the dug-out and when he's benched
(A Lot!) , and he can hit the Stadium Facilities for a Beer for me and back in 13.5 Seconds flat !
Keep running Forrest , just engage that part of the Brain that involves decent crossing and End Product

[GunnerDude]

Eriksson, who is now in charge of the Ivory Coast, admits that he is surprised to see Walcott struggling, but insists the young Gunner still has the potential to be a star.

"Yes I'm surprised because four years ago he was the golden boy, or (showed that he) can be the golden boy," he said.

"Maybe the expectation on him was too big , I don't know. The only person that can speak about that is Wenger.

"Four years ago I thought he could be a great player - and he still can be of course."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 18,00.html

Oooh the Irony