WALCOTT - which position is best etc?

[RNTGOONER]

Theo is quite simply another player who Wenger cannot get the best out of because of the way we play the tip tap which has no up front striker .
He is best when attacking and having a ball played in front of him to move onto, yet most of the passes he gets are short sideways passes that run him into a dead end where he has to take a man on from a standing start !
Until and unless he gets played up front we will never see the best of him !
It really is that simple !

No its not.

Even Mark Hughes would set his team up to defend deep and leave no space in behind were Walcott to be playing centrally up top.

It would be more a case of us having to give up the tippy tappy possession football and invite other teams onto us. Then and only then would the assets that Walcott possess truely come into play.

This 100%

It is why he has a reputation of scoring in big games, they are the games that tend to be open as the other team tries to attack more, he is good against a high defence, or when we are a goal up and teams have to take a risk. He would look fantastic against us when TV5 is on the halfway line and gibbs is up the wing leaving him to skin the BFG


don't ever sell him to an english club

[Wengerball]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... llaci.html

Walcott on his way?

Looks like Maryanne is hanging in there for his £50kpw though

[Revgoon89]

So, about that new contract then?

[SteveO 35]

Amazing really - the fella has been shit for 5 years....we put up with the youthful inconsistency and frustration....he comes to form for a year and then we fail to sign him up beyond the age of 23. On a great night its a shame to mention it but thats the truth - FFS, Gervinho or Walcott ?

[augie]

Amazing really - the fella has been shit for 5 years....we put up with the youthful inconsistency and frustration....he comes to form for a year and then we fail to sign him up beyond the age of 23. On a great night its a shame to mention it but thats the truth - FFS, Gervinho or Walcott ?

Can I say neither ? Clearly walnut is better than the forehead (who isnt ? ) but that should not distract away from the fact that he is not worth anywhere near 100k a week. Last night summed wally up in many ways.....virtually anonymous for the first half and his first touch was appaling but in the 2nd half he was on fire in an attacking sense but it still should be noted that he never gave any protection to his defence at any stage of the game. Of course the fact that last nights game was against a team containing 5 of readings reserve's shouldnt be ignored either cos feo has yet to show that he can turn in consistantly high quality performances at the highest level.

My feelings on this subject havent changed one iota in the last few months......keep him if he is willing to sign for 75k per week (personally I dont think that he is worth that but they aint gonna cut his wages) and if he is willing to accept that he is a squad player but other than that I would sell him to the first decent offer in jan

[AFCasap]

neither gerv or wallys occasional performances are what fans of a euro mega club with a booming business model relying on FFP should have to put up with

[Cockerill's chin]

I believe Walcott will deliver. He is looking much more comfortable in possession and I am confident he is becoming a quality player. His performances to date don't deserve the £100k/week but he is going to earn much more than that sum in the future. Pay the lad what he wants, he hasn't earnt it but we will look back on his signature as very good business in the future. Don't be in a rush to blame the player for 100k/week, if contracts had been negotiated 2 years ago then his hand wouldn't be so strong.

If we sell him in January and watch him develop elsewhere then some people may grumble that we didn't get the best out of him and we were shortsighted not to tie him down for the £100k. Anyone who says that we shouldn't pay him the £100k forgoes the right to make these complaints without being a hypocrite.

[SteveO 35]

I believe Walcott will deliver. He is looking much more comfortable in possession and I am confident he is becoming a quality player. His performances to date don't deserve the £100k/week but he is going to earn much more than that sum in the future. Pay the lad what he wants, he hasn't earnt it but we will look back on his signature as very good business in the future. Don't be in a rush to blame the player for 100k/week, if contracts had been negotiated 2 years ago then his hand wouldn't be so strong.

If we sell him in January and watch him develop elsewhere then some people may grumble that we didn't get the best out of him and we were shortsighted not to tie him down for the £100k. Anyone who says that we shouldn't pay him the £100k forgoes the right to make these complaints without being a hypocrite.

That's almost where I am with the guy now. Lets be honest - he is showing far more composure in front of goal than we have ever seen from him. Even a year ago I think he'd have screwed up the one-on-one that put us back in the game at 4-1. The way he dinked the ball over the keeper running at full tilt was pretty impressive. Similarly the way he finished against Coventry (I know, I know) and the goal against the Hammers showed that he has definitely improved in this respect.

If nothing else, this culture of selling our players before they reach their peak years needs to stop. Fine - TH14, PV4, Pires, Ljungberg etc - we'd had their best years. The issue started when we sold Ashley Cole, a player at the peak of his powers and who has gone on to prove himself as the best English full back of a generation. Since then Nasri and Fabregas to name a couple have gone too soon, and Van Persie left slap back in his prime years as a striker.

Letting Walcott go having invested £12m plus six years of wages, endured immature, erratic displays....to then let him go for sweet fa to a rival club? Mindless. We need to lay down a marker that we can hold on these type of players, otherwise who next? Wilshere?

[augie]

I believe Walcott will deliver. He is looking much more comfortable in possession and I am confident he is becoming a quality player. His performances to date don't deserve the £100k/week but he is going to earn much more than that sum in the future. Pay the lad what he wants, he hasn't earnt it but we will look back on his signature as very good business in the future. Don't be in a rush to blame the player for 100k/week, if contracts had been negotiated 2 years ago then his hand wouldn't be so strong.

If we sell him in January and watch him develop elsewhere then some people may grumble that we didn't get the best out of him and we were shortsighted not to tie him down for the £100k. Anyone who says that we shouldn't pay him the £100k forgoes the right to make these complaints without being a hypocrite.

But we took that viewpoint with so many young players and it has badly badly backfired (bentner, denilson, flaps etc) - supposing we try a novel approach (novel for our club anyway) and we actually reward the player with a contract that he has actually earned as opposed to giving out a contract in hope that he will progress and through fear that some another club will reap the benefits of that progress ? A lot of people choose to ignore the arrogant billy big bollocks attitude of walnut whose opinion of himself is way out of sync with reality and the simple reality is that they guy will never be able to play through the middle in wenger's system as it currently stands

[Cockerill's chin]

supposing we try a novel approach (novel for our club anyway) and we actually reward the player with a contract that he has actually earned as opposed to giving out a contract in hope that he will progress and through fear that some another club will reap the benefits of that progress ?

I agree with this approach but it can't be applied to Walcott now. We have allowed his contract to run down and put him in a position which he would be a fool not to capitalise on. Your ideal scenario sounds great and is what we would all bang a drum to but it isn't that straighforward now Gazidis/Wenger have fucked up contracts again.

But we took that viewpoint with so many young players and it has badly badly backfired (bentner, denilson, flaps etc)

I've mentioned this before on this thread but paying Walcott £100k will not mean we can't move him from the books. He is more valuable due to his passport (sad but true) his marketability and his blossoming (too tennisy??) talent.

lot of people choose to ignore the arrogant billy big bollocks attitude of walnut whose opinion of himself is way out of sync with reality

This hasn't come across to me. I find the lad ameniable. Amongst other things, he didn't celebrate his goal against Southampton. He seems to have class. If asking for 100k per week is billy big bollocks in your opinion then I disagree. He is taking advantage of a situation created by Gazidis' neglect. He would be a mug not to. He hasn't asked to go. It seems apparent he is keen to sign a contract with the Arsenal.

I think Walcott can play up front. I know even Mark Hughes may play deep but that isn't what has been hurting us. It's when the back line pushes up and we are competing against two lines of 4 across midfield with little space for the likes of Cazorla/Wilshere to work in between. Forcing a team to defend deep opens up space. Fine by me.

[QuartzGooner]

Businesswise we would be better to sign him, agree with Cockerill's Chin.

He cost us £9M in total, reduced from £12M for early payment to Southampton when they got into trouble.

I reckon he would be worth anything from £12 - £15M if sold.

His place in the team is under threat, so I believe he has a good incentive to play well.

Not noticed any big attitude from him, one incident aside when he shouted at Jenkinson in one of Jenkinson's first games for us, but these things happen in games and seems they get along fine now as per last night's post match interview.
Whilst a quiet word with Jenkinson would have been better, at least it showed Walcott cared about Jenkinson's position rather than just strolling around.

Otherwise have met him and he is a humble bloke, happy to chat about football and do charity stuff at short notice.

Football wise he is an asset, if used properly.
No point trying to make him into a Bergkamp; recognise what he does well and use it effectively.

[piresistible]

need him to sign on the .....................................

[northbank123]

Gareth Bale is one of the most devastating players around right now and he hasn't got one trick in his locker. He just kicks it past people and runs, it's that simple. Walcott needs:

a) to locate his brain and realise what he's good at and then use that every week
b) more improvement regarding end product and decision-making
c) to be played in a role that suits his strengths

For me c) is the most important and if we do that I'm confident enough that Feo has and will make progress on a) and b) especially to become an important player for us on a consistent basis.

I've been quite a harsh critic of him and I still think that if he asked for £100k/w he's a prick. But it's not to anybody's benefit to carry on playing him in a role where he's never going to regularly prosper. I'm not sure it'll happen myself because I think AW will blindly return to and stick by his dreaded 4-5-1 formation, and therein lies the root of a huge number of our troubles imo. If that's the case and Feo is going to be put out on the touchline every game and asked to do jobs he's not good at then it's probably best for all parties involved if he goes elsewhere rather than getting a bumper new deal.

At most clubs it would be viewed as an advantage to have an attacker who doesn't necessarily fit the standard mould of the team, because it gives another option when Plan A fails. When Hernandez starts for United much of what he does is actually pretty garbage (hence not being able to nail down a regular starting place past two seasons) and he's technically nowhere near their other attacking players, but instead of continuing to use him ineffectively Ferguson uses him in a way to get the best out of him.

[SteveO 35]

TJ and the £5m per year contract


The new Xmas bestseller

Make sure you buy it for Augie this Christmas !

[supergeorgegraham]

Walcott has now proved he should play as our CF. He is better than what we currently have and his finishing is improving all the time.
So in January we will sell him and continue to play the useless Ramsey. This is why I do not spend any money on AFC until Kronke gets the hell out. By then mind you the damage will be too big to change.
We are now Liverpool FC in terms of a big club fallen behind