WALCOTT - which position is best etc?

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Bendtners Drinking Buddy
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by Bendtners Drinking Buddy »

Walcott is fine in some games, but overall he will. and has, got found out.

Giroud has to be the main focus, overall i like what he has done - he isnt world class and we can improve - but he works hard and has a decent return all things considered.

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northbank123
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by northbank123 »

Bendtners Drinking Buddy wrote:Walcott is fine in some games, but overall he will. and has, got found out.

Giroud has to be the main focus, overall i like what he has done - he isnt world class and we can improve - but he works hard and has a decent return all things considered.
Neither of them are suited to playing up front on their own. As ridiculous as it sounds (particularly given Wally has been here 7 years now), assessing his potential as a striker is guesswork to a fairly considerable degree because he hasn't had the chance to play up front with a partner at all. All we know is that neither of them are good enough as lone strikers for a team with top 4 ambitions.

Although we know Wenger will never shift from his groundbreaking "Square Pegs, Round Holes" formation so it's probably a moot point.

LeftfootlegendGooner
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by LeftfootlegendGooner »

mmm, the usual suspects coming on to bash walcott (not that type of bash :roll: ) and I could point out his good and bad points and he will have bad games, but this "found out" is just to simplistic for me, afterall the WHOLE arsenal team got found out against city, swansea, norwich etc etc and one of the easiest players to nullify of ours is cazorla imo.

Giroud DID work hard when he first arrived but has just dropped his work rate with every game as far as I am concerned, not to mention his first touch is worse than walcotts and at least walcott is moving extremely quickly when he receives the ball (actually one of the fastest players in the world) but giroud is plodding along in comparison and still has a poor first touch. It is his first season so I will wait and see what he is like next season but at the moment he is not what we need.

Anyhow does it really matter if we keep Walcott :?:

We are heading for a 5th place at best (unless gervinho comes back from the acn with a different attitude, brain, feet and saves the day :roll: :lol: ) this season and with Arteta being out results in the next 3 games could all go pete tong (we might actually squeeze past Swansea :wink: ).

So all in all I blame us (British) and the Americans (and now their back to throw it in our face) for saving the French not once but fuckin twice :roll: :lol:

armchair
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by armchair »

Mr Eboue wrote:Arsenal's Theo Walcott put in a performance to be embarrassed of at the weekend in the club's 2-0 loss to City.

There are statistics, and then there is context, and the combination of the pair is pretty damning for Theo Walcott when you consider his weekend's performance.

Arsenal needed him, badly, against Manchester City, and he was found wanting. Yet it wasn't his performance, but his attitude.

Quickly, the statistics - Walcott touched the ball 18 times against City. In 90 minutes.

By comparison Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had 13 touches in 12 minutes, and Olivier Giroud when he came on had 21 touches in 33 minutes - More than Walcott in just over a third of the time.

At the other end of the pitch, City's forwards, albeit aided by a more blessed midfield in terms of control of the game, were far more involved, Dzeko 47 touches and Tevez with 53.

What the above shows is just how stringently Walcott stuck to his centre-forward role. Even when Giroud came on, Walcott did not budge from the centre, despite barely getting a kick.

Perhaps he thought Giroud would provide him with flick-ons, and of course Wenger will have issued instructions, but this should have been changed up quickly when it was clear the plan was not working.

Walcott has been accused of holding Arsenal to ransom off the pitch in recent weeks over his ongoing contract situation, with Wenger relenting to his demand to play up front.

It was clear on Sunday that Walcott was playing for himself and not for the team.

Arsenal needed him to drop deep, go wide, and get possession of the ball and help Arsenal build attacks. Unlike Giroud, he has the ability to do this with great effect, as he has repeatedly proved, yet he chose to stay isolated up front - Because he wanted to play striker.

Some Arsenal fans will excuse his performance given some positive showings in recent weeks and the circumstances of having 10 men, but being a man down was exactly why Arsenal needed Walcott to drop deep and get involved, especially once Giroud came on for him to play off.

The fact he touched the ball just five more times than Oxlade-Chamberlain in near than 80 minutes more illustrated his lack of involvement, and lack of willingness to play for the team, when he needed to stop playing as a striker and get more involved.

Walcott wants a big contract at Arsenal, and he will probably end up getting it if it is what he really wants. But he didn't do himself any favours against City.

He has held the Gunners' transfer window to ransom by being a big distraction over the past month, and Arsenal can't afford it to affect the team on the pitch. It smacked of an 'I'm playing up front, and I'm not moving' attitude.

As it is he is essentially conducting a very public trial as a striker, he probably feels it, but he needs to remember it is about the team and not about Theo Walcott; Sunday was a selfish show from him and it isn't one he nor the club's fans will want to see repeated.


http://hereisthecity.com/2013/01/14/ana ... -the-pitc/

Edited to stop confusion.
This article completely lost all credability for me when I read the bit about Wenger "issuing instructions" and "having a plan"

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flash gunner
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by flash gunner »

Sign him up or fuck him off :banghead:

How long does it take :banghead: :banghead:

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SteveO 35
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by SteveO 35 »

Bendtners Drinking Buddy wrote:Walcott is fine in some games, but overall he will. and has, got found out.

Giroud has to be the main focus, overall i like what he has done - he isnt world class and we can improve - but he works hard and has a decent return all things considered.
How does Red Member keep getting away with logging in as other people?

armchair
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by armchair »

flash gunner wrote:Sign him up or fuck him off :banghead:

How long does it take :banghead: :banghead:
Remember - its Wenger who does the wage negotiations so the fact that this has taken so long and should have been sorted a year ago is totally down to him. If he'd have sorted this a year ago Theo would not be in the bargaining position he is in now and pretty much holding all the cards.

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augie
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by augie »

No point talking about what should have been done 12-18 months ago cos the facts are that we can't change that now anyway. What needs to be done now is for the club to make their final offer and tell walnut that he has until the weekend to sign it and failure to do so will result in him being put up for sale with immediate effect. He should then be told that should we go down that route then he will also be removed from the first team squad and can spend the rest of his time with us in the stiffs cos from now on we need players who want to remain in the club and the rest can all fcuk off as far as I am concerned :evil:

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Natural Born Gooner
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by Natural Born Gooner »

What position is best for Walcott?

On the Citeh bench sitting next to Scott Sinclair and Jack Rodwell :barscarf:

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northbank123
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by northbank123 »

He was a fucking joke tonight. That one he lifted just wide was shite, but the volley from 6 yards under no pressure and the free header from a class ball from 6 yards were both gift-wrapped and he bottled them both.

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Chippy
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by Chippy »

Tonight's pathetic display can't have helped his cause. Can't help but think AW is trying to sign someone else before he sells him. :D I know I've drunk too much! :barscarf:

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franksav63
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by franksav63 »

Really can't believe that we haven't got rid of this useless wanker... I'm fucking gutted that he's going to sign on and for 100k a week.... :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

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QuartzGooner
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by QuartzGooner »

Tonight just seemed to be "one of those nights" for him.

I think he is better when he plays from midfield.
Up front on his own is for occasional open games, and I think it well worth trying him and Giroud together up front.

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LizLeGooner
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by LizLeGooner »

When this all started, I was desperate for him to stay.
Now, I don't care. His inconsistency is not worth 100k a week and I don't think he should be played as a striker. He isn't one!
He has no problem scoring when he plays on the wing. Does he hate defending THAT much?

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LizLeGooner
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Re: Walcott - contract talks/which position is best etc?

Post by LizLeGooner »

ah my first post was a little on the negative side. :lol:

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