Theo Walcott provides his eagerly-anticipated ‘end product’ against Burnley
Theo Walcott has started consecutive home games for Arsenal now, and has looked lively in both. His performance against Sunderland was promising but was typical of his stereotype – he showed great pace but rarely provided a good ball into the box.
He consistently outpaced the Black Cats’ left-back George McCartney a fortnight ago, to the point where Steve Bruce had to change his system and put Anton Ferdinand at left-back instead, but Walcott still provided little in the way of real creativity:
Against Burnley, however, he was on fine form. Consistently beating his man and getting balls into the box, the Chalkboard demonstrates how much more involved he was in Arsenal’s play, and how much more often he found a teammate with his passes and crosses:
His performance for England in midweek was not as bad as was suggested – had Frank Lampard not missed a relatively easy chance early on, Walcott would have been credited with an assist and would have stayed on the pitch for longer. But, regardless of his England hopes, it’s great to see him playing with confidence and being a genuine attacking threat.
Theo Walcott provides his eagerly-anticipated ‘end product’ against Burnley
You raise a fine point here – the perception of how a player performed is often dependent upon those around him; no more so than for an attacking midfielder or winger in terms of the end result of his through ball or cross. I often find myself impatient with Walcott until I remember how young he still is (22) and how incredibly lofty the hype and expectations were for him. Players like Fabregas that hit the heights in their early 20s are so rare.
As with most players, Walcott really is Jeckyll/Hyde dependent upon his level of confidence. Many matches since coming back from his injury he’s looked uninvolved and totally lacking creative spark. Today he was full of run and for the most part made whoever tried to mark him look slow and inept.
Let’s hope he continues this vein of form. It will open things up in the middle if he does.
22? He’s still only 20 until next week!
But yes, you’re right about the perception of him being dependent upon others. Walcott’s crossing is actually sometimes very good – when he was on a good run of form at this stage of the season in 2007/08, he was constantly very dangerous. Both home and away against Milan he provided great crosses for Adebayor (one was converted, the other Adebayor missed an open goal) and then went on that great run against Liverpool.
I also think that people aren’t giving him enough time to adapt to Arsenal’s new system. For much of last season Arsenal played a 4-4-2, now they play a 4-3-3. That might suit Walcott in the long run, but considering his injury problems this season, it’s little wonder he hasn’t quite settled yet.
20! I knew that! I’m not sure why I was thinking 22 but that fact only reinforces what we are saying. Though I’ve had my moments of impatience with Theo, it is hard to imagine the pressure heaped a player like him as the next saviour of country let alone club. He was annointed as the saviour-in-waiting at what, 16, 17? At that age most of us can’t handle the pressure of trying to connect with girls let alone find the back of the net on that level.
The good news is that he couldn’t be at a better place for his situation. A club committed to youth development, a manager which always takes the pressure onto himself rather than his players and won’t throw them under the bus, so to speak, etc…
Not only for my selfish Gunner-fan reasons do I hope he continues to develop into the player everyone thought he would. It would be good for club and country.