Theo Walcott

Fair to say he has had a good start to this season.

Agree, and agree he has had a better start this season. He is just a bitā€¦ flimsy still. I know he can finish, I know he can do a guy with pace and still maintain control of the ball as we have seen him done that before. Hopefully he is on track to getting back to that quality, because when he is like that he provides an option to the ping-pong football the rest of the team plays, which is valuable for us to avoid having only one method of going forward.

Much like I hope Perez can be different from anything our strikers have provided in recent years, If he is as pacey as initial reports suggest maybe we can actually play counter-attack football based on quality long passing and pace up front, and Iā€™m sure the likes of Alexis, Bellerin and Theo would do well in such a setup, being supplied by Cazorla, Ɩzil or Xhaka for example.

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Is it though?

Thats not saying much as they were all shit.

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If he wasnā€™t so appalling for the whole of last season, would anyone call his first four games a good start to the season? I doubt it tbh.

But heā€™s our player, presumably a key one, so Iā€™m glad heā€™s made a decent start. So far itā€™s an improvement on last season so Iā€™ll take that.

Iā€™m just not reading anything into it.

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Strange how OA community hates Theo so much while others see his influence on the game today

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All of last seasonā€™s shit performances are forgiven now cos he scored a goal vs Hull?

Oh ok. I bow down to you, your illustrious highness Ser Feo. I hope those ungrateful twats at Arsenal give you the Ā£200k a week you so richly deserve :theo:

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Tbf, the hate for Theo has always been OTT. Iā€™m getting a bit fed up with him early in the season, heā€™s frustrating me, but heā€™s still a useful option, especially against lesser opposition, and of much more use to the club than the likes of Ox or Ramsey. Say what you want about him but he causes problems with his pace/movement off the ball, and he has end product. Thatā€™s enough to make him, unfortunately, our 3rd best winger after Alexis and Iwobi.

Might not be the case, though, if we had held on to a certain German/fat Kinsley Coman.

His hate is stupid and thereā€™s a lot if revisionist history surrounding him atm at least here. Ppl are quick to jump on the hate bandwagon also. I knew he could perform well and people will quiet down when he does this on a consistent basis. Theyā€™ve already kind of moved their hate to the Ox thread tbh

Spoilt for choice at Arsenal when it comes to players like this arent we.
League cup this week im sure Sanogo can get amongst these two again.

So far he has been useful for sure.

I dont think people hate Theo. I think fans are just frustrated with his progress vs duration at the club. Has too many bad and ineffective games, which Iā€™m sure we all hoped he would have eradicated from his game by now.

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I hate Theo.

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You hate everyone.

Except for animals left by sides of roads.

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I know you of all people will have higher expectations of players than to be better than Ox/Ramsey.

His movement off the ball and pace is something I donā€™t see enough of these days. (Today was good granted). It normally appears at contract renewal time mind.

All too often though, if he does end up recieving or dribbling the ball into a 1on1 situation after some good work he will mess that up with some glorious passesā€¦to the keeper.

Check this out:

at 3:00 and 10:20.

This is the most frustrating thing about Theo. This type of weak as fuck finish that goes straight to the keeper. He does that at least 3 or 4 times a game. Maybe I am wrong, but I have seen no other player do this so frequently. It epitomises the player who I used to love but have now completely turned on.

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I didnā€™t see walcotts goal live but watching the highlights; the people that said his gaol was all about iwobi are full of shit besides the back heel pass that was all Walcott.

He picks up the ball drives forward pass keeps going receives the pass and still has to beat the keeper.

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Eh, his finishing has been pretty good this season (last season it was awful, unsustainably awful). The one at 3:00 frustrated me too, he clearly wasnā€™t anticipating it as much as he mightā€™ve and didnā€™t make a good contact. At 10:20 he shouldā€™ve gone round the GK but after the one time I saw him try that last season Iā€™ve revoked my calls for him to learn that skill (heā€™s too limited technically to do it reliably, probably, despite it being a pretty simple skill). Otherwise it was an ok finish, unlucky to be saved.

The reason Iā€™m kind of tired of him is too often itā€™s just repetitive movement (donā€™t see as many diagonal runs to the inside, see a lot of running straight ahead after passing the buck to HĆ©ctor because thereā€™s not much he can do with the ball), and whereas in 12-13 he was at least good with the ball within his very limited technique, now it seems heā€™s genuinely just bad with no hope of ever being anything butā€¦Iā€™m thinking of some of his dribbles where he was dispossessed, or a terrible first touch in the box when he had some space, or wtf was he doing where he got into space and then tried that crazy chip without looking, or that pass where he shouldā€™ve slid Ɩzil in.

As in, what I expected would be a tough decision for me (Theo vs. Iwobi as the winger opposite Alexis, since they offer very different things) is a pretty easy one, and itā€™s Iwobi. That said, Walcott is useful, and goals at pace like the one he scored today in the combination with Iwobi are beautiful and hard to defend.

His first half has been poor in terms of playing on open play, but during the second half he has scored, he worked hard, he tried to create goals with some Ozil-esque passes. I would like to ask to ArsĆØne if, in his opinion, Theo is a predictable player (I donā€™t know if the word is right to be understood). He makes the same movements every game, looks robotic, not speed and power as in the past.

In terms of mental skills, he looks more focused on his job than Chamberlain. Walcott is an hard worker, not arrogant like Oxlade, he is essential. His essentialism was a weapon in the past, now is a limit. However, I donā€™t know if Walcott will return to be a key player for Arsenal, but until now he is returned useful instead of toxic.

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Havenā€™t seen the full second half, but as far as involvement goes he should be playing upfront more than he does on the wing. Heā€™s just too predictable when it comes to passing the ball and moving it around and most of the times he wonā€™t even involve the defender anymore but just pass it straight to the player he received the ball from. Iā€™m still hoping that heā€™ll become a really useful player for us this season and as far as options go heā€™s right up there with Iwobi, but he still has to show it consistently. If not, we may be in real trouble over a full season as leaving one side of the wing open to randomness may not be enough, at least if we want to do more than the usual business.

Fair play Theo you were great today. That 2nd goal is the happiest Iā€™ve been as an Arsenal fan since the Welbeck winner vs Leicester.

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