My only concern with that is seeing Sanchez on the left. I would like to see him more on the right, with a more capable left wing option - however, if Walcott can produce both the effort and goods from the right, I think Sanchez is good enough from the left, albeit not ideal.

I'm concerned that Walcott isn't built to handle the intensity of the opening games for any period of time though.

Leopard Theo is suddenly going to up and change his spots huh? Work hard For a whole entire season huh?

I'll believe it when I see it.

flobaba wrote:

Leopard Theo is suddenly going to up and change his spots huh? Work hard For a whole entire season huh?

I'll believe it when I see it.

leopard Theo is not an apt description. regardless of his spots, a leopard has bite. 

Yeah he's more of a cheetah

Cheetah's have terrible stamina and can't keep their speed up for long. So yeah, that pretty much sums up Walcott.

He's looked better this season, need to see more of him before reaching a conclusion though. I reckon fitness will be the biggest issue though, as usual. If he can stay fit and consistently get minutes I'm confident that he'll contribute in a big way.

Mirth wrote:

Cheetah's have terrible stamina and can't keep their speed up for long. So yeah, that pretty much sums up Walcott.

Theo's a deer.

We're stuck with him so we have to hope he improves tremendously but can't see that happening. Props to him for actually giving a fuck about his defensive duties this season I guess...

He has gone from last season being our worst performer on a consistent basis, to this season being one of our better performers in every game. Sample size of this season is very, very small, but it is encouraging nonetheless.

Rex wrote:

Sample size of this season is very, very small

And the bar for being one of our better players so far is very, very low. Still encouraging signs though just like you said.

People would do well to keep in mind that Walcott's flaws are mostly exacerbated whenever we're relying on him to make things happen. He's not the kind of player who should have that responsibility, because he's not that good. What he does contribute with is end product, pretty much regardless of the quality of the opposition, and in itself that's extremely valuable in football. A season where he only starts a few games in a row and mostly has to come off the bench to prove himself would probably do both him and us a world of good.

Theo being one of our better performers so far speaks more about others' form than him being any better than he usually is.

Having said that, hopefully he keeps on performing. If we are to get anything out of this season, all of the players that let us down last season (Ramsey, Walcott, Chamberlain) need to contribute this time round.

Eh, it's not like there hasn't been a season where Theo's been one of our best performers.

Klaus wrote:

People would do well to keep in mind that Walcott's flaws are mostly exacerbated whenever we're relying on him to make things happen. He's not the kind of player who should have that responsibility, because he's not that good. What he does contribute with is end product, pretty much regardless of the quality of the opposition, and in itself that's extremely valuable in football. A season where he only starts a few games in a row and mostly has to come off the bench to prove himself would probably do both him and us a world of good.

This is it. You can't expect Walcott to do things he's not made for. Like you can't expect Giroud to play off the shoulder or Ozil to score loads of goals. Wenger has put together the squad we have and when he asks players to do things that aren't in their wheelhouse only person should be blamed.

Thing is, his end product was mostly awful last season.

Another excellent game from Theo yesterday. Important impact on the first 3 goals and the pen/sending off.

Theo is playing really well. He is making passes now he wouldn't normally make, he realizes he has more time. That one pass to Alexis in the first half which the latter hit over the bar was great bit of awareness.

I think we really tend to ignore the extent of damage sporadic injuries can do to a player's game in the short term.

Theo had started playing the no. 9 role exceedingly well before Wenger brought him on for the League Cup game and he got injured. Why we get so many injuries or hoard injury prone players in another subject.

Stay fit and maintain this level for another 4-5 weeks then I'll be convinced that Walcott is back.

What most people knew is that Theo isn't a forward and his limitations made him poor on the opposite wing.

No coincidence that a run in his best spot has led to a run of form.

Think he's looked far, far better on the ball as well. He's changed a bit, he's had to adapt to losing a bit of pace and I wasn't expecting him to be able to. Fair play to him for that at least.