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Is Theo Walcott Finally Justifying His Striker Role At Arsenal?
By Josh Sippie
Anyone associated with Arsenal knew that Theo Walcott had been pining for the central striker role for years. However, injuries and Arsene Wenger kept him plastered on the right wing, where he actually found really solid success for Arsenal.
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Arsene Wenger had a change of heart towards the end of last year. He said that 26 was the perfect age to let Walcott be a striker and gave him his chance. Walcott repaid that chance immediately, scoring goals in nearly every appearance he made, including 3 goals against West Brom.
But Walcott still had the tendency to disappear when the game was not played in his particular style.
Theo Walcott is fast. He is blazing fast. When he gets after a ball, he will beat anyone to it. Except for Hector Bellerin, but we have him. That makes Walcott an incredibly valuable tool on the counter for Arsenal. When the game is played in the opponents box, however, Walcott’s functionality is very limited. He has no physical presence. Center backs have no problem shutting him down.
What had played in his favor in the past was his finishing. Not so long ago, Walcott was a very solid finisher. These days he has been a bit more shaky, but we have seen what he can do.
Arsene Wenger stuck to his guns in the attacking department. The striker role will be manned by Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck. No questions asked. Well, no questions answered, plenty were asked. With Danny Welbeck out until Christmas and Olivier Giroud hitting the skid, Theo Walcott had to step up.
The question is, did he?
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Walcott has scored 3 goals this season and 12 times in his last 13 starts. That is pretty impressive. He scored again against Leicester on a ball that oh-so-nearly went wide of the post. Plenty of other chances came his way but he was unable to convert.
The thing that keeps me reserved in anointing Theo Walcott a true striker at long last is a simple concern. With how many chances Arsenal create, eventually they were going to be scored. But Walcott is still missing so many chances. Take Leicester City for instance. Walcott had 8 shots with 4 on target. Only one found the net. I am not trying to be a negative Nancy, but that is still not good enough for this attack. Alexis was finally able to turn the corner and start converting those chances. Theo Walcott needs to do the same.
You have to believe that to be a striker in this Arsenal attack, you have to be just as potent as Alexis. Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud have both had times where they have scored goals at a similar rate as Alexis. But until they regain that status, no, neither one is really ‘justifiably’ the go-to striker at Arsenal.
Next: Alexis became Alexis again