Arsenal: Theo Walcott Has To Reinvent Himself In New System

Arsenal let Theo Walcott have his shot at the new 3-4-3 system and he struggled. Time to see how much the Englishman can adjust to changing times.

While this new 3-4-3 system that Arsene Wenger has thrown Arsenal into brings out the best in some pretty important players, some others are getting left in the dust, as their play style just doesn’t fit in naturally anywhere within.

The best example of this is Theo Walcott. Walcott is Arsenal’s one true winger and the 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 doesn’t have any real use for that. Most, if not all, of the width comes from two hyper-athletic wing backs.

The two attacking midfielders have to be able to create for themselves. They have to be independent, useful on the ball and always ready to press the issue.

Walcott is not known for his creation. He is a poacher – a damned good one – and that is that. He will have moments of inspiration where he can whittle through an opposing defense, but asking for him to impose his will on the game or even asking for sustained relevance, that just isn’t going to happen.

Walcott also isn’t a forward. We’ve been there, tried that, it failed. It failed so badly that even Walcott came out and admitted that he was ready to return to the wings. That in and of itself was an integrity move, but it eliminates another potential position.

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The only other real option is wing back, but unlike Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott does not have the strength or work rate to make that work. The speed, sure, but that isn’t enough to make a wing back.

As such, Walcott struggled against Leicester City. He touched the ball just 38 times in 90 minutes. As a supposed central midfielder, that is pretty rough. Clearly you are not having the impact you need to be having.

To be fair, the entire front three was pretty poor, but at least with Alexis, we know what we are going to get 90% of the time and with Ozil, well, we know he can be a difference maker.

What this all comes down to is that either Walcott reinvents himself a bit and buffers his on-the-ball game or his best option is to move somewhere else, hope for a change in formation, or settle for substitution duties.

On the bright side, we have seen a remarkable revival from Nacho Monreal, who I long thought to be dead weight. He has proven to be not only a capable wide center back but a solid wing back as well.

Next: 5 Things We Learned Against Leicester City

If the Spaniard can reinvent himself, perhaps Walcott can too.