Morning all, let’s start a brand new week with some comments from Theo Walcott about his contractual situation. I know I spoke yesterday about how I hoped this wasn’t going to become a thing, but I suspect what he’s said will go some way to making that happen.
On the one hand he has positive things to say, like:
My agent has talked to the club, I enjoy playing for this club. I want to do well for this club. I have always played with a smile on my face, always enjoyed playing for this club. It is one of the best groups I have been involved with.
This club. Anyway, he then talks about the new deal:
If it happens it happens. We’ll just play the waiting game and see what happens but I’m sure it won’t be long.
And the possibility of going into the new season without putting pen to paper:
It’s not in my thought process at all. You don’t want to dwell on it, you want to play well and if it happens it happens.
Which is hardly the most obvious commitment: ‘If it happens, it happens’ is a long way from ‘I want to stay’, something he doesn’t say specifically. And if we go back to the post FA Cup comments, he said:
I have got England coming up and then we can think about that process, but it will take time, I am sure.
It will take time, but he’s sure it won’t be long. He really is fantastic at saying a lot and covering all the bases. My feeling is that he probably does want to stay but has been told not to say anything publicly that might weaken the negotiating position, and in this day and age that’s understandable (if not particularly comforting for those fans who are invested in his future in a big way).
It was a hugely difficult process last time around and it looks as if it’s going to be something similar again this time. You could ask the question why it’s so tough. There doesn’t seem to be the same difficulty in agreeing new deals with pretty much every other player in the squad right now, most of whom are tied down to long-term deals, and whose performances have merited them. What is it about Walcott that makes it so tough?
I understand that at 26 he’s heading into his peak years and wants his new deal to reflect that, but at the same time there seems to be little or no consideration for what ‘this club’ has done to get him to this point in the first place. Maybe that’s naive anyway, to think a player should have some gratitude, but still Arsenal have stood by him through countless injuries.
While someone like Jack Wilshere is criticised and almost written off every time he picks up a knock, Walcott seems to get something of a free pass for his injury record which, over the years, is probably worse. This statistical breakdown of how much football he’s missed makes for pretty grim reading. And bar the 2012/13 season when he scored a career high 21 goals, his average goal return per season since 2010 is a little over 9.
So, if you have a consistent, always fit 20+ goal a season player playing hard to get over a new deal, you can understand it, but Theo Walcott is not that player. He could possibly become that if he stayed fit and if he played often enough, but the second part of last season saw him left on the bench for the most part. The manager spoke about him recovering from the knee injury he suffered and I’m sure that was a factor, but I think there was more to it than that.
His end of season obviously caught the eye and I’ll take nothing away from him for the FA Cup final performance and goal. That victory was down to Arsenal being far too good for Villa on the day, and he played very well. His hat-trick against an already on holiday West Brom in the previous game won him his place along with Giroud’s loss of form, but I have to say I’d be far from confident if he was starting games for us up front on a regular basis. Maybe he’d prove me wrong, but I think he’d struggle against the best defences.
I think if we really want to improve our striking options this summer, then it’s got to come from the transfer market. I’m not convinced we’re going to do that, by the way, but I just don’t think Walcott is the player to add what we need in that position. I think he’s most effective from the right where he faces a real battle for his place with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and that’s the kind of healthy situation I’d be happy to see.
Two players whose skill-sets overlap in certain areas scrapping it out and, hopefully, driving each other to be better and more consistent. I do wonder if the reluctance or delay on Walcott’s part is because of the time he spent on the bench last season and the realisation that he’s gone from being an automatic starter and a crucial part of the team just a couple of years ago, to somebody who is really going to have to fight for his place.
I guess we’ll see how it all pans out.
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James and I will be recording the podcast for you early this morning. If you have questions, topics for discussion or anything else, please send to @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra.
Available for you mid-morning. Until then!
