This is a surprising turn of events! Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is insistent on playing Theo Walcott as a striker at Arsenal despite what we saw from the player last season. The Englishman has himself confessed to the manager that he wants to play in the winger role again but it looks like that has fallen on deaf ears.
Walcott alternated with Olivier Giroud for the striker role last season and for the initial part of the campaign was first choice for Wenger. He had a bright start to the campaign but ended up failing miserably in the role by the time the season was over.
Walcott only managed 5 goals in the 28 matches that he played for Arsenal in the league. The 27-year-old has already been at the club for 10 years now and originally started out as a winger.
But he expressed his desire to play in the forward role which Wenger obliged to. The experiment so far has not reaped the rewards everyone was expecting mainly due to the lack of finishing ability from Theo.
Now the player has himself realised he’s better off playing in the wide areas but Wenger is still keen on giving him a shot at the central striker role. “ I believe [Walcott] has all the ingredients to become a great striker.”
“He has the quality of the runs, he is a very intelligent player and he's a good finisher. He's not a great defender, so I believe to use his runs in the final third could be very efficient. Scoring goals and playing there will give confidence and slowly convince him, maybe, he can be absolutely fantastic there.”
Wenger’s comments worrying for Arsenal fans
It is clear as daylight that Arsenal need a top notch striker. The lack of goals scored for the number of chances created last season shows how the Gunners can’t rely on Giroud and Walcott. But Wenger’s latest comments is a worrying sign for fans.
So far, Granit Xhaka is the only notable signing Arsenal have made in the window apart from Rob Holding and Takuma Asano who are ones for the future. If the Gunners are planning to mount a Premier League next season then this current team is short of hitting the mark in terms of a title winning team.
But if Wenger believes Walcott can somehow shrug off his sluggishness in front of goal then it doesn’t seem like a new forward will be arriving soon at the Emirates. Sorry Arsenal fans, but you’ll have to take his comments with a teaspoon of salt.
