Theo Walcott: To be or not to be a striker?

A young teenager signed from Southampton, Theo Walcott was already being touted as the next Thierry Henry even while he was still learning the ropes in the Premier League. Signed in 2006, his lightning quick pace which surpassed Henry’s convinced the viewers that the rest of his game will do so as well. The delightful young talent caught the eye of fans who hoped that his highly inconsistent and erratic gameplay will develop to match his speed in time.

Fast forward seven years, and the young Englishman has come a long way. The once clueless teenager has grown into the primary attacking option for the Gunners. Having been sidelined for a few months over stalled contract negotiations, he still has 18 goals to his credit and some really good ones at that. With his dramatically improved finishing and a keen sense of awareness off the ball, the signs are highly encouraging.

Walcott has grown into a more complete and mature player over the last couple of seasons. His ability to offer runs off the ball behind the line of defence has set him through on goal quite a few times, from which he has found the net, more often than not. Add to it his biggest asset – his pace, which makes his ability to spearhead a counter-attack stand out all the more. For an Arsenal fan, this ability to beat the offside trap and time his runs does bring back bitter-sweet memories of a Dutchman who now plies his trade due north in Manchester – more bitter ones than sweet though.

Unfortunately, his sparks of brilliance remain just that – sparks. His tendency to produce moments of astonishing brilliance out of the blue and then remain anonymous for the rest of the game is as confounding as it is frustrating. Seeing his name at the head of the Arsenal team-sheet is unsettling for fans as much out of anxiety as of hope. The real reason for worry though remains his ineffectiveness against the better sides and the stronger defences. Against the two Manchester sides and more recently Bayern Munich, his performances can be termed average, if not downright abysmal. It is one thing to beat the Reading defence but it is quite another to face a strong experienced defensive unit. Scoring hat-tricks against relegation battling teams is not going to be of much help in Arsenal’s quest for a top four spot unless he can replicate those performances against the top teams starting this weekend against Spurs.

All in all, does he make the cut as a striker? Given Arsenal’s topsy-turvy season, the answer cannot be a straightforward one. Whether or not he is good enough is irrelevant now; he needs to get used to the role and improve on his performances against good defences as well because the other contenders for the centre-forward role have fared no better than him. The fact that the French striker signed from Montpellier in the summer seems clueless when it comes to using his foot makes one wonder how or why he plays foot-ball. Then there is an Ivorian who somehow managed to look helpless even against a League two side much to the horror of the appalled Arsenal crowd. Finally, there is Chamakh who has been out of contention for such a long while that the gaffer had to send him off on loan to get some playing time, lest he too forgets how to use his feet for shooting.

In all this chaos, Walcott, though not very consistent in his new role, happens to be the best Arsenal have for now and does deserve to be given his chance down the middle which hopefully should make him more consistent once he gains enough experience. At present, the once-favoured belief of him matching up to his French predecessor Henry, let alone surpassing him, remains a far-fetched dream – albeit one he shares with every Arsenal fan today.