WALCOTT TURNS HIS ARSENAL CAREER AROUND
IT WAS in March, when Theo Walcott turned 27, that he realised he needed to change. It had been a bad season for him, losing his place in the Arsenal team, starting just one of their final 14 matches of the season. He lost his place in Roy Hodgson’s England set-up too, and was later beaten to a place in the 26-man-long list for Euro 2016 by Andros Townsend.
Walcott spoke to Arsene Wenger and Steve Bould and knew he had to toughen up. These were meant to be his peak years and he was at risk of wasting them. So he worked.
Walcott worked with personal trainer Bradley Simmonds all summer, improving his fitness and core strength. He worked on his days off, desperate to make himself the best player he possibly could.
Wenger noticed the difference as soon as Walcott came back for pre-season. Some Arsenal players did not return until late July or even early August, having played at the Euros. Olivier Giroud, tellingly, has not started a game yet this season. But Walcott was ready from the very start: fitter, stronger and sharper than ever.
That is why Walcott has started all six Premier League games for Arsenal this season. He has finished four of them, playing 88 minutes in another. The right wing position has been made unambiguously his own.
Last Saturday he played very well again, pinning Chelsea back, terrifying them with his runs and sweeping in the second goal after a brilliant team move.
Wenger was thrilled with Walcott afterwards, delighted that everyone is now seeing “a different Theo Walcott”, one that was a tribute to all of his hard work. Walcott’s talks with Wenger at the end of last season are paying dividends already.
“I always felt there is character and intelligence in this boy,” said Wenger.
“It was a big blow for him not to go to the Euros. He is a guy with a good assessment of his performances and qualities. He is 27 – a very important age.
“I said many times at the start of the season that we would see a different Theo Walcott. I could see that he made a decision and stuck to it.”
Walcott was indeed hurt at missing Euro 2016, 10 years on from the World Cup that he was taken to at 17.
That decision was of no benefit to him, not least for skewing his expectations about international football.
Having been dropped for the 2010 World Cup, and injured for 2014, he is now hoping to be fit and strong for Russia 2018, should England get there. Wenger trusts in his new maturity.
“We spoke about the disappointment of not going to Euro 2016 with England,” Wenger said.
“He is a special case. He went to the World Cup at 17. Now it is 2016 and he hasn’t been to another World Cup.
“He has matured. When a player survives this type of disappointment from what was promised for him at 16, the way he dealt with the situation – I always felt there was something special in this guy.”
What Wenger now gets from Walcott is something close to the complete package – not just going forward, but also tracking back. Wenger had worried in the past that Walcott did not defend enough if he was on the right, and that left the opposition left-back free.
But last week he did everything, earning a standing ovation for one tackle on Eden Hazard level with Arsenal’s own penalty
area.
“I think he used to be a 90 percent forward with 10 percent defending,” Wenger said.
“Today he is 50-50. He does the job both ways and he does it both ways with commitment.” Walcott exemplified the whole Arsenal team last week, in that there was a very clear sense that something had finally clicked. This was the best Arsenal performance in years, thanks to the pace and incision provided by Walcott on the right and Alexis Sanchez up front.
“We showed that we can play the style of football we want to play,” beamed Wenger.
“That is based on pressure on the opponent, playing with connections, with pace. Collectively we could play together at a high pace.
“That is what football is about. It’s not about one player. It’s not me, me, me – it’s one-two-three. Top level competition is to show you can do that in every single game.”
Debate has often raged about Walcott’s best position.
His repeated desire to play as a main striker has been undermined by a perceived lack of composure in front of goal – a charge that cost him his England place.
Walcott has continued his stunning start to the season scoring both goals in his side’s 2-0 defeat of FC Basel as Arsenal went joint top of the Champions League Group A on Wednesday.
He started on the right with a licence to roam and was lethal.
He scored with a rare header the absent Olivier Giroud would have been proud of after six minutes and then coolly drilled home a precise right-foot shot via the post 20 minutes later.
“I am working hard, enjoying my football,” said Walcott, who made a brief appearance for England against Slovakia last month.
“Things are going well, but this will all be forgotten about really, it is all about the next day.”
Wenger said Walcott’s desire to improve his game had really helped him turn the corner.
“He assessed (himself) and then rectified what he had to add to his game.
“That’s down to him, 95 percent down to him,” Wenger said.
“The best recommendation is his performances.
“If you take the best English players and you see him playing the way he did tonight, it’s difficult to ignore him.” – The Independent & Reuters