Walcott is deaf to fans’ protests

THEO WALCOTT says he has been paying zero attention to the storm of unrest that has engulfed Arsenal’s season.

The Emirates Stadium is a happier place after Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over West Ham, which saw Walcott add to Mesut Ozil’s opener and Olivier Giroud complete the scoring.

That revived hopes of a top-four finish and a Champions League return but Arsenal are still a club deeply divided over the future of manager Arsene Wenger, at least as far as the supporters at the Emirates are concerned.

Planes with banners flying overhead during matches, fans protesting outside the stadium and training ground, and criticism of players who surrendered meekly in the Champions League have all been a staple of recent weeks. Yet Walcott, captain for the night against the Hammers, insisted none of it had come up on his personal radar.

“I haven’t heard anything,” he said. “Criticism? I don’t even bother looking at it. I only listen to people I want to listen to. The manager and people at this club are the best people to listen to, and the players. That is all I care about.”

Arsenal are now fifth in the table, four points behind Manchester City, who lost at Chelsea, and have a game in hand. Ozil’s goal against West Ham was his first of 2017 and Wenger said he felt the German’s confidence had been hit by Arsenal’s 10-goal capitulation to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

“I wouldn’t say it was just the goal for Mesut against West Ham, you could see it was slowly starting to come for him,” said the manager. “Goals always breed confidence in players but Mesut is a fantastic player.”