Did Theo Walcott just solve Arsenal's long-standing striker problem?
It’s been years since fans and pundits were content with Arsenal’s striker situation.
Arsene Wenger has been a different story.
The Arsenal manager has either staunchly defended or publicly criticized his strikers over the past couple seasons, but he hasn’t made a huge splash in the transfer market to fix the problem.
In any case, Theo Walcott may have just provided a solution.
Walcott scored the first goal of Arsenal’s 4-0 outclassing of Aston Villa in the FA Cup final on Saturday, a gorgeous left-footed half-volley that was born out of determination. There was a spring in his step all afternoon, understandably so after his hat trick last weekend against West Brom in the final Premier League fixture of the season.
His last two seasons have been ransacked by injuries, and Walcott’s apparent brittleness cannot be ignored. An abdominal injury suffered in August 2013 kept him on the sideline for three months, and a few weeks later, he ruptured his left ACL and didn’t return to action until this past November. His injury history before these setbacks wasn’t exactly spotless, either.
Still only 26 years old, Walcott spent most of this season on the bench, lost in Arsenal’s crowd of smaller but pacey attacking options. He’s made the most of his starts, however, and after his showing on Saturday, perhaps Wenger should give strong consideration to similar tactics next season.
As a veritable false nine, Walcott played slightly above the potent duo of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil but was allowed to roam across the front line where he saw fit. He generated chances and was a constant threat to the Aston Villa goal.
Villa countered by trying to use its size and physicality to push around this smaller lineup. While the strategy failed, there’s no doubt other Premier League teams are better equipped to bruise the Gunners’ attack.
Still, this approach diminishes Walcott’s injury risk, and thoughts of Walcott and his teammates running circles around the leaden-footed center halves of the Premier League has to entice Arsenal fans. The squad’s inability to break down defenses at home this season proved costly against the league’s elite, as Chelsea and Manchester City both earned a point at the Emirates while Manchester United won outright with a severely depleted side in November. Another win or two, combined with Wenger’s renewed pragmatism away from home, might have made the league title race a bit more interesting.
Perhaps the best argument for Walcott’s deployment is that Wenger seems unlikely to bring in a world-class striker in the summer. Wenger did spend £16 million on Welbeck last September, but that’s a far cry from the £32 million Chelsea spent on Diego Costa, or the £48.6 million Barcelona spent on Neymar, or even the £40,000,001 Wenger bid just to activate talks with Luis Suarez before the Uruguayan star made his way to Barcelona for almost twice that amount.
Wenger offered a reminder of his transfer tenets recently. After years of loan spells and development within the club, Francis Coquelin has emerged to fill a glaring hole at defensive midfielder for the Gunners, providing courage and steel in the center of the pitch.
Coquelin wasn’t a flashy summer signing. He was just a member of the squad who found new life.
“I am sorry he didn’t cost any money,” Wenger said. “He is still a good player.”
Could this apply to Walcott next?
