Leave Walcott and Wenger alone – in a spin
Hat trick
By Boris Mellor
September 11 2008
Walcott always gets a great reception at Arsenal, and the crowd often call for him, he gets a louder cheer than anyone bar Fabregas. However there is always in any high tide an undercurrent going in the opposite direction. That undercurrent is barely noticeable, but it is made up of the wise old, and not so old, moaners who have argued that Walcott was not hacking it.
Not only, according to them was he not making it, but perhaps he never would. Now I doubt if many fans expected him to play in Croatia, and even less that he would a score a hat trick. Now nothing is guaranteed in football, but hopefully this is another turning point for Theo.
He had two such turning points last season, and they both went tits up. Neither was his fault, single handedly he gave Arsenal a 2-0 (correction 2-1. Thanks Eduardo) lead at Birmingham, and the game was drawn in a series of mishaps that do not need repeating here.The next turning point was his brilliant assist for Adebayor at Liverpool in the CL, an amazing run that would have been shown again and again, if it wasn't for the fact that Arsenal blew the match. So individual brilliance was snuffed out by poor team defending.
Nonetheless those two events proved, to my mind, that he was on his way, and I said so at the time. So as great as his hat trick was last night it would have meant nothing without some last ditch defending and team effort. Heskey and Rooney were perfect partners in a fluid attack.
Now not so long ago the undercurrent kept on and on that Wenger needed a right winger, they would have been quite happy if Wenger had bought someone who had snuffled out Theo's career. However Wenger was patient, and allowed Walcott to develop at a fairly slow pace. The odious David Bentley criticized this strategy and suggested Theo might have to move to get more games.
Now I never argue Wenger always knows, but on this occasion he knows more than Bentley. What worries me now is the opposite of the undercurrent, and that is the bandwagon. Now everyone will be an expert on Walcott, every time Wenger fails to pick him he will be in the wrong. Every time Arsenal lose, or draw without Walcott it will be Wenger's fault.
At the same time the expectations for Theo will be higher than ever, fans have been forgiving of his poorer games, but now some will not. He has done it once he must do it again. Yet one reason he probably did so well in Croatia was that he has not played regularly for Arsenal. Wenger has protected him. Fans now may become less patient of Wenger's fatherly approach.
Now in the next week Arsenal play away three times in a row, Blackburn, Kiev, and Bolton. It doesn't come tougher than that, long distances against three obdurate teams. Even worse these three matches come on the back of Arsenal's squad returning from the four corners of the earth.Time to spin
This is one of the toughest weeks Wenger has ever faced. He will have to assess his players very carefully. What condition will they and Walcott be in? The front men will hardly be able to play all three games in a row, not just Theo, but Nick, RvP and Ade. They will all have to be rotated. Indeed Theo took a knock in a Croatia, he may be ok, but he may not, he may need recovery time.
Wenger has not done badly in how he has developed Walcott over the last two and a half years. He has defended him from detractors, encouraged him, and built him up physically and mentally. Maybe he will start him on Saturday, and maybe he won't. But as Wenger says one game does not make him Thierry Henry overnight, he must be given time to develop. His hat trick is a one off, indeed it is, very few players score a three or more in an International as competitive as the Croatia game.
His future is bright, but consistency is probably a few years off, his peak even further. The last thing he and Wenger need is to be put under the microscope in a hothouse atmosphere. His hat trick puts a spotlight on his future, but it is not the future itself. There will be a few more twists and turns before that is reached.
There is also an undercurrent of cynicism by a minority that resent the fact that Wenger won't spend more than he has. Of course many fans wished he had bought more, but they don't see that as evidence of Arsenal decline. No doubt accusations of parsimony will accompany periods when Wenger rests the wonderkid.
Wenger won't be bothered by that, but it could affect Walcott. Arsenal fans will need to keep clear heads as the hype develops into ridiculous proportions. After all it was only 24 hours before the hat trick that some pundits had their doubts about Theo's end product. Now they never doubted him for a moment, and Capello is a genius, both views are a gross exaggeration.
the gathered English media last night were lambasting Capelo and Theo just before Walcott scored his first goal, it was reported on TV last night that the journos were already sharpening the knives for Cappelo for picking Theo ahead of Becks and that they were saying Theo was lost and not cut out for this level of football, but I'm sure none of the two faced journos will admit to it in their many article about the match last night
Was it Hanson who was going on about Theo lacking composure in front of goal during the Twente game? How quickly so many can change their tune. Quite frankly nobody in the media thought Theo was capable of ever playing for England and I woldnt be surprised if they expected him to end up playing for a struggling EPL team.
I just hope he can take this confidence forward and continue to produce at the highest level
yea there r others that have more but there are lots who didnt make the england team for years think barry, lampard etc. Ferdinand wasnt a regular either.
Walcott got a chance and took it well. lets see if he can push on from here.
Walcott could still play england u19s I think, or be put in our reserves and england u21 but he is patient and taking chances.
If AW sticks him up front he will have had 2 years prem experience and loads of goals and assists to take the pressure off him
We need to be patient with Theo.
He will come of age, but sincencerely not now,,,,
Thanks
It wasnt a turning point.
People should give credit as to how the goals were created by teh TEAM, with Heskey and WHoremonger palying superbly to free Walcott.
We have Adebayor (Heskey) and RvP (Whoremonger) and Fabreags (Lampard) and Walcott at Arsenal.
Arsene Wenegr is shrewd enough to analyse that Croatia-England game to pick up what worked fro Walcott.
The key point is that our TEAM ahs nto gelled yet and still struggling tod evelop that telegraphic udnerstand of "when to pass, when to shoot".
A good sign is that against Newcastle, Adebayor is playing more and more liek a team-palyer, holding the ball, winning ball and chasing all over the mdifield.
RvP is still off the pace and has yet tod emosntrate cosnsistently his astute passing skills to open-up defence for Walcott to run in.
Walcott next trick?
How to beat defender on the by-line (like Eboue...
...don't larf), running along the by-line and PASS THE BALL ON THE GROUND ACCURATE...instea dof crossing.
Liek Henry or WIlshere, how to beat a man-markignd efender, with his very first touch, a shimmy to run clear of the defender.
With these 2 improved skills, he will be half-way there to be as good as Henry.
And of coruse, to be as good as henry, he needs to develop that football brain of "when to pass, when to shoot".
Let's hope Walcott is not John Barnes in reverse "excellent with England, mediocre with Arsenal".