Has Theo Reached a Plateau?

NO

While Theo's recent form has not been as good as last year's, I think he has in no way reached a plateau.

At his age of only 22, I don't think "we have to start wondering if this is as good as it's going to get." Someone else pointed out that at age 22, Henry had 3 goals in 16 appearances at Juve. That's nowhere near as good as Theo's tally from last year, his age-21 season. Theo is a fantastic winger, but we're comparing him to the likes of Messi, a prodigy who is better than everyone in his age group and quite possibly in any age group currently. He's not the best forward in the world, but our speedy winger is definitely world-class; and at his age, it could go anywhere from here. He's having a bit of a tough time adjusting to the departures of Cesc, Nasri, and, temporarily, Wilshere, the midfield that fed him passes all of last year. I remember from playing soccer myself that it becomes a lot harder to be a good attacker when you don't know the habits of the person supposed to be feeding you the ball.

It seems to be a recurring pattern at the Arsenal; every year since the invincibles, we've started a mini-rebuild, and every time we finish molding together, an integral member leaves the team. Hleb and Flamini, Rosicky's injury, now Cesc and Nasri, not to mention Jack- you wonder if they were all here and fit today, and the team was completely gelled together, whether we would have won a few trophies. It's those miscommunications between players who haven't known each other for long enough that lead to the ridiculous goals we always seem to concede.

Actually in my opinion Theo is still one of the best players in our team when played correctly. If you ever watch Arsenal play Theo is very rarely the reciever of the final ball. He is always used in the build up play as a right winger, whether that means taking a touch then passing to Ramsey or VP or whether that is crossing the ball from a good run.

Now as many Arsenal fans know, Theo's passing is pretty poor and his ball control aint the best in the world. So to me its clear that the build up play position for him isnt the best of ideas and therefore he looks bad. But on the rare ocassion that he does recieve the final ball via a long pass or a good through ball he usually scores. Now and then Theo does make a stupid blunder, however I remember him scoring 3 for England against Croatia where if you watch the replays it was just pass through run and score over and over.

Remember we never bought Theo because of his skill we solely bought him for his incredible pace which he still has and ocassionally shows it. If we let him go we would be a stupid mistake as im sure wherever he goes he will be used correcty. I think Wenger should give Theo a go at VP's position in the League Cup and FA cup so he can show everyone how good he is upfront! 

my take on this simple. Walcott has been a victim of the hype which inevitable follows all young British world beating prospects. He has had all the pressure in the world piled on his shoulders since he was 16 and i think his game has suffered because of it. i have drawn the following conclusion as to why he is still necessary at arsenal
1. Barcelona. In last year champions league round of 16 the Barcelona player admitted that their was no one on the arsenal roster that scared them as much as Theo.The fact is outside of Van Persie and Wilshire (sorry Arteta, Arshavin,Gervinho, Ramsey and whoever else) in attack their is really no other world beater in our squad. He can turn the game in a instant with his pace.

2. Our lack of creative midfielders. Any winger will tell u that their is nothing better than having a good central midfielder in your team. One that can not only pass well but can force the other opposite winger to respect when he moves forward with the ball. Lost in most of the criticism of Walcott is that he normally get the ball in a position where he has to not only beat the wingback but also the winger himself and then probably another player. we really dont have the creativity since FAB and NASRI left to open up a team.hence their is no space for theo to do what he does best push the ball into space and run. which is what he did against Barcelona that scared the shit out them. Thats what he did to Liverpool and AC Milan.

3. AGE. Despite the fact that everyone has written him off as a failure. The man is still 22.yes 22. He still has two years before he reaches his peak as footballer. which i believe will be attained in time.

4. FINISHING. He is our second best goal scorer.

LEAVE WALCOTT ALONE AND LET HIM PROGRESS. I BEG OF THE FANS

I believe Henry was only 22 when he arrived at Arsenal, and look at how much he changes as a player after that point in his career. Well said

I haven´s seen the last couple of games, but Arsenal totally lack that deadly counter they once had, the one players like Theo really made a difference. If you play like Arsenal does, nowadays, recovering ball possesion and simply passing the ball around waiting for the other team to reassemble their deffense, Theo (and pretty much every one) seems useless/boring
Whatever happened to those good old times when we used to start every play from our keeper, with fast, accurate, first touch passes, that made everyother team run around, watching us score fantastic goals?

off subject, Homey are u a baseball fan? Rangers by any chance? My wifes cousin is cheering thema and got me into it :P
I saw a lot of Dallaspeople a few days ago here.

I'm not a baseball fan.  However, it's hard to get away from the fever around here, so I'm watching as I type this.  Rangers were one strike away from glory, and just blew it.  So we'll see if they can come back and win anyway.  

Theo should stay. Theo is a trademark of Arsenal, like it or not some people.
I think that at 22 Henry wasnt quite the player we remember, maybe we should give Theo more time /we should remember that Titi arrived later, so Theo earlier, thats the difference).

My thoughts and admiration for Theo are well defined by none other than Carles Puyol when he read that Capello was not taking Theo to South Africa. He said that it was a relief, because he remembered what he could do and did vs Barca, and that he thought Capello was crazy.

exctly henry at 22 only 3 goals in 16 games for juve

I've made this point a few times before, but I think that there are a few factors affecting Theo's form this season:

1.  Sagna's injury:  Theo needs space to operate, and make runs infield to take on central defenders.  Sagna gets up and down the line to create space for Theo's runs.  Without his presence its much easier to neutralize Theo's pace.

2.  Lack of cohesion in midfield.  Teams have been pressing Arsenal pretty high in midfield to limit their time on the ball.  I think that the midfield is still a second or two slow in its one touch passing and has had trouble breaking through and providing service to the wings.

Your second point is nailed on imo. Where Cesc instinctively just turn and sent the ball behind the defense and have Theo run onto the ball, Arteta and Ramsey hold the ball that one touch longer, waiting for Theo to start making the move and sending it. They are reactive with their passing, while Cesc was instigating the runs for Theo.

Good point. When I've noticed Ramsey and Jack's passing it's been when they've moved the ball really quickly over the top or through the d. 

If you remember Henry started off as a winger and was blessed with speed. However the difference is that Henry had a physical presence and Theo doesn't.

he needs to become an all around player and take example from Henry or even RVP. What's frustrates me most about him is his predictability in offensive situations too often shooting low with no pace or crossing early low balls at the similar spot.

to be honest, I think it's huge that he's been healthy...which shows that his body has gotten use to the wear and tear of the league. Maybe he realized that overexerting himself to the expense of his health does not bode well for his career, so that's why he's taking it easy.

I also think that he's relied on his athleticism for far too long. As a basketball fan, athletic rookies like John Wall or Russell Westbrook come into the league and do well in the beginning solely because they are freakish athletes. That's Theo; he has incredible pace and has just relied on that for so long, that he hasn't had to reinvent himself, until now. I think it's just a poor run of form, but he will pick it up back up. 

Also, although this point has been discussed ad nauseum in other posts, another reason is we don't have someone like Cesc who can give him that killer through ball to initiate the counter. Our offense is not free flowing, as we know the only thing we can do to be successive is give the ball to RvP and let him work some magic. Once Wilshere comes back, Ramsey flourishes as a playmaker, and Arshavin gets more time at CAM, we'll have someone to feed the ball to Theo on the run where he can make some noise.

But above all, it's huge that he's healthy, but he needs to reinvent himself, and also, he fared better with better playmakers around him last year. 

I think we should keep him for sure...22 is still very young, and can still contribute greatly 

That's quite true. I've been a bit disappointed with his contribution so far this season, but your point about no Cesc is quite true. I'm remembering all those through balls he'd make for Henry to run onto, and he started doing that for Theo last season a bit, and Wilshere would as well. Both are gone at the moment, so that's probably also a factor. 

"Once Wilshere comes back, Ramsey flourishes as a playmaker, and Arshavin gets more time at CAM, we'll have someone to feed the ball to Theo on the run where he can make some noise."

You are actually quite spot on with this. Last year we had Fabregas feeding Theo with balls. 

I believe Theo will come good, he getting wiser and just coming of age. British players mature slower than their southern colleagues like Messi or Ronaldo. He might newer reach their level as they are exceptional players, but he will be good. He has improved a lot and still is learning the game. If he will be patient at Arsenal, lets evaluate him after 3-5 years after he hits his peak.

Non the less, he already contributes more than others senior than him. 

good analysis homey

I'm at Theo fan, and I agree that he's a victim of his early successes and the hype piled on him. We can think Sven the Idiot for a lot of that; picking him for the World Cup squad (then leaving him to rot on the bench).

No he wont be a Messi, but he's certainly a useful guy to keep around

; no he wont be a Messi like lots of folks expected him to be, but he's a useful enough player to keep.

Uh, well.

In Sven's defense, I think his statements at the time were pretty consistent in that Theo was not going to Germany to actually play, but that Theo was obviously such a bright star who would feature for many years to come that this would be a valuable experience for him, to get to train and experience the World Cup. Viewed that way, it was kind of a selfless act on Sven's part, using a roster spot to help England in the future.

I'm admittedly a Sven apologist, but to me, Capello is the bigger idiot for not taking Theo to South Africa.

I thought Sven's job was attempt to win the World Cup in 2006 and not develop players?
While I see the point you are trying to make, it's the job of the clubs to have players train and gain experience and be good enough. The National managers are there to assemble the best cohesive squad possible from their nation in order to win it all.

Bringing Theo and limiting your striker options when you needed them was an terrible selection, especially if you never intended to play the kid.

In fairness to Cappello, Theo was coming off an injury as was looking absolutely dire at the end of the 2010 season. You can atleast understand why he didn't take him, if you don't agree.

I don't necessarily disagree that Sven's taking Theo may have been a bad move for him, or for England. But somehow (and this is partially my fault for defending Sven) we've gotten sidetracked from the original point, which is that going to the World Cup in 2006 was somehow bad for Theo because he didn't play. Which I just can't see.

I agree that Theo wasn't at his best at the end of 2010. But I would refute that with the following argument: Emile Heskey. Aaron Lennon. Gareth Barry. Joe Cole. James Milner. Michael Carrick. Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Ludicrous to not take Theo, give him several weeks of training to play himself back into form, and at least use him as a late game substitute, a role at which he excels. I think the interviews with the Spanish players where they said they were stunned and relieved when they saw he hadn't been picked speaks for itself.

I've never understood the hype around Sven. With England he did ok (no worse than any other manager of recent times), but the Man C, Mexico, Cote D'ivoire, Notts County and Leicester performances?. His best stuff is ancient history.

I agre that Capello is a bigger idiot, but maintain that Theo missing out out on the mess that was England's South Africa was one of the best things that ever happened to him

Sven -- 1 Swedish League title, 2 Swedish cup titles, 3 Portugues titles, 1 Portuguese cup title, 4 Italian Cup titles (with 3 different teams), 1 Serie A title (with Lazio), 1 UEFA Cup title, 1 UEFA Cup Winners Cup title, 2 more UEFA Cup finals, 1 European Cup final.

You're right that the last of those, the Serie A title with Lazio, came in 2000, but that is an incredibly impressive record over a 20 year period. He won everywhere he went, many of which were not traditional powers. And he got England, who are just not as good as the English media think they are, to the final 8 of 2 World Cups and 1 European Championship.

His recent ventures haven't been great, and maybe he has lost it. But I would say "the hype" is pretty justified, given how excellent his results were over a 25 year period.

And he didn't do badly with Man C or Cote D'Ivoire either.

I don't know how well that defends Sven it just makes him seem more of a tit IMO. Why would you take a player to the World Cup of all occasions if you had no intention of playing them. It seems more wasteful than selfless to give your team less of a chance with an unproven player. He was 17 and had not even played a game for Arsenal, I think starting a Premier League game was way more valuable to him and by extension England than being a squad tourist at the World Cup.

Fair point. But you make it sound like it was an either/or proposition (starting a PL game or going to World Cup). But World Cup was in the summer, so it's not like he was taken away from Arsenal, or training, or anything else. If he hadn't gone he would have just been hanging around all summer.

Maybe the media attention means the total experience means that it did Theo more harm than good b/c that ratcheted up the pressure so much, but I don't see how a summer of training with your national team and being part of a team at a major international tournament wouldn't be a good experience for a young player.

Yeah you are right about it being a generally good experience for a young player. However, my point was that when you are a young player like Theo was then playing actual games against high level opposition is what is most beneficial to your development. I remember how Jamie Sanderson, from Young Guns blog, in his Q&A with Homey said that youth players reach a stage when extra training is not really beneficial but playing competitive games becomes essential. I was looking at Theo in that respect, he was a player who needed to play more than he needed a month surrounded by tools.

It may have been a good experience for Theo, but it really wasn't that good for England. It felt, at the time, like a bold move for bold-move's sake. Like choosing Palin because it was bold, or adding Tabasco to beer. 

Yeah, that was a dick move. "Uh, Theo, I know your form is one of the reason's we made it to the World Cup and you're fit now, but I'll go ahead and take a few players unproven on the international stage instead."

Don't you remember, we had a striker crisis as well, and he never even played Theo. It was insanity.

I'm not a huge Theo advocate, but for the sake of the club I'd say keep him. Only way I would sell is if we got upwards of 20+ for him and Wenger made a solid purchase to replace him before he was sold.

That sum would be tough to turn down for Theo.  He would be a very effective player for a counterattacking team and could draw a handsome sum.

Although I think that would be a good transfer, I don't think we would be able to move him on at the moment with all the trades we've had out. But if he won't sign a new contract then I guess we'll have to.

I do agree that it could be okay if we were able to announce the solid purchase before he moved on.

Also I'm not a huge fan of Walcott at the moment. I think he has always been gifted chances by better players around him, rather than creating them himself (mostly). Gervinho, for example, is much better at changing the game himself and creating a chance. Another player like Gervinho to sit on the other wing would be very handy. Maybe that player could be AOC in a couple of years. Either way we need someone to be creative in the midfield.

Anyone read the transfer rumours that Anzi want to buy Arshavin, but only if Squillaci goes with him? Seems like a reasonable deal to me...

After watching Gervinho, particularly this past weekend, I have to agree with your comments about Walcott. While Theo has made improvements to his game, particularly on the defensive end where he is no longer a total liability, he still lacks the core body strength to keep from being pushed off the ball and, as a result, isn't able to stay on the ball when he cuts inside, where he could make more plays, against competent defenders.

You can't teach pure raw speed, but pure raw speed isn't everything. It's great when you have an exceptional passer, like Cesc, who can send a pinpoint accurate through-ball that he can run onto, but opposing teams can negate that (as we have seen in more than a few matches) and, even if you have such an accurate passer, there is still the matter of being able to do something with the ball after the pass in the face of a defender. Walcott hasn't shown that he has the vision or advanced skill with the ball to make something positive happen consistently unless he is virtually alone when he receives the ball. Great vision is also something that you can't teach (although it can improve some with experience) and it takes time and a lot of work to improve decision-making, core body strength, and the skills to go one-on-one at a competent, bigger defender.

While it's true that Theo is still young and has shown improvement in his game, given the hype that he has gotten for so long in the media, it's unlikely that he would be willing to accept the kind of "specialist" role that his skills merit or the wages of someone who plays that role. I think Wenger, who has given Theo every chance to succeed when healthy, realizes this and has already begun to prepare for Walcott's departure by bringing in Miyaichi, Campbell (who looks very good) and Oxlade-Chamberlain to supplement the talent already being developed at the club. AOC still has a lot to learn, but already has shown more strength and tenacity on the ball (and defensively) than Theo, with nearly as much speed. Campbell's performance in Lorient's last game was an eye-opener as well. The young talents at the club promise to offer as much or more than Walcott and will likely come at a cheaper price in the immediate short-term (if they become top-level world-class players, of course they will have to be paid accordingly, but, then, the club would be paying for a top-level world-class talent and gladly do so).

Consequently, if a club like Juventus or one of the better clubs in Germany show an interest in Walcott, it would be in the best interest of the club to cash in on Walcott now--when he is likely to still command a good price--and use the proceeds to help get a "can't miss" top-level talent like Hazard, Goetze or Marin to play next to Wilshere or Ramsey. I'm not sure if Arsenal can pull off that kind of switch in the January transfer window, but it certainly would make the club a lot stronger next season.

How is Marin better than Walcott in any way?

Fewer assists, fewer goals, fewer international caps.. doesn't read like a glowing resume.

Very insightful. I have to admit, knowing Wenger, I doubt he has lost all hopes on Walcott. I presume he is nourishing Walcott's replacement(s) because it is the way his youth policy goes on. It isn't because he found a gem on one position that he will stop looking for another one (ex.:Fabregas, now Ramsey and Wilshere). This is how greedy the man is and I don't blame him for it on the contrary, I support this idea to a certain extent.

In my opinion, I never was a big fan of Walcott. He never really showed great skills and reminds me of Pedro of Barcelona. At least, the latter has shown more technical ability, but is still an average player surrounded by great players which contributed to his overall development. Walcott, even though he had Fabregas feeding him endlessly, never really took the opportunity and is development has been severely limited by his numerous injuries.

I am not one to talk on the matter though as I have not been following this team since a long time now. But, by reading your analysis and the ones posted previously, I processed the simple idea that Walcoot did not seem to have changed. Does that render him useless? Well, no, he has to be kept and discarding him would be as stupid as when the club decided to discard Eboue. But, who am I to talk...

He has been under extraordinary pressure since a very tender age, and although he turned out quite well, it's fair to say everyone thought he'd be lighting the world on fire by now. I think he might be considered as the sacrificial lamb, so to say. British tabloids, and the media in general, are less expectant of British teenagers, and it can be seen that the hype that followed Theo everywhere has been almost non-existent with the Ox. I don't know if the media has learnt its lesson, or he has not been noticed yet. But if the former were the case, one must really pity Theo Walcott.

I wouldn't say the Ox has been ignored by the media. After 2 games in an Arsenal shirt the media were talking about him being in the Euro 2012 squad like it was a sure thing. 

I think the problem with the British media way over hyping young players is because they are so desperate for exciting fresh talent. The established England stars leave much to be desired and there's not a lot of "middle ground" players out there. Your either one of the under-performing establishment or a youth that's not ready to be given so much pressure. 

I also think Oxteria, along with a number of other potential plotlines this season, have been overshadowed both by "Arsenal in crisis" and more recently the spectacular play of RvP.

Yeah, I think he's a victim of overhype and high expectations as much as anything else. As you said, being so highly touted at such a young age led everyone to believe he was going to turn into the greatest player in the history of anything, and now people are disappointed that he hasn't.

If anyone else had scored 13 goals and 11 assists during his age-21 season from a non-forward position, they would be widely hailed and beloved. And yet he's still seen as a disappointment. I went on a Twitter rant defending Theo about a month or so ago, and I got back responses like, "he could be better" or "he' not as good as Gotze or Hazard." But what player of his age doesn't have room for improvement? And why is he automatically compared to the very best young players in the world and criticized for not being in that group?

I think people would probably be a bit more forgiving if it didn't seem like he was hardly developing at all. He seems to be showing the same flaws and shortcomings now as he did several years ago, and it's not all that apparent that he's improving, and if so, how he's improving.

I'm a Theo defender, and if he doesn't improve at all, he's already a very solid player at a high level. But the problem is that everyone expected him to be so much more than that.

The "Theo problem" is only a problem, because Theo somehow hasn't figured out yet that his best role is the one he's currently in. He will never be a center forward at Arsenal or any other club (unless they play 442) simply because he doesn't have the skills needed for that role (and never will). 

Wenger has actually said exactly why Theo doesn't play in the center (if you read between the lines) while describing what make RVP a great CF. When people criticize RVP for not being as strong or aerially dominant as most typical lone front men, Wenger points out RVP's amazing first touch, and ability to bring others into play with his passing/vision (best of any striker in the PL IMO). 

Theo's first touch is not great, he get's pushed off the ball incredibly easily, he's not a great passer and he won't win any headers. The only skill he has that makes a great CF is his finishing. As I said earlier, the only way Theo can play up top is if he has another player beside him to do all those "target man" duties and make space for him to run into (which is exactly how our system works now, he just runs in at an angle instead of straight forward).

Theo is a very potent weapon when used correctly. The problem is that against certain teams, he won't have space to run into and since his skill set is narrow, he will disappoint. He will never be Messi (it was always wrong to expect him to be some English Messiah) and it's not his fault if he doesn't perform well against teams like Stoke and Blackburn that defend incredibly deep and narrow. Whew. That's my opinion anyway.

"When used correctly" is a very good point. And frankly I think it's up to him whether or not he has "peaked." He can decide he has nothing left to learn at Arsenal and slide into stubbornness and force a transfer, or he can work to become less of a platoon or specialty player.

Football is turning into women's gymnastics in a way, with epitaphs being written for players by the age of 22.

I am in the end a Theo fan and I hope he stays on the team for a while to come.