Six Ways To Use Theo Walcott More Efficiently

Theo Walcott was tipped to be a wonder kid that England and Arsenal was searching for when he was first included in the world cup squad in 2006. Following which Walcott made his first appearance for the Gunners in the 2006-07 season and immediately made an impact setting up a goal for Gilberto Silva when we came as a substitute against Aston Villa. 

At the start of the 2008-09 season Walcott was given the no 14 shirt, which was previously worn by club legend Thierry Henry and fans boasted that he was the replcament for Henry. But did he ever reach to a level that was expected out of him?

Here is the overall stat of Walcott for Arsenal:

CLUB				LEAGUE		FA CUP		LGE CUP		OTHER
				APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS
Arsenal				96 (56)	27	7 (6)	2	13 (1)	4	26 (18)	10

 In the past 74 games Walcott has scored 40 goals and has provided the maximum no of assists to Robin Van Persie, the stats however seems to be in favour of the English man but it is his on the field mentality that frustrates some of the hard core Arsenal fans. Walcott may have managed to get a lot of assists but it was mainly because he passed to Vap Persie, the league’s top scorer and now without him Walcott has had tough time trying to find a place at the starting line-up. His decision making in the final third is very poor and the player runs for too away from the box just to show his main weapon, his speed. For a winger, other than the road running abilities the main armory should be his crossing abilities, but Walcott has failed to develop that skill having been in the club so far and his defensive colleague Sagna has better abilities in crossing. With more than 15o appearances for the Gunners, Walcott is not what he was expected of when he first wore the Arsenal jersey. 

In games, which he does not have a good start the player tend to fade away from the game and in team which flares on a passing game, Walcott has only a 58 % passing accuracy, which is a slap in the face.  But overall, Walcott can be a better player if he is used effectively. 

Here are a few suggestions to use Theo Walcott more efficiently:

1. Arsenal are a passing team and like to keep the ball at their feet, but Walcott doesn’t like to keep it in his feet, so better not to pass the ball to the player when he is near a defender and make him run for the ball, which he has no trouble doing it. His speed will help him get past the defender with ease.

2. The player likes through balls better than the tiki taka passing. Wait for the right moment before slipping in a through ball between the defenders legs. 

3. On a counter attack, never let him go for the goal, Walcott tends to overthink when there is time to shoot. Its better if the player passes it in the final third. 

4. Like all the teams, switch the wingers from time to time, so he can get a shot at the right back too. Constant swapping on the wingers would make like harder for the defenders and with his pace he certainly open up space. 

5. Though Walcott has pace, he does not enjoy getting past the defender using it and instead back passes and waits for the defender to make errors. It would be a good idea to give him long balls from time to time, so that he can use his pace.

6. Any player who is played out of his position will not be happy at the manager and for years Walcott wants to be a central striker. Am not saying it is a good option for the manager to start him as a striker, but he can be used as one in the cup games. And two games without any goals as a striker, Walcott will understand the difficulties.