re: Arsenal 2012/2013 Season Long Thread

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He goes missing during games for long stretches and quite often.

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Which is more often based on his service rather than anything he does himself. He's not supposed to be a 1v1 winger. He's a wide forward who is supposed to stretch play on the left side of the opposition. He needs lots of service, and it has hardly been consistent. Not only that, he often pins the LB back. We don't often give up goals from the left side because of the combination that he and Bacary have worked out. We only get in trouble when the opposition winger is getting the best of the RB, in which case Walcott's insistence on not tracking back presents some problems. Even then, it happens so rarely that the only game I can think of offhand where it was a distinct problem was the Man U game this year. Usually our right side is solid, and our left side that is weak defensively.

And I don't think people really watch him closely, or else people would realize how much he's progressed. For example, in 2007-08, whenever he played, he would often dribble the ball out of bounds because he couldn't control it at the speeds he was running. He doesn't really do that anymore, and is always a danger to get a ball in. The balls he now plays into the box are more measured now, looking for a specific player rather than hit with a lot of power.

What's going to happen without Walcott as a release is that we are going to get pressed up the field and will have no way of breaking it, because in general, we don't deal with the press very well. Part of Walcott's problem is that teams play 11 behind the ball, which gives him very little space. Against bigger teams, he'll be very valuable because they usually press us upfield, and he can destroy the press by his mere presence (see the Chelsea game from this past year).

Not only that, there is this issue of production. Is the Ox going to magically produce 10 goals and 10 assists as a 19 year old playing his first season as a starter? It's highly unlikely. Ryo won't do it, and Gervinho has the ACN again. Where are we going to get that type of production?

I really think fans are underrating how much Theo provides space for other players.