After the Reading game the "Boss" said;
"Finally, a word on Theo Walcott. He was very impressive against Reading and has made a big improvement in the last two months. He has became more of a 'man' in the game.
He still looked a little bit like a kid at the beginning of the season but now he has more belief in the fight, there is a more determined attitude, there's more power in his body when he has to resist challenges. It's just a normal development of a boy who has become a man."

I totally agree. Before he was so easy to knock off the ball but now he seems better equipped to ride a hard challenge.
Lets hope for even more improvement next year & we may have ourselves a 'goodun' !.

Assuming we dont buy any wingers i expect Theo to be one of the first choices and even challenge Super Tom

Theo will challenger super Hleb first, as he tends to play on the right as Hleb does when Diaby or Rosicky are playing.

i'm pretty sure the long term plan is to play theo as a striker. yes we have two pretty good ones already but that's his natural position.

wenger has used him on the wing to get him used to the league and to take the pressure off him scoring goals until he bulks up and gets some confidence. he plays up front for england u21s and is deadly.

beng wrote:i'm pretty sure the long term plan is to play theo as a striker. yes we have two pretty good ones already but that's his natural position.

wenger has used him on the wing to get him used to the league and to take the pressure off him scoring goals until he bulks up and gets some confidence. he plays up front for england u21s and is deadly.

But we really need wingers and not in desperate need for strikers, true it would be great to see him up front, but i think primarily he'll stay on the wing while coming up front maybe in the carling cup or when our strikers aren't fully fit

AFCArjun wrote:

beng wrote:i'm pretty sure the long term plan is to play theo as a striker. yes we have two pretty good ones already but that's his natural position.

wenger has used him on the wing to get him used to the league and to take the pressure off him scoring goals until he bulks up and gets some confidence. he plays up front for england u21s and is deadly.

But we really need wingers and not in desperate need for strikers, true it would be great to see him up front, but i think primarily he'll stay on the wing while coming up front maybe in the carling cup or when our strikers aren't fully fit

you've got to consider player development as well. if we continue to play him out of position he'll f*** to someone else. my point was he is a striker and long-term i think he'll play there. i agree though that next season he'll probably continue on the wing.

Assuming everyone stays, we've got Eboue, Hleb, Diaby, Vela, Walcott and Rosicky who can play out wide.

I agree that he's better on the wing at the moment, but I reckon we need one more striker to provide depth whilst Eduardo is out for the season. I reckon we'll get a winger who can play up front like Reyes could.

As much as people complain about Reyes. Think about this. Could having Reyes won us a trophy?

He's better than Diaby and Eboue out wide and more consistant than Walcott. He's better that Bendtner up front.

dont mention reyes! he's a c*** for being such a pussy n leavin he def could've helped us win a trophy FFS!!!

Reyes was a class player but hated London. I don't think he could win us a trophy off his own back but in better circumstances could have been a vital component of getting there.

My point isn't too make people complain about Reyes, it's to understand Wenger's strategy and how much Reyes leaving effected that.

Hopefully he'll find another player or two like Reyes but with the mental toughness of Flamini and without being injury prone.

Agreed

Back to Walcott for a sec, I think everyone is right about him providing some depth for strikers, but from what ive seen, him playing striker is not as good as him playing winger (i know he hasnt had as many games to prove me wrong). And when you think about it, we havent really got any wingers as such just LM and RM's. I wouldnt mind seeing Walcott play in either position, and from what he showed against Sparta Prague, he scored a very Henry type goal, so it does show that he can finish, he also proved this against birmingham

AFCArjun wrote:Back to Walcott for a sec, I think everyone is right about him providing some depth for strikers, but from what ive seen, him playing striker is not as good as him playing winger (i know he hasnt had as many games to prove me wrong). And when you think about it, we havent really got any wingers as such just LM and RM's. I wouldnt mind seeing Walcott play in either position, and from what he showed against Sparta Prague, he scored a very Henry type goal, so it does show that he can finish, he also proved this against birmingham

observe.... http://youtube.com/watch?v=ly4wCz6ijdk

there is a world outside arsenal and he scored a load of goals AS A STRIKER for southampton

There is a big difference in playing as a striker for southhampton in the CC, and playing as a striker for the best team in the world in the best league in the wold, he has the potential, but some players never reach their potential, not saying Walcott wont, just saying that it would be good to hone his skills in the wing as well

for once i agree with arjun

He needs to be thrown in the deep end.
He can cope...and if he doesn't take him off, then throw him in again the following week.

He has to learn to cope - he is a young, black man living in England...he should know how to cope.

Caught Offside wrote:He needs to be thrown in the deep end.
He can cope...and if he doesn't take him off, then throw him in again the following week.

He has to learn to cope - he is a young, black man living in England...he should know how to cope.

? random, hes not even black, hes like tanned

His father is black, his mother is white.

Richard - that makes brown. Who cares what colour his 'Aunty Fanny' is anyway !. As long as he keeps improving. He missed a few easy chances against Derby though. He wasn't the only one. RVP also.

rayc wrote:Richard - that makes brown. Who cares what colour his 'Aunty Fanny' is anyway !. As long as he keeps improving. He missed a few easy chances against Derby though. He wasn't the only one. RVP also.

I didn't say it made a difference Ray. It was simply a response to Arjun's comment.

He's still young and will improve. RVP will be better when he's had a full pre-season next season.

its imperative wenger gets a striker as we cannot rely on rvp to stay uninjured for long periods, he got injured today FFS!

I'd like to see Wenger invest in a top quality striker, but I don't think he will because he'll wait until Eduardo comes back.

The other option is to buy a top quality striker, and then play RVP on the wings a little bit more.

i'd go with that second option. rvp always tends to drift to the wings anyway n he can cut inside, aka ronaldo, n bang em in!

on another note, i think the number "14" was said to hav been retired. im not one for retiring numbers n i really think this is a temporary one like adams etc. does anyone think it mite b handed to theo next season, or in a cpl of seasons time??? not to draw comparisons between the great thierry n young theo but i jus cant help but feel wenger is "waitin" for the right time to giv it to the young englishmen as he did the same for phil n also givin cesc vieira's no.

It's a difficult one.

We'd have RVP, Ade, Eduardo and Bendtner on top of a new striker in a year's time, so it'd be interesting to see how everyone fits in. However, we need another striker to win the title, especially if RVP gets injured, so I'd like to see Wenger invest in a winger AND a striker. I'd also like a new first choice keeper, but I can't see that happening.

i think the general consensus of this forum is that we need 4 signings: GK, CB, winger n striker. i think wenger, bein the tight-arse he is, will only address 2 of these issues. i'd rank them in order of importance as:
1. winger
2. CB
3. striker
4. GK

so most likely wenger will keep faith with our strikers n GKs n dip into the transfer market for the first 2 positions on that list

mash wrote:i think the general consensus of this forum is that we need 4 signings: GK, CB, winger n striker. i think wenger, bein the tight-arse he is, will only address 2 of these issues. i'd rank them in order of importance as:
1. winger
2. CB
3. striker
4. GK

so most likely wenger will keep faith with our strikers n GKs n dip into the transfer market for the first 2 positions on that list

I disagree about the CD, but the other 3 are ok with me. I think you're right about Wenger only addressing the winger and GK issues, however, he may strengthen an area we haven't thought about, like he did this year with Sagna.

We've got Gallas, Toure, Senderos, Djourou and Song in CD. I don't think we need anyone else.

ur always lookin at the numbers, we dont hav the complementary CB partnership that a title winnin team needs. like i said earlier, we can do without one of song n djourou as they are too similar to kolo n gallas. we need a better version of phil to play in our first team with kolo/gallas because the two of em together doesnt work as they share the same weaknesses

I think our defence is just too attack minded, weve scored so many goal from defence, if galls and toure had prevented as many goals as they had scored wed be in all the comps atm

wen flam goes, btw im convinced he's leaving, im all up for the shiftin of kolo to DM n gettin a new CB. i think kolo can excel there