Walcott - Make or Break Season

Well, when Theo gets 40 goals and 30 assists next season, I shall laugh in your face.

Don't listen to him, Theo!

"henry scored 26 goals in 47 apps in his 1st season for Arsenal plus 11 assists and his age was....... 22."

Yes, so we can compare Walcott's next season with that then can't we? What I want to see is his stats up to that point.

"Yes, so we can compare Walcott's next season with that then can't we?"

Yeah OK.

If he wasn't English, he wouldn't be given as much acceptance as he has. As previously stated NB has better stats and in my opinion works much harder and gives more to the team, but a lot of people don't rate him but thinks Theo is brilliant. Go figure.

Henry played in a way better team but yes, that'd be a fairer comparison. But can you honestly say that given the performances we saw from Theo last season that you don't actually expect to see him close to 20 goals anyway? Your statement about him was pretty damning and suggests that you don't expect to see much, if any better from him next season. As though his stats won't improve. I see these things as a learning curve and Theo's looking pretty good right now I think. Not saying he couldn't look better. Just that he's improved consistently and is the type of player that will still be trying to improve himself if he got to thirty and had won every honour in football. I see your point but think you're being harsh to say the least. My guess is he could have a thrity goal season and you'd still be sat complaining that he does all the things you mentioned and would have had fifty goals if he didn't.

"Yes, so we can compare Walcott's next season with that then can't we?"

Yeah OK.

If he wasn't English, he wouldn't be given as much acceptance as he has. As previously stated NB has better stats and in my opinion works much harder and gives more to the team, but a lot of people don't rate him but thinks Theo is brilliant. Go figure.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well I'm not one of them. I'm apparently yhe ONE gooner whom believes that the only thing stopping NB from a 25+ goal season, is RVP being started ahead of him. I've posted an article saying start NB and play RVP from the bench before now.

Well, when Theo gets 40 goals and 30 assists next season, I shall laugh in your face.

Don't listen to him, Theo!

Harsh, possibly.

If he knocks in 30 goals or even 20, then I certainly will not be complaining. I don't dislike him and hope he can actually have an injury-free season, then we'll be able to judge him fully.

However, I make the comparison between him and NB52 due to the fact that they are similar ages, but Theo is English and highly rated and NB is not, whereas NB to me works much harder and has better stats.

I also think that Theo needs to make better decisions, and improve on his work rate in regards to tracking back and tackling.

Did anyone watch the game on Saturday? Theo missed 4 excellent opportunities, including shooting over the bar to an empty goal from about 10 yards.

"If he wasn't English, he wouldn't be given as much acceptance as he has. As previously stated NB has better stats and in my opinion works much harder and gives more to the team, but a lot of people don't rate him but thinks Theo is brilliant. Go figure."

The reason for that is probably more down to the players' personalities rather than there nationalities, amongst the Arsenal fans at least. To be honest until last season i wasn't convinced Walcott would ever be anything more than a back up player at Arsenal but last season he came on leaps and bounds and if he can do that again this year he'll be a top player. I think Bendtner has a lot of quality but he's not improved as much as a he should have from a couple of years ago and I'm not sure he's ever going to get much better than he is at the moment.

May I just point out the Bendtner statistics being put out here include his loan spell at Birmingham City, who were at the time in the Championship.
So actually, Bendtners Arsenal statistics are (in 156 games) 45 goals (a goal I think every 2.9 games?) and 19 assists.
I think thats right anyway

But, it is unfair to judge Bendtner against Walcott. I don't think you can compare these two really

I agree that he has shown consistent improvement during his time with us. Magic Man keeps referring to the favouritism shown to him due to his nationality but imo that has actually worked against him with expectations being far too high for a player that still needed much development.

NB does himself no favours with his visions of grandeur. Confidence is great, as long as it translates into results. His stats aren't bad, if he was prepared to bide his time for a while longer he'd too grow into a very effective striker.

The reason Theo has a growing support is that he has a modest personality, gives an intelligent interview and most importantly has improved each time the pundits have written him off.

In response to the OP, I'm pretty sure I remember last season was also "make or break" for Walcott. Until he hits the 20 a season mark he'll always be regarded as a work in progress. He know this too and I'm happy that he's got the confidence to demand a more central position to get the goal tally up.

The "Virtually unplayable" Theo Walcott will come good one day. Please let it be soon.