Theo Walcott

[Juanito]

Says who?

He went from 1/8 to sign for us to 9/4 and Saints are 4/7. I think there must be something in that.

[duncandisorderly]

Walcott in for bolasie at the moment sounds like heaven. Bolasie is a poor footballer, he was before the injury and although he's not back to full fitness, nothing has changed. He's too interested in trying to fill up a YouTube highlight reel than actually contribute to the team on a semi consistent basis. Yes he has talent but he'll never learn how to channel it properly. You'll see the odd game where he'll look like a world beater, but they come for a couple of games (if your lucky) a season.

Walcott in the side will be far more effective, will score more and assist more. I don't see that we have an option NOT to sign him, if he will come after watching that shite tonight. I get the arguments about age and future thinking, but I don't think we have much of a choice at the moment.

[GLewis]

He went from 1/8 to sign for us to 9/4 and Saints are 4/7. I think there must be something in that.

Suggests there’s very little money in the market to me.

[Alanvideo]

I think we can forget about Walcott if he's seen our performance today. I doubt he wanted to uproot his family anyway.

[TheRam]

He's a much better player than bolasie.

[bogie]

He's a much better player than bolasie.

if this was 30 years ago they would not even be in the same division but its the sad times in football the pace in a player like him will get some DOF to spend money on

[ajax_andy]

If it means we play Sig in the middle instead of wide left I'd happily take Walcott... Or ANY winger tbh

[gizzblue]

By his own admission Martina is surprised he has played so much.  He's doing his best he can as a right back playing left back, cut him some slack. It isn't his fault  the ineptitude at the club made him the only one available to play that position

Inneptitude of koeman and Walsh you mean surely.

[Waltzer]

Inneptitude of koeman and Walsh you mean surely.

Well yes, although Koeman said enough times he wanted a left sided defender and striker, take your pick who you blame, but I no it's not Martina

[brap2]

Getting beat 4-0 should never be your left backs fault, ever.

If you have a weak position your manager finds a way tactically to cope. Having a shit left back can drag the team into bad positions and can allow teams to overload you but it does not at all in any shape or form excuse the other 10 dickheads.

I’m a big believer that football games are won and lost in the middle of the park. Defend it, control it.

A football game should not be won and lost at left back.

[Ridge]

He's a much better player than bolasie.

You do realise, you're in the Theo Walcott thread? 

[Stumpy]

By his own admission Martina is surprised he has played so much.  He's doing his best he can as a right back playing left back, cut him some slack. It isn't his fault  the ineptitude at the club made him the only one available to play that position

I'm not really having a go at martina per se,he's not good enough for us end of story.It's not his fault he's playing week in week out,he's not the worst player all the time,but it is a massive problem for us,and has been since baines was injured.My rant is the lack of urgency sorting this out.

[brap2]

You do realise, you're in the Theo Walcott thread? 

Has about 5x the G+A and is younger.

Think they’re both shite.

[TheRam]

You do realise, you're in the Theo Walcott thread? 

Yes. He is much better

[Ridge]

Has about 5x the G+A and is younger.

Think they’re both shite.

I think the better comparison for Walcott would be to Lennon or Deulofeu. Lightning quick, Lennon plays wider and is better at tracking back, Walcott is a more direct running, wide forward. In terms of output, you'd expect more of Walcott, because he's taking more of the teams chances and contributing less in other areas.

With Bolasie, he's changing direction, moving players off balance, using his strength to go past players, creating space for others. Bolasie covers more ground with the ball at his feet than almost any other player in PL, more similar to Barkley, Hazard, Sanchez, Mane. Teams often double up against him and while it rarely comes to something, he's often hurdled 4 barriers before he's fallen at the 5th.

Walcott has got a decent return for what is generally a simple trick, he's a decent squad option, I don't see him being part of a successful team. With Bolasie I think any team in the world would be happy to have him as a wild card. He's a chronic underachiever for his talent, in terms of doing more of the hard work than the easy stuff. But like Barkley, he would have less responsibility to create in a better team where the creative burden is more shared. Create space for others and one of them can put in the cross or through ball. We wouldn't be anywhere near as bad this season, if we'd had a fit Bolasie playing, we've had no one who wants the ball or can go past a player and/or create, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. And give him some time to recalibrate his legs and then we'll see what he can do.