Match reaction - Norwich

[Özim]

We signed Theo in January 2006? He's right footed? How was it Theo vs Bale as a decision?

My point is we could have signed Bale, Walcott was just a pet project just like most of Wengers signings then, we spent money on this guy we could just have easily have spent money on Bale.

We didn't sign Walcott to play there and then so it was just a case of signing a player for his potential. If we weren't looking at him then there must have been a problem with our scouts. From day one I've never seen the fuss with Walcott, seemed to lack any skill, his finishing was average and he really didn't seem to have much about him, if you look at what he did at Southampton it was pretty little, not sure why he commanded so much attention.

He arrived with a lot of hype, but never had the talent to deliver on that hype. There was less hype around Bale (though he was considered to be very talented) but he's far outperformed Walcott.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

We could have signed a lot of players. If you want to make a point that we could have signed Bale, then fine, fair enough. Personally I think it's irrelevant now he isn't even at the club that did sign him but there's a reasonable argument to be had there.

You outrightly stated it was Theo vs Bale which is disingenuous.

[Globalgunner]

We could have signed a lot of players. If you want to make a point that we could have signed Bale, then fine, fair enough. Personally I think it's irrelevant now he isn't even at the club that did sign him but there's a reasonable argument to be had there.

You outrightly stated it was Theo vs Bale which is disingenuous.

How so?
2 players were available to buy, we could have bought 1 or the other or both possibly.
It was as much a choice as Xhaka or Kante
Wenger went for the worst option....as usual.

[fakeyank]

Frankly, I think Theo had everything as a 16 year old to be a world beater. He has pace and a decent eye of goal. All he needed was decent ball control.. he was crying out for someone to coach some basics into him. Wenger took him, shoved him all over the pitch and he turned out the way he has turned out.

[Özim]

We could have signed a lot of players. If you want to make a point that we could have signed Bale, then fine, fair enough. Personally I think it's irrelevant now he isn't even at the club that did sign him but there's a reasonable argument to be had there.

You outrightly stated it was Theo vs Bale which is disingenuous.

I was just pointing out we made a choice and decided to sign Walcott as one for the future, he wasn't signed to play there and then so we weren't particularly looking to fill a position in the team (he cost a fortune as well considering). On that basis we chose to get him, we could just have easily gone in and signed Bale, he obviously wasn't on our radar or we just weren't interested, despite the fact people were aware of his talent.

Bale isn't at the club that signed him anymore basically because he was so good the biggest club in football came in for him, Walcott is still with us because let's face it he's been pretty average, is overpaid and no other club have been seriously interested in signing him, he's not stood out enough and is now also paid too much for his level of ability.

For me he ranks alongside the likes of Freddy Adu and Cherno Samba as most overhyped players to have ever played professional football, overhyped before they achieved anything or proved they were good enough.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

How so?
2 players were available to buy, we could have bought 1 or the other or both possibly.
It was as much a choice as Xhaka or Kante
Wenger went for the worst option....as usual.

Bale didn't leave until 14 months later, that's how. I don't know if he had even made his 2 appearances of the 05/06 season by the time Theo had joined us.

I haven't disputed you could say 'we could have signed Bale' but I am saying 'Walcott vs Bale' is a non sequitur.

[Özim]

Bale didn't leave until 14 months later, that's how. I don't know if he had even made his 2 appearances of the 05/06 season by the time Theo had joined us.

I haven't disputed you could say 'we could have signed Bale' but I am saying 'Walcott vs Bale' is a non sequitur.

The pojnt of Bale vs Walcott was just the fact we went in and signed a player from Southampton in Walcott, we could have just as easily signed Bale, the reality is we made the wrong choice because on is World Class and the other is well Walcott. We could easily have signed both of course, which may have been a more logical choice, there was a lot of talk of Bale and I didn't really get why we weren't in for him, he cost a lot less than Walcott as well.

[Cripps]

No.

People can talk about Signing Walcott instead of Bale all they like but it wasn't the case. Bale was a bog standard full-back then anyway.

Bet he's counting his lucky stars. If he came here under Wenger he would have turned into a useless waste of space.

[Cripps]

The problem with Wenger is that he has nothing he can teach young players other than how to pass in triangles and keep possession. He doesn't give then any direct guidance which is why most of our young players get stuck at a mediocre level for years without progressing. They don't even get taught the basics.

Spot on. He gives them exposure which takes them up to a certain level then his weak minded mentality and tactical frailties rub off on them. Theo is the best example. Needs to be coached week in week out to maximise his attributes but Wenger and his laissez faire approach has ruined him.

[Power n Glory]

The pojnt of Bale vs Walcott was just the fact we went in and signed a player from Southampton in Walcott, we could have just as easily signed Bale, the reality is we made the wrong choice because on is World Class and the other is well Walcott. We could easily have signed both of course, which may have been a more logical choice, there was a lot of talk of Bale and I didn't really get why we weren't in for him, he cost a lot less than Walcott as well.

I guarantee Bale wouldn't be Bale if he had signed for us. It's not just a case of picking the wrong player.