I only saw the highlights but from what they showed we only had about 3 really decent chances and Theo had all of them. He scored and had another 2 shots saved one of while hit the post and nearly went in.Originally Posted by ollie the optimist
Theo certainly isn't as good as some (well, one) of the WUMs on here makes out but he's not as bad as some of the other WUMs make out either.
You're being a bit harsh on him IMO.
That's right, we have players here that aren't that good and aren't that bad. Which is why our standards have plunged along with our ability to compete. Our very ordinary players mean we have very ordinary season after very ordinary season and I thought this is what the fans are pissed about? It's not we all demand trophies, it's we want some hope of competing for a trophy. Well you can't do that with players like Theo Walcott.
On the surface he's no worse than some of the other shit here except in one respect, his contract saga. Of course some fans are going to see straight through him and have a strong opinion of what they see. Look how it's done - Giroud, he's shit but he tries and I like the bloke. Put another way, it'd be great if he could get his shit together and most fans (while I suspect knowing he's never going to be good enough) are giving him the chance to prove them wrong. Kos is another example. We all hope Giroud will be the next Kos, right?
Gervinho, he's had slightly longer but remains a bit of a joke. Patience is thinner with him.
Walcott? How long exactly? How many years? And then he does the whole contract thing? Really, you can't see there's a difference with this guy?
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20 goals and 14 assists is a decent return for an ordinary player. We've had better players but some haven't even come close to those sort of numbers and they played alongside better players. If this is a shit season for Theo, what's he going to be like if he's really in form and carries it through for a whole season?
The contract situation is a funny one. It makes no sense bitching about the players wanting competitive wages and then bitching about the penny pinching, asset stripping Board. We can't have it both ways and I hope as a club we're now willing to pay competitive wages otherwise we'll continue to fall behind. He wanted a better contract like all players do and he got it. It would have been senseless to dig our heels in because you know we'd never have spent to replace him because we're looking at spending £20+m and over £100k a week on a winger that can get that many goals and assists plus scare the defenders senseless. I hope we've now passed that threshold and we're now willing to spend.
I still think your comparison point is meaningless - different players, eras, roles and competitions as past first teamers were rotated heavily if played at all in Cup games and they played in teams where loads were more evenly and widely spread.
But your point in bold is what I have issue with here. Why Theo? What was the fricken point in letting genuine superstars, world class superstars go, but then decide to make a financial outlay on him? This isn't about having it both ways or indeed the best of both worlds, it is the worst of everything. A masterclass in fucking up what incredibly was in our very recent history, a world class football club - with the best of all worlds in almost every position, and players on the bench we can only dream about being in todays first team.
And we make a stand with Theo? Really?
It's far from a meaningless comparison in light of all the criticism he's getting and that shouldn't be that hard to work out. If he's that useless he wouldn't be able to rack up those sort of numbers. It makes no difference about rotation and the era they played in because it's not as if other wingers we've had like Arshavin and Gervinho have come close to matching those numbers. We always refer back to the Invincible period as the gold standard so why should this be ignored when no other winger has scored 20 in one season for us? It's obvious he's not better than them and that's not what I'm driving at. Just look at some the deluded comments and think about his contribution this season and it's obvious there is a middle ground here. He has to work on his game but to get so many goals in a squad like this and when he's so flawed is something to think about.
As for the contract situation, you have to start somewhere. Maybe the backlash against the RVP sale woke them up and they finally saw how deflated the players and fans were. Theo was the next player in line for major contract talks and it would have been another kick in the teeth to let him go. They made two massive blunders in the summer and third would have been crazy. You just have to hope this change in approach doesn't stop with Theo.
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