At the risk of being DM, Walcott scored a good hat trick but still had plenty of brain fart moments. If he can keep up the consistent scoring then that makes up for his all round contribution not always being what it could be.
I basically wasn't going to post, both because I'm high as a kite(pain meds) and because I can't stand fans who ignore the performance and see the result.
Walcott's general involvement all game was gash, he got two good goals and one easy one, it was one of his better performances. The second he gets a contract signed he will do what 99% of other players who only play when seeking a new contract... like a lazy self protecting arse. I don't want a player who will try hard for 3 months out of every 4 or 5 years. While trying hard, lol someone said something along the lines of revelation since he got moved upfront.... no, he's been even less involved outside of the goals.
Things people forget in a "big" win, Arsenal had less possession at home and were consistently outfaught and outplayed for the vast majority of the game. Till the 73rd minute Walcott had contributed a grand total of one tap in from a VERY poor run in behind. Watch the first goal again, he's standing between two CB's, he's trying to stay onside against the two cb's right next to him, he failed, he never got onside relative to them and only Santon being crap and blind let that goal stand. So Walcott for 73 mins did almost nothing at all except get lucky. He failed to drop deep and help us keep the ball.... he failed to get involved at all, two games in a row Arsenal have had much less possession than normal and a striker uninvolved in vast portions of the game.
Jonnymendopey what can I say, a complete U-turn on a player after one performance, lol, completely incorrect assessment of Wenger's ability to make a player great, check. Walcott will never be a great striker, he will never be a patch on Henry or RVP< he could score 30 goals every season and he'll still never be as good as either. RVP and Henry can take a crap Arsenal performance and get goals completely on their own, Walcott can't.
Arsenal were crap against a woeful Newcastle, we were one goal ahead when for the second game in a row Newcastle looking better than the opposition for the vast majority of the game took off key players in crucial positions. Simpson wasn't great, but the defence got even worse without him, Gael was excellent in central mid, as was Marveaux, the three of them going off destroyed the game and Newcastle so completely fell apart the final 20 minutes was hilariously one sided, both because they gave up in key positions where Arsenal were working their best, and because on the 5th goal going in Newcastle just gave up, they knew they were beaten and stopped playing entirely.
That still isn't a knock on Walcott, for him he had an excellent game, anyone dumb enough to think he'll do that every game, is just that, dumb. Anyone that thinks that at the age of 23, having spent 6-7 years not giving a damn, not trying hard, and not caring about results but purely about his contract, he will completely change now, is also stupid.
Arsenal have been significantly WORSE as a TEAM with him upfront. He's simply played upfront against Wigan, Reading and Newcastle, three teams in relegation form. We were outplayed by Newcastle, at home against a team with half their best players out injured, until the 70th min or so. We were outplayed by Wigan, and we almost let Reading back into a game despite them being simply attrocious.
Had we played Utd, Chelsea and Spurs in the last three games instead, we WOULD have been absolutely thrashed to pieces, the performances have been dire, defensively we're worse, our possession and ability to keep the ball with Walcott has been significantly worse.
Defensively, Sagna and Gibbs completely culpable for their goals, both horrendously awful defensively and most of their offensive work is rubbish. Gibbs for the tap in, embarrassing, he didn't once look behind him in the build up to the goal and had he looked around once and been where he should have been, no goal. Worse the next time is he decided to have a look as the ball was already coming in.. he stopped without knowing where Ba was, and it was his stopping to look that let Ba get to the ball first.
Before the ball comes in, you need to be aware of what is around you, Gibbs is truly awful at that always, he has zero defensive awareness. When the ball is on its way in and you don't know whose around you, number one rule, when you're not sure win the ball, you don't stop and look as the ball is coming in you just go and win the ball.
Sagna.. always beaten easily, stupid freekicks, crap defending, can't read the game defensively, rubbish going forwards.
Its really odd, because I've been saying Sagna is abysmal for YEARS, while others claim he's the best right back in the league, but over and over again Sagna is at fault for our goals, and Gibbs now he is finally getting games, looks as terrible as he did 3 years ago in his odd performance. One major problem would be fixed in our defence and our CB's would be hung out to dry less if we got two quality fullbacks in, but you need a manager that doesn't hand out a new contract to Gibbs when he can't play ruddy football.
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