Theo Walcott: Too soon to give up

 The Guardian has a piece, a poor piece suggesting Walcott  may be done.. I don't think so:

I too am going to try and defend him. I actually hope Hytner would write about Walcott his stuff has more meat.

Re.  Walcott:  Okay, I know have been critical of him in the past, especially last summer with the under 21s, no need to remind me.  But, there are a few of  reasons for his defence:

1) He's been injured and has taken a huge knock on his confidence --he can get that back if he stays injury-free.

2) Arsenal don't play the blistering counter-attacking of days gone by, probably in part because Walcott has missed long spells or has not been to quite ready.  But, there are other factors, there isn't anyone else fast willing or fast enough to support him on rare occasions I have seen him surge forward in counterattack. The next fasted player Arsenal have is probably Clichy who never seems willing to break in support or is instructed not to (although both Fabregas and Arshavin have worked on their pace) . Theo needs support when he breaks because he can't really hold the ball up on his own, and he needs the option of passing the ball rather dribble out of trouble. But either way, how many times have I seen Almunia ball in hand searchng  for someone to release to? Plenty.  We break with Fabregas or Arshavin when we do break on the counter, and neither have frightening pace.

3) Theo (and actually, I'd argue Adebayor when he was there as well) benefited tremenendously  from having a senior player he could learn from in Henry. When Thierry left he lost that influence, and without somebody he could learn from, and more importantly someone to help him reinforce good habits, newly learnt skills, and good decision making in training everyday, it was only a matter of time that even the bits he'd picked up lose sharpness.  And so he may look worse today than he did two years ago.

Contrast him with Ramsey who has grown leaps and bounds with Fabregas as his model. Walcott has had nobody to help him model his game. Even Hleb wassn't exactly a winger; Nasri is no winger, Eboue, as much as I like him is no winger either, Bendtner not. To boot none of these are great finishers either. Eduardo has been injured and himself rediscovering his own form as a striker.  For a teenager, I think this made it harder for Theo. An experienced player doesn't have to be Messi, but he can teach/share the fundamental things that great players must build on.  It's no coincidence that the most improvement in Theo's game has been in his defensive responsibilities: He tracks back and helps defend. A thing of marvel from a player who frankly looked very lazy in this respect.

Ironically the only person who is somewhat adapt at playing as a winger, RvP, never  plays wide at Arsenal. And I am probably seeing things but I don't think Walcott has as easy-going a relationship with RvP as say with Bendtner.  Henry could take him under his wing as the senior guy who wasn't worried by competition from an upstart; I'm not sure that sort of dynamic exists wth RvP. I don't think it exists with Arshavin either, the latter with whom I  had hopes  would help Theo develop.  I was as thrilled when Wenger signed Arshavin and hearing that Arshavin's English language skills were pretty decent because I thought it would be good for Walcott amongst other things.  I hope that lttle incident when Arshavin wouldn't  pass to him in this one game where we were up 4-1  or something isn't a sign they don't get along in general.

4) Walcott has a lot of raw material that can be used very effectively  even doing the simple things. For example, rather than looking to dribble he can do what Agbonlahor does quite a bit: knock the ball forward behnd a defender and start a foot race. Crossing the ball can be learnt,  I'm not too worried about that. No so long ago Lennon was touted as rubbish in part because his final ball was poor; he's improved there. Theo can improve this aspect, no problem.  His finishing can be salvaged with his confidenceand some help from Arshavin/Eduardo.  Dribbling...  well ... just pass the ball, move pass the ball, no need to spend too much time on the ball, not at Arsenal anyway.

That said, I am not suggesting he should go to the WC ahead of anybody else at the moment. I just think there's still a case to be made for him. Oh, and I hope he's superstitious and gives up that No.14 shirt at the end of the season. It may free him from the burden of self-expectations. Take back the 32 and set yourself free Theo.

UEFA Champions League Week

The Inter-Chelsea game should be interesting. Chelsea are still very much a JM team, and Inter have finally assumed JM's personality in recent games.  Poised for plenty of intrigue ... which in football with JM involved in all likelihood means, wait for it ... a draw.

Arsenal 1-3 Man Utd

I fucking hate Arsenal! Yes I do.

God, this was depressing. The only thing wrong with Arsenal it seems is hoping this team will win anything.

David Pleat has technical analysis. Can't be bothered. I just want to blame someone.
I knew were going to lose, even before we conceded te first goal. By Arsenal standards we were dire:

• Passes went frequently astray, Denilson was awful,

• Almunia must go (and I have been a supporter of Almunia, but I've had enough),

• Arshavin was taking shots when he should have been passing. He needs to fucking pass the ball to well positioned team mates. I've always thought Arshavin and the rest of the team are on different passing wavelengths: he too often cannot find a team mate and they can't find him either for some reason -- don't know who's to blame though.We missed Eduardo actually, he has been much better at link up play and bringing Fabregas into the box.

• I fucking hate Nasri. Last season, I sad he blew hot and cold. Now I  just hate him. He hasn't delivered any of the promise, but that's not why I hate him. I hate him because he doesn't play with any desire. Well he doesn't do it consistentlyand he transistions really badly (read: he is lazy) when we lose the ball; and he took the ball away from Fabregas in a scoring position. I hate Nasri. Gallas was righ about him
• Song worked really hard as usual, but I thought he had heavy legs
• Fabregas was well marshalled, and his shooting boots were left at home.
• Bringing on Bendtner (I like him) helped. Best get him fully fit pronto.
• Oh, and Clichy ---wtf has happened to him? 
• But Wenger should have known, Pep Guardiola back in May called ManU a counter-attacking team, whch they are and a very good one. They counter-attacked us to smithereens in the CL semi-final last year, they did it again today, and we had no answer. YOU CAN"T TRANSISTION AS BADLY AS WE DID AGAINST A COUNTER-ATTACKING TEAM LIKE THIS. AND LIKEWISE YOU CAN"T HAVE CENTERBACKS BOMBING FORWARD LEAVING YOU VULNERABLE AT THE BACK. I HATE ARSENAL.

Last thing, Wenger's Invincibles  were a lethal counter-attacking team. Not this Arsenal side. They really aren't any good at it really. In part it's because we don't have any speedsters or speedsters who pose a scoring threat. Walcott has been slow in maturing or derailed by injuries --yes, I said I was looking to lay blame today. How many times have I seen Almunia looking to launch a counterattack and finding no outlet? These days, when they do occur, our counterattacks are launched using Fabregas who is then joined by Arshavin -- not exactly speedsters even though I think both have worked on their pace.

Thoroughly depressing.  Wenger's got some contemplatng to do.

I also watched the Lyon v PSG game. Very entertaining match.  Lyon eventually won 2-1. But they scored only after PSG were reduced to 10 men.

Mourinho's Winning Persecution Complex Finally Catches On With Inter Players

Game: Inter vs AC Milan @ The Guisseppe Meazza (The San Siro)
Result: 2-0

Those of us who feel Leornardo ain't prime time yet can feel suitably smug. He had the entire second half against 10 men and couldn't figure out what changes to make to affect a game, where he was trailing 1-0. This isn't exactly surprising, because I think he happened onto their erstwhile winning formula, he didn’t actively design it.

Sunday Milan looked exactly the same way the looked at the start of the season: a hardworking, and isolated forward upfront achieving very little. When Leonardo happened upon Pato on the right, and another forward in the middle, things worked out because Pato is technically able to drive into the box and pull players towards him. With Beckham, no such luck because he isn't going to dribble his way into dangerous areas (not that Beckham doesn't have his uses). Beckham will always look for a back/lateral pass or a cross. So the forward, really has to battle on his own inside the box, and Borriello to his credit worked very hard, and was unlucky not convert some of the crosses. But he was facing two powerful central defenders in Samuel and Lucio, and his chances were always going to be very difficult and limited. So, what does Leonardo do: introduce Huntelaar for Ambrosini in the 81st minute. That's what.

Milan looked old and tired against 10 men, and to his credit Leonardo could see at least that much, but seemed powerless to do anything about it. Inter on the other hand finally look like a Mourinho team, they have for the past few games. They are a team that has take on their manager's personality. Mourinho manufactures circumstances that "entitle" him to a persecution complex. He then uses the perceived persecution to cultivate a defiant never-say-die spirit. All his teams at their best have taken on this Mourinho trait, top dogs fanned by an imagined sense of persecution to fight for their lives. Inter were fighting for their dear lives "from the off" on Sunday. Even Sneider's sarcastic clapping that resulted in his sending off, was the act of a persecuted man seeking mild, permissible retribution which the referee much to my amusement found completely humorless producing a red card. Inter eventually went down to 9 men and still won comfortably in the end (2-0). Milan, given an opportunity to get back in the game missed their best chance, a penalty.

Mourinho will like their chances from here, not only to win the Scudetto comfortably, but to do well in the Champions League; Chelsea have reason to be concerned. Mourinho has his team finally playing like the brave, wounded animal he models himself on. It won't be long before Inter supporters feel the same way about him and his team either.

As for Leornardo, he can take solace in that not even the chronically plagued Juve share this persecution complex. He must hope he can have Pato back soon.

UPDATE: Here's the Gurdian's Paolo Bandini take on the same match

I Welcome Myself to My Soccerweekly

So I really love football/soccer. And now I have decided to keep my own blog about it. Every week, I will post something or other about goings on in the English Premier League, or La Liga or Seria A. When the Champions league rolls around, I might do that too.

Nobody reads these things, so a warm self welcome to myself!