Theo Walcott: Genius winger or just a load of old shite?

[The Ringleader Returns!]

Shite. The most over-rated England player - ever!

Joe Cole and Wight-Phillips are lightyears ahead of him

This. Joe Cole was brilliant when he came on and set up one of the own goals with a cross which was very difficult to defend.

My midfield for the first game would be

Cole - LW
Lampard - CM
Barry/Milner - CM
Wright-Phillips - RM

That midfield with Gerrard playing just behind Rooney would be Quala. If needed Cole and Gerrard could swap as Cole can do a job as the attacking midfielder.

 

[sir albion]

This. Joe Cole was brilliant when he came on and set up one of the own goals with a cross which was very difficult to defend.

My midfield for the first game would be

Cole - LW
Lampard - CM
Barry/Milner - CM
Wright-Phillips - RM

That midfield with Gerrard playing just behind Rooney would be Quala. If needed Cole and Gerrard could swap as Cole can do a job as the attacking midfielder.

Gerrard is shite for england and i would drop him

 

[Gully]

Shite. The most over-rated England player - ever!

Joe Cole and Wight-Phillips are lightyears ahead of him

Maybe not light years...but certainly 7 or 8 years older...how good were they at 21?

 

[seagulls4ever]

Lennon is far better than Walcott. He actually knows how to take the ball past players, and can deliver a decent final ball - both of which Walcott does very rarely. Lennon has a good footballing brain as well; he knows the right areas to run into, when to play a simple ball, when to make a run, etc. People talk about Walcott's pace, but that's literally all he has. Even then, Lennon is actually faster with the ball than Walcott is, because Walcott doesn't have any sort of clue what to do when he has it. There's zero creative or footballing ability inside him. Is Lennon actually that much slower off the ball than Walcott anyway?

Cole, Wright-Phillips and Ashley Young are better than Walcott, too.

 

[The Modfather]

This. Joe Cole was brilliant when he came on and set up one of the own goals with a cross which was very difficult to defend.

My midfield for the first game would be

Cole - LW
Lampard - CM
Barry/Milner - CM
Wright-Phillips - RM

That midfield with Gerrard playing just behind Rooney would be Quala. If needed Cole and Gerrard could swap as Cole can do a job as the attacking midfielder.

Agreed.

This should be the starting line up for the midfield/frontline.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Walcott is not consistent and has been poor so far. But the world cup could bring out the best in him. Too early to write off.

 

[empire]

hasnt improved one bit in the last 2 years fact

 

[Gerbil]

This. Joe Cole was brilliant when he came on and set up one of the own goals with a cross which was very difficult to defend.

My midfield for the first game would be

Cole - LW
Lampard - CM
Barry/Milner - CM
Wright-Phillips - RM

That midfield with Gerrard playing just behind Rooney would be Quala. If needed Cole and Gerrard could swap as Cole can do a job as the attacking midfielder.

I agree with Cole, would much rather have him than Walcott or Lennon, who are simpily not up to it. But i'm not too keen on SWP. I would probally put Gerrard at RM and have Rooney and Crouch up top

 

[The Wizard]

SWP is WANK. Lennon/Walcott/Cole/Johnson are all better players. Lennon is the best player out of all those though.

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

SWP can actually beat a man though. And scores. Walcott just runs very fast then falls over.

 

[Springal]

SWP is usually pretty good for England. Walcott runs into dead ends and doesn't really have an end product, Lennon is OK but gets found out too easily. Joe Cole however, has always looked decent for England I think, but his lack of club games goes against him

 

[The Hon Sec]

Walcott may have had more than one opposition player around him at times but on the occasions when he received the ball with only his full back in front of him he still didnt take him on. If he doesnt know when to attack the space behind the defence with his pace then his place in the side is open to question. Rooney seems to get very frustrated by him and Lennon is the more positive player.

 

[arfer guinness]

Theo has the advantage over Lennon because of playing against the best in the world ie. in the Champions League. On current form not a lot between them, but on potential to win a match, Lennon should get a cushion to sit on because those benches can be hard.

 

[JonathanLivingstonSeagull]

surprised no-one has mentioned an important fact

with the arrival of wunderkids like ronaldo (brazil) and messi and rooney, people forget that some players become good, then great, at a slower pace.

he is still the youngest player in the squad!

wait till he is 23-27 before you start calling him shit! i expect you won't have cause anymore, there is a good chance you'll be looking at a f***ing storming player

as for the question of now... Lennon has looked lively as f*** and mature. i'd agree with the consensus of walcott as a very potent sub. at the moment he can still be somewhat contained by the best defenders for the most of a match. hit them with his raw pace on 65 minutes.

 

[Chesney Christ]

Check out this footage below.....can this really be the same player?

(Worth noting for the single most tedious after-match interview EVER)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AALrpPtO9Ug&feature=PlayList&p=94A15C4F90CD7F2E&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=3

 

[The Wizard]

Check out this footage below.....can this really be the same player?

(Worth noting for the single most tedious after-match interview EVER)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AALrpPtO9Ug&feature=PlayList&p=94A15C4F90CD7F2E&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=3

Upfront??

 

[beorhthelm]

Check out this footage below.....can this really be the same player?

yes. which just goes to show if you are going to take Walcott it should be as a striker and play him in the Owen mode. but with the focus around Rooney i dont think this is going to happen.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Theo Walcott is wasted on the wing, he's not a good enough crosser of a ball to make that position work for him. And when Wenger realised this about Henry, he played up front and he became the best striker in the world, at the time. He needs to play Theo up front and stop all this winger nonsense.

As for the England wingers debate, my only reason for supporting SWP is that he scores more goals than the others. He gets into the right positions and he chips in, that is worth considering when it comes to a tournament squad. I'd rather have Lennon, don't get me wrong, but I think the only reason SWP was in 30 is because he's more likely to score you a goal than the others. Theo's hattrick in Croatia aside, he hasn't scored for England.

 

[throbinson]

Not good enough for top flight football, wengar knows this and i reckon thats why he dont play every week for aresnal

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Not good enough for top flight football, wengar knows this and i reckon thats why he dont play every week for aresnal

Ummmm he does play every wee. He wasn't originally as he had a busted shoulder. His firm fir arsenal was very good the last 5 or so games.

How anyone can think swp is more of a threat is beyond me! he has lost his pace, trickery and finish which was his whole point!

If I was a left back and had Lennon running at me for 70mins, and then
had theo come on I would probably cry. He has to go. Yesterday was not his best as he wasn't allowed to run at players like he would have wanted. Johnson never overlapped and he was
forced to cut in every time which makes NO winger looked good. Lennon did NOTHING yesterday and lost control of the ball far more but has got nowhere near the focus.

Theo will have a moment in the WC where we are thankful Capello
took him, probably a Liverpool moment where we have to break out of attack against tired legs.