Why Theo Walcott Shouldn't Play Up Top

"This isn't the 100 meters, but 90 minutes"

     Over the years, Arsene Wenger has played Theo out on the wing, and it's safe to say that Walcott has done well, but perhaps hasn't reached his full potential. You could blame his injury problems for that, but some say it's because he hasn't been played up top.

     Arsene Wenger made Henry into a striker, after being a winger for the majority of his career. Theo started as a striker at Southampton, but Arsene forced him into learning his trade on the wing. Now, many are waiting for Wenger to change Theo back.

     Theo recently said this regarding his desire to play through the middle:

     "I was signed as a striker - I want to play up front. I think I have done my trade out on the wing.

     I think a lot of people forget I'm not a winger. I see myself as a striker, but if I get played up front it will take me a few games to get used to playing there again because I haven't played there for about five years.

     I think I have done a fairly good job on the wing for Arsenal. For this team I will play anywhere, but hopefully the fans will start seeing me up front a bit more. 

     I've been practicing my finishing after training. This season, 15-20 is my target.

     I know I'm not going to play every single game. I always work at a high intensity so I'm not going to be able to do every single game.

     The boss will know that as well. Hopefully I will be given a bit more of a free role as well. I'm intrigued to see what happens."

     As I listen to the reasons why fans want Theo to play up top, I notice they're all the same. His pace, and his finishing. It seems the majority want Theo to sit on the defender's shoulder, and wait for Cesc/Ramsey/Nasri/Jack to play a little ball through or over the top for Theo to run onto and finish.
   
     The truth is, the opposing managers aren't dumb. They'll know about Theo's pace, and won't play a high line, or even a "medium" line. Instead, they'll sit back, and put men behind the ball.

     Now do me a favor and think back to the times that a side did this against us. Bolton away, Blackburn at home, Sunderland at home, City at home. You look at these matches and notice that they all have two things in common: the sides played deep in their own half, put men behind the ball, and we didn't get the result we wanted against them.

     Now look at those matches in contrast to others, such as United at home, Chelsea at home, Barcelona at home. These sides are far better than the ones in the previous paragraph, and we beat them. These matches have things in common as well: we got the result we wanted, and the sides we played didn't sit back in their half. We were able to score in those matches, and played better overall in those matches in contrast to the ones in the previous paragraph.

     So all I'm trying to say is, by playing Walcott up top, it will force teams back into their own half, which is when we look two-dimensional and have trouble scoring, and play poorly. PERHAPS, playing Theo up top could work against us!

     But that isn't the only reason why I'd rather Theo not play centrally.

The fastest footballer in the world?

     When Theo starts, he tends to start very strongly. If not right from the first whistle, then usually after ten or fifteen minutes he will bombard the opposing defense with pressure. After his little raid, he will almost disappear from the game. You don't see him dribbling straight at the defenders, or having shots.
As a striker, you can't disappear from a match. It's okay to do so for around ten minutes, I suppose, but no more than that. A striker is the player that has to be on his game and on his toes all the time, in order to make the run that he either finishes, or one that creates space for a teammate to have a shot and score.
     That is part of the reason why Barcelona and Messi are so good. If you watch them, the amount of runs the players make around the man with the ball is astounding. They take the defender away, and this is part of the reason why Messi is so good. Villa will make a diagonal run past Messi, which will make the defender take a slight step towards Villa. That's all Messi needs though, and unless watched closely, it simply looks like Messi worked his magic!

     I just don't think Theo is capable of those types of runs just yet. Theo hasn't sufficiently developed in his awareness and tactical knowledge of the game to do so. But, he has improved. Theo has often been criticized with the cliche: "This is 90 minutes, not the 100 meters". It was a fair point years ago, but this past season he has shown how much he has developed in those areas.

     And while Theo played up top for Southampton, he hasn't done so for us on a consistent basis, which would stop Theo from maturing in that position. When you play in a squad like Arsenal, with the off the ball movement of Wenger's philosophy, and sometimes "total football" approach, it's an entire different position to your standard 4-4-2 at Southampton. It would take Theo a fair bit of time to learn how to play there, and based on what I have seen of him, I'm not sure he could learn the position well enough.

     On top of the reasons listed above, Theo isn't exactly built to play in the middle. He isn't the biggest bloke; not tall, nor is he as strong as RvP, who can deal with the likes of Samba and Vidic effectively. I fear that Theo would get pushed around a little too much. A bit of aggressiveness and physicality is needed up top, especially in the system we play. Theo would be alone in the center, and would have to hold the ball up, as well as distribute it well enough. He's just not big enough yet for me, his passing isn't good enough as of now for the center, and he isn't aggressive enough. His physical stature suits the wing more so than the center.

Darren Bent: The type of striker necessary for Theo to play up top.

     Lastly, like I previously said in a post regarding center backs playing as defensive midfielders, it isn't easy going from the wide areas to playing in the center. Instead of having a panoramic view of the match like Theo does now, he would have to worry about pressure coming in from all sides. I don't think he is ready to deal with this yet, either.

     Let it also be understood that this is all being said if Arsene Wenger continues with his 4-2-3-1 formation. If Wenger switches to the standard 4-4-2 which many fans are yearning for, I do think Theo could play up top, because he would have a partner. Of course, his partner would have to be more physical and bigger than Theo, and Theo would sit behind the main striker, feeding of him, playing one-two's to set him free.

     But I doubt the day of a 4-4-2 under Arsene Wenger with this squad will come any time soon. We know Wenger is a stubborn man, but perhaps in those crunch games against lesser sides, we will switch to a 4-4-2, and Theo can get his chance.

     That's all for me on the matter. Theo is a good winger, but isn't suited for the center, at least not yet. He should continue with his work on the wing, and make it his own.

      Let me know what you all think, I'd love to hear differing opinions. I also love an argument, but an argument with some dignity and respect of course!
     Drop your thoughts below with a comment, and to those unaware, you can simply choose the "Anonymous" option if you don't already have a Google account to comment.
     Ta.