Theo Walcott announced his retirement from professional football, probably prompting a few wags to offer some snark: “really? Thought he’d done that ages ago.” While it’s true that his career listed to the side before fading away, leaving for Everton before re-joining Southampton, there was quite a footballer there, and it’s not entirely his fault that his career feels like it fell short of the massive expectations placed upon him. Each year felt like the one before—a few slaloming runs, maybe an exquisite goal, and “this will be the year Theo breaks through.” It never quite came together for him, and he’ll fall quite short of being a legend, but he’s earned Gooner status, and that’s an honour.
It isn’t easy when you remind fans, even in superficial ways, of a club legend. With his electric pace, Walcott drew early and unfair comparisons to Thierry Henry. Taking the #14 the year after Henry left probably didn’t do much to tamp down those expectations. Once you find yourself set on that kind of path, anything that falls short is bound to feel like failure. No matter how fast Theo could run, he never could outrun this fate.
There will always be the magical, tantalising moments. 26 February 27: sluicing through the Chelsea defense and flashing it past the onrushing Čech. Quite a goal to score as your first-ever for the club, eh? 29 October 2011: the infamous he’s-down-no-he’s-back-up and shooook goal, bamboozling Cole, Mikel, Ivanovic, and Terry. 29 November 2012: He’s Down; No, He’s Not: the Sequel this time, against Newcastle. When you score 108 goals for a club, there’s bound to be a few crackers. Still, one can’t help but wonder how many he might have scored had he played for a counter-attacking side that would have given him more opportunities to make use of that blinding pace. Even with the ball at his feet, he was, like Henry, seemingly faster than any of his pursuers. Strangely enough, only a few of his goals came from counter-attacks, belying his reputation as a one-dimensional pace-merchant. Re-watch all of his goals here if you like:
At his best, he was deft with or without the ball, showing intelligent movement, incisive finishing, a willingness to shrug off defenders…had he shown all of this all of the time, he may have had a chance at meeting those impossible expectations. However, he just never seemed to possess that ruthlessness, that hunger, that arrogance that impel a player to greatness. Was he too nice? Perhaps. Without that certain je ne sais quoi, he was only ever going to to end up somewhere on the “pretty good” level. I don’t mean that as a back-handed compliment, for as much as it sounds like one. Had he performed as he had for some other clubs, freed of the comparisons to Henry, his career might be seen in a better light.
It seemed like Walcott was just coming into his own, playing with more freedom and confidence, when Fate struck that cruel blow, rupturing his ACL in 2014. This moment, perhaps ironically, may have sealed Walcott’s status as a Gooner. Although it robbed him of almost two prime years, he gave us an iconic image for the ages: being stretchered off past baying Spurs fans, he smiled cheekily and signaled to them the score: 2-0. The volley of coins and other missiles they hurled down apparently concussed one of the ambulance workers (who happened to be a Spurs fan himself).
Cruelly, he missed the 2014 World Cup but returned to action ten months later. At long last, he seemed to abandon his hope to play through the middle and accept that he was most-effective on the wing. From there, he could use what pace he still had to find space, not just behind high lines, but between the lines, linking up well with Giroud, Alexis, and Özil. Had he not suffered that injury, one that did seem to deprive him of that gear few other players had.
Nonetheless, although he never reached the summit of his own talents, never mind the Sisyphean expectations placed upon him. In the end, I hope we can remember him for all that he did do rather than all the things we imagined or insisted he should have done.
Cheers, Theo. Thanks for the memories!
The most siginifcant achievement of Theo’s rather mixed footballing career was the fact that he was the very first Youtube sensation…since that point anyone and everyone has a highlight video that rarely, if ever, provides the viewer with a balanced perspective of what might be on offer if your club acquired the player in question…nowadays the “unibrow”, Anthony Davis of the Lakers, has another unflattering nickname “street clothes”, which would have likewise been a rather befitting moniker for our former speed merchant…one has to wonder what might have been if he could have better handled the rigours of his chosen profession
I don’t know anything about him being the very first youtube sensation, that seems very very unlikely to say the least. we all know that youtube highlight reels can make anyone look amazing. I bet I could find a Yaya Sanogo or a Gervinho montage that makes them like ballon d’or winners. I don’t know anything about Anthony Davis or what he has to do with Walcott.
This piece hits the target: talented but inconsistent, saddled with unrealistic expectations, maybe a victim to his own choices (asking for or accepting the No14? no bueno). A class act and someone who is a gooner much more than the aformentioned snakes ever will be even if they were superior players.
you seem to have a rather unflattering habit of providing your two cents worth before ever doing your due diligence…youtube was launched in February, 2005, the same year Walcott became the youngest-ever player to start for Southampton…in the months leading up to his Arsenal signing, in January, 2006, there emerged a video which chronicled his more youthful footballing exploits, which garnered considerable attention…thusly, he was the first Arsenal-based youtube sensation…as for the Anthony Davis comparison, I was simply speaking to how his nickname “street clothes” would have been rather apropos fpr the oft-injured Walcott…fairly rudimentary analogy for anyone who cared more about uderstanding the implied connection than simply providing a nonsensical chirpy retort
I’ll resist the urge to comment on any unflattering habits but I will point out two things:
1. You’ve changed your position from calling him “the very first Youtube sensation” to calling him “the first Arsenal-based youtube sensation”. That’s like moving your boats during a game of Battleship.
2. if anything the video confirms what Jon is writing about in the post, when he talks about inflated expectations. I highly doubt Walcott produced the video, we shouldn’t hold him responsible for it. If you can show that he DID produce the video or pay for it or whatever, then you have a case to make.
as for Anthony Davis, that seems like an unnecessary tangent. why not just slate Walcott directly instead of inserting a player from another sport? Besides that, Walcott was hardly “oft injured”. A bit of “due diligence” shows that he missed 28 matches in 12 years, apart from the ACL tear that saw him miss 85. In other words, apart from that one injury, he missed on average 2.3 matches per season. Actually, all of the matches he missed came AFTER the ACL, they might have been related to the ACL. It’s unfair to call him oft injured. How’s that for due diligence?
firstly, this is an Arsenal blog so I didn’t feel it was necessary to spell everything out for you, like I had to in my follow-up
secondly, according to transfermarkt, he missed 125 games between 2008-2017 for our club and his country…instead you simply fluffed up your narrative with his relatively “clean” Everton injury history…not surprised whatosever that you would choose that course of action considering your club-related skewed perspective…mic drop much
oh there’s a page TWO at transfermarkt. dang, here I thought I had you dead to rights. Okay, so he was oft injured. I apologise. However I’m not referring at all to his time at Everton whatsoever.
Your reply doesn’t do anything to address the Anthony Davis tangent even if he is a long-distance Gooner, and you kinda glossed over your goalpost moving description of the youtube video. Maybe we should just call it a draw.
I didn’t gloss over anything and/or move any goalposts, unless you know of another former player, prior to Walcott, who had created a frenzy of youtube-related activity before actually arriving on the scene…as for the whole Davis/Walcott analogy, the only tangible connection is the former’s injury-inspired handle, but since I didn’t come up with the nickname in question I felt it best to come correct, instead of simply attaching the “street clothes” moniker to Walcott with no real world context
Copy-paste time:
you’ve changed your position from calling him “the very first Youtube sensation” to calling him “the first Arsenal-based youtube sensation”.
That’s textbook moving of goalposts. I admitted that I was wrong. I apologised. It’s not a sign of weakness to do so. I’ve noticed this tendency in your comments. You don’t ever back down, that’s a good thing in many ways, but you end up looking like a mule (keeping it PG because I’ve already gotten a slap on the wrist from the constable) when you refuse to concede even an inch. Just admit that you shifted your position to make it easier to defend.
classic pot calling the kettle black scenario…I get how an overtly thirsty troller might misconstrue my comments, as I didn’t dot and cross all my I’s and T’s, and for that I truly apologize, but considering the matter at hand it seemed unnecessary…of course, unless you actually believe that I totally forgot that Ronaldinho ever even existed…surely that basement has a door at the top of the stairs lol
you two make sure you play nice. Disagree all you want but keep the personal jibes to a minimum.
He has had an extremely good career. Over 500 games, all at top level. No carping. He retires with more honours, goals and appearances than the majority of his peers. Always a nice bloke. I think that makes him a bit special in a world of immense egos.
Thanks for the memories, Theo and the best of luck in your coaching career if you so choose.
he could have been something special, always overlooked because of Fabregas and van Persie. He at least showed some professionalism and dedication even if he never did reach the same heights they did. Maybe this is small club mentality of me but I’ll take that over how those more talented ballers treated the fans any day of the week.
Nice words, Jon. Theo has been a consummate professional, and is a smashing young man. He always wore the shirt with great commitment and brought honour to our club. In full flight he was a joy to watch. May God bless him in the years to come.
well-said, Stuart. He may not have filled Henry’s shoes but he always gave his best and never courted controversy. I’d happily welcome back to the club in a coaching role of some kind.