To Strike or not to Strike......

When you look at him,you most probably will ask yourself,why is he a footballer?He probably would have had a better chance as a model.I once heard a girl describing him as the epitome of the word handsome.And even as a man i actually agree he is very good looking and most of the time feel sorry for his girlfriend.Its one thing to have to have a handsome man as your boyfriend but to have a man so handsome that he is hotter than his girlfriend........not good...........At this point your probably wondering who am talking about but i will try not to keep you waiting for too long.

In 2004 Theo John Walcott became the youngest person to play for Southampton  reserve team at 15 years  175 days against Watford when he came of the bench.He was described as a striker and had incredible pace..Walcott made his full first team debut away to Leeds United on 18 October 2005, scoring his first senior goal in the same game. He scored again away at Millwall four days later, and yet again in his full home debut against Stoke City the following Saturday....At this point,you will have to say,he definitely was destined for great things.Great things did come as on january 20th 2006,arsenal signed young Walcott for 5million pounds rising to a possible 12 million depending on appearances and bla bla bla(just Google it)...The story today is after a good run with Arsenal,Walcott is coming to his last year of his contract with Arsenal and with contract negotiations stalling he has come out to say,it is not about money but he wants to be the next Theirry Henry..he wants to play down the middle,he wants to strike(main striker).......

There are certain characteristics or attributes that make up a player,the player is gifted with natural talent(Messi,Zidane,Okocha),the exploitation of a certain skill through nothing but constant training and hard work(Milner,Roy Keane),luck(Joey Barton,Titus bramble),self confidence(Balloteli-even if he is wrong) and of course it must be written in the stars(destiny).These attributes complete a player but even with such attributes,a player must have what is called today as a footballing brain.Walcott has been described as an athlete with football boots on,Chris waddle,former football and now a commentator for ESPN once described Walcott as all speed and no brain.And its difficult to see how he wants to command a role that has been held by players that have been described with nothing less than the word greatness.

Thierry Henry-sublime pace,good touch and control,wonderful shooting ability and a footballing brain.With age,pace has reduced but other attributes still makes him a great player as he showed with his loan spell at Arsenal.

Dennis Bergkamp-not known for pace but majestic touch of the ball,dribbling skills,great awareness and ofcourse a footballing brain.... couldn't take away anything from him till he retired....he was just afraid of flying...

Nwankwo Kanu(many say hes over 50)never had pace but had a 100% footballing brain just ask the Chelsea fans about a particular hatrick.

Ian Wright......i can go on and on but don't want to be mistaken for a Gooner but lets just say Thierry Henry was a clone of Ian Wright.

Walcott does have pace,and the occasional sublime finish but hes football brain is definitely questioned.Then again you have to ask yourself,with no brains how did he come up with moments like his goal against Chelsea in in the Carling cup final,feburary 2007.Hes hatrick against Croatia for England, September 2008.And hes brace in the 5-2 win against Tottenham in the EPL season 2011/2012.....These moments suggests he does have something in his locker but it also shows inconsistency,something that separates a good striker from a great one.he is just consistently handsome..

If he is made a striker..
It will suggest player power,where he has demanded to play a particular position or leave the club,forcing the club to give him what he wants but is he a player arsenal are afraid of loosing?Then again all he has to do is score.Put him on the shoulder of the last defender and exploit that pace and occasional finish.He cant be worse than Olivier Giroud or Gervinho.

If he is not made a striker..
We might continue to see what we are already used to...a player said to have potential but slowly playing his career into and uncertain future(even if hes an England international)....There is only one man(Mr Wenger) that can determine where he plays and so far i don't think he shares Walcotts ideology..

In more words to come....Sabi Boi