Like so many English teenage prodigies pounced upon by a media desperate to find the country’s saviour, Theo Walcott’s career has been a long and ultimately frustrating battle against unfair expectations and the vague disappointment of a nation. He really can’t be blamed that things didn’t quite turn out as planned. When so poorly protected from the glare of the media spotlight, every 16-year-old footballer is destined to spend their career attempting, but failing, to escape a first impression that came heavily loaded with hope; hope of an English superstar and an England World Cup.
But Walcott’s scenario differs from that of Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, or even Francis Jeffers (remember him?) because Everton’s new recruit rarely got the chance to prove himself in his actual position. Just as Britain’s emotional response to the sight of Theo Walcott became locked in that first feeling of doomed hope, so too was the 28-year-old’s position on the pitch locked down. Having been catapulted far too quickly into the first team at Southampton the rawness of Walcott’s talent made him better suited to the right wing than up-front – and that’s where he’s stayed ever since, never given the chance to develop his striker skills in the under-21s.
“For me, personally, I’m a striker,” he told the press in 2010. “Hopefully in the next couple of years you’ll see me up front.” But we didn’t, despite Walcott’s persistent attempts to get game-time in his favoured role: “It’s about time I played up front,” and “I’m desperate for it,” he said in 2012; “I just love playing up front,” in 2013; and finally, with increasing angst, “I know everyone would like to see me up front,” in 2015.
Luckily he was finally given that chance at the beginning of the 2015/16 season and made a good impression, prompting Thierry Henry to remark that Walcott “has emerged as that striker” Arsenal had been searching for. But it wasn’t long before Olivier Giroud got back in the side, then Alexis Sanchez moved up top, before finally Alexandre Lacazette arrived last summer to close the door on Walcott’s dream.
Or so it seemed. Walcott completed a £20 million move to Everton on Wednesday evening, ending a 12-year stay in North London, and the signs suggest Sam Allardyce will use him as a centre-forward.
Arsene Wenger’s style of football has never lent itself to a quick finisher leading the line, something Lacazette has found out all this season. Like Walcott when he plays in the most advanced role, Lacazette continually makes intelligent runs on the shoulder of the last defender but is rarely given the ball by team-mates more intent on a patient possession approach. And what separates Arsenal from most of the other possession-centric teams in the Premier League is they don’t press high up the pitch, meaning a Walcott type doesn’t even get chances on the counter-counter – when the ball is won high up the pitch and suddenly there is space to charge into (Liverpool’s speciality under Jurgen Klopp, for example).
Everton under Sam Allardyce are the exact opposite. Despite heavy criticism for the Toffees’ dreadful attacking record under his tutelage (they’ve managed just four shots on target in the last five league games) Big Sam bizarrely said his team should be “a little more boring” after the defeat to Spurs at the weekend. This suggests Allardyce is ready to double down on his long-ball tactics, which favours the use of a quick player up-front.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s continued selection is a good indication of Walcott’s likely role. Everton persistently look to fire long passes into the channels for the speedy Calvert-Lewin to chase and win dead balls, but the young Evertonian has failed to show a lethal touch in the final third. Walcott’s finishing, and added maturity, make him a good like-for-like replacement. Cenk Tosuc’s arrival perhaps complicates things, but he is much more likely to be used in conjunction with Walcott rather than alone.
Walcott has waited a very long time for the opportunity to play as a striker, but at an Everton side keen to counter-attack he should finally be given a chance. As Wenger said in August 2016: “he has all the ingredients to be a great striker because of the quality of his runs.” Now is the moment to fulfil that prophesy.
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