Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger delighted to see Theo Walcott return to the Gunners squad following his abdominal injury.
Arsenal winger Theo Walcott is ready to return to action after surgery on his abdominal injury, and will feature in the Gunners squad to face Southampton.
Walcott has been out of action since September with the unusual injury, and missed England’s four international fixtures since – crucial World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland, as well as the two friendly matches against Chile and Germany.
His ability to stretch play with his pace would certainly have been useful for England and Arsenal, who can become predictable with their trio of midfielders behind the solo striker, playing narrowly in a congested zone.
Walcott makes teams sit deeper due to a fear of him running in beyond their back line, and as a result the 24 year-old creates space between opposition defence and midfield for attacking midfielders such as Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla to play in.
It was an attribute that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expanded upon in his press conference.
“Of course you miss a player like Theo Walcott,” said the Gunners boss, as quoted by ITV Football.
“Strikers who get behind the defenders is a very important quality and Theo [Walcott] has that quality.
“Theo had a good start to the season, he scored goals, he provided chances and had assists.
“He can always give you a different option in the game and that is of course vital.”
“You always want to have a perfect balance [in attack], and if you look at our results our balance was not too bad, but Theo has different qualities to other players and I am very pleased that he is back.”
COMMENTS