Ian Wright has come out stating that Walcott should be given his chance at playing up front. The ex Arsenal legend has also urged the club to resolve the winger’s contract dispute before another star name is allowed to leave the club. Walcott scored twice against Coventry but Wenger still insists that the player will ‘have to be patient’ before given the chance to play upfront.
Walcott stated earlier this week that he would love to follow in Thierry Henry’s footsteps and emerge from the flank to become a world class striker. Wright has agreed with Walcott’s wishes to emulate Henry’s career stating:
“I love Theo and have been saying for a long time that he should be playing as a striker,” Wright told ESPN. “Clearly he is not the finished article and could do with some more work from the Arsenal coaches, but Theo has all the ingredients to be a top striker.
“Wenger has been saying for a long time that he sees Theo developing into a striker, so give the guy a chance to prove he can do it. If it doesn’t work, then fair enough, but give it has to be worth a try.”
“My hope is the fans get Theo’s contract situation sorted and then he can get on with showing what he can do on the field,” Wright said. “There are so many good things about this guy, but people always tend to focus on the negatives.
Wright also defended Walcott’s reputation as an Arsenal player and asked for the Arsenal faithful to remain patient with the winger.
“The trouble for me is that people believe he should be doing more than he does every week and that expectation around him isn’t all his own fault. There he was at 16, never played for Arsenal in the Premier League and he was thrown into the England World Cup squad in 2006. It was stupid. Ever since, people want him to win games on his own every week and nothing he does is good enough.
“I hear so many people slagging off Premier League footballers for being bad role models, but Theo is a great asset to our game. He is a solid young man, articulate and never gets himself into trouble on or off the pitch. What more could you want from a guy in a high profile position? So I hope the Arsenal fans give him a bit of a break instead of getting on his back.”
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