Nov
22
2006

Arsenal need Walcott in Porto

Fantastic comeback by Arsenal last night - they went down to a good goal, but rallied well in the second half and put up enough pressure in the last 15 minutes to squeeze in two goals.

Credit for Arsenal’s win should go to all players, not just Theo Walcott.

But having said that, Arsenal will be without Henry in the final group game, a game they need to win. You can’t just expect Arsenal to come back from the dead again, - they’ll need to score first in that game, and that means having your best attacking threat in the starting lineup.

Henry won’t be there, so it has to be Walcott.

One thing I’d like to see though is Walcott being asked to play down the middle instead of out wide - although if Wenger adopts a 4-5-1 against Porto Walcott will be on the wings, and might not even start. Comes down to what Wenger has planned for Arsenal, but I think going there with your best players in the starting 11 and giving them the full 90 minutes to stamp their authority on the match has to be the way forward.

Sometimes it doesn’t work (United losing to Celtic), but I really doubt that Arsenal will have a better chance of winning if they don’t give Walcott a prominent role against Porto.

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Discussion - 3 Responses

  1. Only a draw is required in Oporto.

  2. Actually, you’re right.

    If Arsenal draw and CSKA win, we have all 3 teams on equal points.

    All teams have an equal number of points from the games played between them (5).

    After that it goes to goal-difference, and Arsenal will have best gd of the lot (Arsenal +1, Porto 0 and CSKA -1).

  3. If Arsenal draw in Porto by at least 2-2 or 3-3, then Arsenal and Porto will go through, as I doubt that Cska Moscow beat Hambourg away by at least 0-3.
    I thing for now on, Walcott is much deadly while coming from the bench. He could get exhausted if he had started the game, as he is not really a match fit at the moment. He needs regular football before he can make 90 minutes of football under heavy pression. I suggest that AW bings him on early second half.

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