Theo Walcott's 10 Best Goals for Arsenal

It said something about Theo Walcott's ability as a player that ahead of the 2010 Champions League quarterfinal second leg with Barcelona, Blaugrana manager Pep Guardiola said he was "wary" of the speed from the winger of Jamaican descent. 

Walcott had scored a goal in the first leg, helping Arsenal battle back to a 2-2 draw at the Emirates and had put Barcelona under pressure on multiple occasions.

This is a man, after all, reported to have run the 100 meters in 10.37 seconds.

Yet for all Walcott's pace, he has always run into criticism for his lack to make himself a more versatile threat. Many said he'd peaked after his hat trick against Croatia during England's World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign.

He could wreak havoc when he had space, but cut him off and you alleviated his threat altogether.

That does tend to hold true at times, when Walcott shows a maddening propensity to drift out of games, but the 23-year-old has made concerted improvements as a footballer.

His first touch is far better; his crossing is more precise. And one need only look at his finishing against Arsenal's last two opponents (Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers) to see that he is a multi-dimensional threat.

Speaking of that, here are 10 of Theo's best goals with Arsenal.

Arsenal vs. Barcelona, 2010

Coming on as a substitute in a match, the Gunners trailed 2-0 thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace. Walcott wasted little time in making his impact known.

Champions League football is known for being a more open game, and Walcott took full advantage. He used his pace to get in behind the plodding Barcelona defense and scored the first goal before Cesc Fabregas' penalty.

Arsenal vs. Chelsea, 2007

If you're going to score your first goal for Arsenal, it might as well be in the Carling Cup final.

Walcott made no mistake with his turn or finish, receiving an inch-perfect Abou Diaby pass and then making Chelsea pay for their poor clearance (which he had also recovered).

Arsenal vs. Chelsea, 2011

The choreography would seem an apt metaphor for his Arsenal career.

Walcott's had his ability bludgeoned on a near-incessant basis, but he has always kept fighting. He has never looked to start anew elsewhere.

The goal against Chelsea, in what was one of Arsenal's more memorable matches this season, was of the top-drawer variety.

Arsenal vs. Udinese, 2011

The goals he scored over the two-leg tie with Udinese smacked of symmetry. One came from the right; the other from the left.

While they weren't the most aesthetically-superior of goals, they were surely two of the most important where Arsenal's season was concerned.

The Gunners saw Udinese off with a 3-1 aggregate over the two-leg playoff and secured Champions League football for yet another season. They had Walcott to thank.

Arsenal vs. Blackpool, 2010

There was no one in finer form during the first few weeks of the 2010-11 Barclays Premier League season than Theo Walcott.

His hat trick against Blackpool, earned during a sun-drenched afternoon at the Emirates, seemed to verify something Gunners fans had been hoping for for years.

Here was the season Walcott would finally make good on his potential.

Unfortunately, a nasty rolled ankle during England duty weeks later would scupper those wishes.

Arsenal vs. Tottenham, 2012

It may just be the novelty factor to this video (props to the cameraman for his quick thinking in securing a replay that should stand the test of copyright infringement), but Walcott's goal against Tottenham meant something very important.

Like his strike against Chelsea, he has scored on some of Arsenal's biggest occasions this season: the Champions League playoff against Udinese, the match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and this North London derby in late February.

Arsenal vs. Villarreal, 2009

Forgive the less-than-stellar quality to the video, but this has always been one of my favorite Theo Walcott goals.

It was a genuinely inspirational finish, one that Carlos Vela would certainly applaud, but it marked something within Walcott that we often discredit.

For all the criticism he receives, he still shows a remarkable knack for getting goals. And with these kinds of finishes, you might just call it "innate."

Arsenal vs. Partizan Belgrade, 2010

Speaking of instinctive finishes, Walcott needed no second thought as to where he was going to send his volley.

With the game tied at 1-1 in the Champions League group stages, Walcott sent the Gunners ahead with this sublime bit of personal skill.

Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, 2012

The assist from Alex Song was top-drawer, sublime, sensational. Insert your favorite grandiose adjective; that's what it was. It demanded a finish of equal repute.

Which is exactly what it got.

Theo Walcott's first touch was of the deadening variety we once saw from Dennis Bergkamp on such a frequent basis; then, his finish was eerily reminiscent of some of the Arsenal greats.

It was cool, it was collected, it was confident.

Arsenal vs. Liverpool, 2008

It wasn't a goal, but you need only look at Adebayor's "celebration" to know who was most responsible for Arsenal edging a foot into the 2008 Champions League semifinals, if only for an instant. (Fernando Torres would see to that just minutes later.)

Lucas Leiva probably should have fouled him, but he didn't, and Walcott finished off one of the most scintillating runs I've ever seen.

For a 19-year-old to show that kind of presence—to not lose his cool once he'd made his way into the penalty area despite lungs that must have been fit to burst after the effort they'd just financed—was absolutely phenomenal.

It was one of the most heartbreaking games I'd ever witnessed, when Liverpool went on to win. Arsenal deserved this one after that Walcott production.