Statistical Review of Theo Walcott's and Gareth Bale's Performances Last Season

Since 1996, Arsenal fans have always celebrated St. Totteringham's Day, which is that joyous day when Tottenham can't go above the Gunners in the Premier League, but the pendulum has swung both sides in recent encounters.

While Arsene Wenger remained steadfast in his role as Arsenal's manager, their North London rivals have used a plethora of managers with the latest recruit being Andre Villas-Boas who returned to Premier League football after a disappointing spell with Chelsea.

The games between both clubs are always very intense, and last season was no different.

In the North London derby that took place in November 2012, an early Spurs goal was cancelled out by a Per Mertesacker equalizer. Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla extended Arsenal's lead, before Gareth Bale scored a consolation goal to reduce the deficit. Right at the death, Theo Walcott scored the match clincher that was the icing on a well-baked cake. In the return fixture in March 2013, two quickfire goals from Aaron Lennon and Bale were enough to seal victory as Mertesacker's headed effort was nothing more than a consolation.

Shortly after the Tottenham victory, AVB was quick to blow his trumpet on how Arsenal was in a downward spiral. The Gunners picked themselves up from the precarious situation of being seven points below Tottenham, and they went on a spirited run that saw them amass 26 points from a possible 30. Unfortunately, while Arsenal displayed the kind of form that was worthy of champions at the tail end of the season, the Gunners only had a fourth place finish show for their efforts.

With Robin van Persie departing the Emirates for greener pastures, Arsenal needed some players to step up their games and while Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski should be commended for their performances in the 2012/13 season, Theo Walcott was the star that shone the brightest. On the other end of North London, it was undoubtedly the Gareth Bale show as he was fresh from winning the PFA Player of the Year Award in the 2011/12 campaign.

Both players plied their trades on the wings, and there were also periods when their roles were changed, with Walcott getting a brief stint as a center forward, while Bale had some game time on the right wing as well as the hole behind the forward line. Bale arguably matured so well, became Tottenham's and his influence grew in the Tottenham squad while Walcott went from strength to strength, fighting his personal demons, his protracted contract saga and his fair share of critics.

However, both players were outstanding for their teams last season, and I'm going to focus on these stats juxtaposing between Tottenham's messiah and Arsenal's own version of the Flash. All stats were provided by Who Scored, Index Football, EPL Index and 101 Great Goals.

STAT	Gareth Bale	Theo Walcott
Appearances (Subs)	41 (0)	27 (10)
Goals Scored (All competitions)	24	21
Goals Scored (Premier League)	21	14
Overall shots (Shots per Game)	165 (4.7)	87 (2.4)
Shot to Goal Conversion %	15.8	22.6
Assists (All competitions)	8	15
Assists (Premier League)	4	10
Total Passes (Key Passes)	1131 (75)	531 (38)
Pass Completion %	78.4	83.1
Headers (Won/Attempted)	57/139	7/24
Total Crosses (Accurate Crosses)	272 (62)	173 (29)

Interesting isn't it?

In as much as Gareth Bale was regarded as the next best thing in the Premier League, these stats clearly show that Theo Walcott certainly gives him a run for his money, but you wouldn't hear people singing Walcott's songs. Except when we all wanted him to sign da ting.

As long as Bale was fit, he was the first name you would expect to see on the Spurs team sheet, but there was a period when Walcott was frozen out of the squad by Arsene Wenger after he rejected the initial £75,000 per week deal Arsenal offered him early in the season.

Bale scored 24 goals in 41 games, while Walcott scored a career-best 21 goals in 37 games coming off the bench in 10 of those matches. Even if Bale managed to shoot more often than Walcott in each game, the Englishman had a better conversion ratio than his Welsh counterpart.

Moving over to passes, Walcott was certainly going to have an edge over Bale as he's widely renowned as a selfless player unlike Bale, who is also a team player, but takes the selfish approach. This ends up having devastating effects like his goal against Norwich for instance. Notwithstanding, Bale's pass completion percentage is not far off from Walcott but the Englishman had 10 assists in the Premier League alone in contrast to Bale's eight assists in all competitions.

In the air, there is no comparison between both players as Walcott's hobbit-like frame would certainly not give him any edge—that's why I was a bit puzzled when he was wailing to get a stint as a center forward. One of the basic requirements for a center forward is some aerial prowess but Walcott has been found wanting in this category.

There are other football attributes both players possess and I'll assess them using my own unbiased judgment, as I've had the opportunity to watch them week-in week-out in the Premier League and in their European outings as well. These ratings will be done on a scale of 1-10.

ATTRIBUTE	Gareth Bale	Theo Walcott
Set Piece Taking	9	7
Crossing	9	6
Dribbling	8	7
Technique	8	8
Flair	8	8
Pace	8	∞
First Touch	8	9
Composure in front of goal	8	9
Creativity	7	8

Many may dispute these set of stats because they aren't in sites like Who Scored, Sqwakwa, Index Football and EPL Index but I tried my best to be as unbiased as possible even if I'm a die-hard Arsenal fan.

When it comes to dead ball situations, crossing and dribbling, Bale is better than Walcott, but the Englishman's composure in front of goal has drastically improved and his first touch is legendary. There's certainly no point in trying to make a case for Bale over Walcott when it comes to pace. Bale may be Tottenham's Superman, but he can't be as fast as Arsenal's own Flash.

Bale has been the main player for Tottenham last season, I agree. I also agree that Walcott is a bit of an unsung hero compared to Bale. However, and I’m just shooting in the dark here, I think Bale has been favored by the media because he tends to score more important goals (either against important teams or decisive goals). Walcott had his fair share of important strikes, but he wasn't a match changer like Bale.

Maybe it was because Bale was a very big fish in a little pond, while Walcott was a medium-sized fish in a big pond.

Both players had awesome performances in the last campaign, and while Walcott is set to stay at the Emirates a long while, Bale's future at Tottenham hangs by a thin thread.