How Arsenal Can Get the Best out of Theo Walcott in the Remainder of the Season

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has a new weapon at his disposal—a weapon he has not been able to use for a year. It is unlike any other in Arsenal's arsenal (no pun intended), and it was vital to the team's success before it was taken out of commission.

This player can change the tone of a game in an instant, whether he starts or comes off of the bench. He can slip in behind defenders and can make full-backs back off in respect.

He is, of course, Theo Walcott, who is easy to forget considering he barely played in the last year. Yet, the Englishman can still be a significant contributor now that he is healthy again and is shaking off more rust with every game.

Yet, Arsenal are not as perfectly set up for him as they were a year ago. The Gunners do not need Walcott as much. They were forced to move on.

Wenger purchased Alexis Sanchez over the summer, which is looking like one of the biggest coups of his managerial career at £32 million. There is some debate about where the Chilean plays best, but the key point is that he is a winger. Wenger uses him as a striker on occasion, but Alexis plays best on the flank.

It does not matter which side he is on; he can cut inside with either foot, and he adapts his game based on which wing he is manning. In other words, his extraordinary skill, superhuman recovery ability and remarkable versatility guarantee him a spot in the starting XI for virtually every game.

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One might conclude that Alexis could just slot into the left wing while Walcott reassumes his former position on the right. But things have changed, and it is not so simple.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been in fine form this season and operates as a winger when Arsenal's midfield is too clogged for him. That often happens when most of the Gunners' midfield is fit.

Usually, it hasn't been, but things are starting to look up. Mesut Ozil is back in action and is apparently hungry and more physically robust. That means that, when he shakes off the cobwebs, he will slot into the attacking midfield spot and push Santi Cazorla out.

Cazorla is not suited to playing deeper, and Wenger has used him as a left-winger for much of his time at the club. When Ozil was fit earlier in the season, Cazorla played centrally with the German on the left. Now that we have seen the disastrous consequences of that tactical switch, Ozil will almost certainly be shifted back to his natural position.

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Assuming the rest of the midfield is mostly fit (a fanciful thought, I know), Wenger has a surfeit of attacking options.

He will have to choose between Cazorla and Walcott for the one remaining position on the wing. The former is outstanding at retaining possession of the ball and has the creative instinct of an attacking midfielder. The latter is a clinical goalscorer whose speed fundamentally alters the mentality of a defense.

Walcott will also no doubt be pining to play upfront, where he got a couple chances to impress before he tore his ACL. Yet, he was unimpressive back then, and it is difficult to see him getting many chances now.

For the first time in years, Arsenal have two true central strikers in Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck. Wenger also said after he signed Alexis that he intended to use him as a central striker, a promise on which he has made good thus far.

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So what is Walcott's role in this new Arsenal side?

There is no evidence that he can be anything other than a right-winger; he is not a good enough dribbler to cut inside from the left and is not powerful enough to play upfront by himself.

The good news is that Arsenal can never get all of their players fit at the same time, which should allow Walcott to at least get in the team long enough to prove himself.

Now that Ozil is back, it is not hard to imagine the mouthwatering possibility of him spraying passes to Walcott and Alexis, using Giroud as a focal point. Perhaps Cazorla will actually play further back, or maybe Wenger will even rotate.

Walcott is also not yet back to full fitness. He can last the full 90 minutes, but his sharpness on the ball and in front of goal will take weeks to return. Luckily for him, injuries to Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere open enough space elsewhere that some tactical creativity can clear a path back into the starting XI.

Walcott does not have to change his game. He can still be a runner and a finisher without looking to do too much on the ball. There are enough other players who can create that he does not have to focus on making his own chances as he often did before he got hurt.

Perhaps that freedom and relative lack of expectation will make Walcott a better player. He certainly has more competition for his place now.

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