Arsene Wenger Talks Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud Ahead of West Ham vs. Arsenal

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that Theo Walcott hasn’t kicked on in the way he expected and conceded that he still doesn’t know where the Englishman is best deployed. 

Walcott joined the Gunners as a tender 16-year-old back in 2006 and was tipped to develop into one of the greats for club and country, but seasons blighted by injury and mediocre performances have seen him fall down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

And Wenger acknowledged that his dream of nurturing the 27-year-old into a lethal front man hasn’t come to pass—via Mattias Karen of ESPN:

"[Walcott has] not [developed] as well as you could have expected. He had good periods in the season. I think recently he has gone through a much more difficult period. But he will come back."

He needs to come back sooner rather than later if he’s to earn a place in Roy Hodgson’s squad for Euro 2016, though, as the England manager said the player needs first-team football to be in with a chance of being on the plane to France, per Karen.

However, Wenger seems to prefer Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud up front, while Alex Iwobi’s stellar performances on the wing of late have kept Walcott on the bench.

And according to Bleacher Report insider Dean Jones, Walcott’s omission from the England squad this summer could send him away from north London:

Still, the Arsenal boss said Walcott is putting in plenty of effort in training to try to get back in the frame, even though life as a substitute isn’t easy for him and fellow front man Giroud:

"He works very hard, he puts the effort in in training. At the moment, for him and Giroud it's a bit more difficult, but that's part of the competition. He understands that as well, and he fights very hard. But in our job things can change quickly from one week to the next."

Walcott came off the bench to score in Arsenal’s 4-0 demolition of Watford last time out, and ESPN’s Miguel Delaney couldn’t resist having a cheeky jibe at the forward’s lack of progression:

He could well play the impact sub role once again at Upton Park on Saturday, too, as Wenger told reporters, via Karen, that the Englishman’s positional preference is still very much up in the air before saying that wingers nowadays need to take up a lot of defensive responsibility:

"

The problem with Theo is he wants to play on the right and through the middle. You have to fix yourself somewhere. When he does go through the middle he thinks maybe it's better for me on the right.

It's true that I fixed him more through the middle, because of the quality of his runs and the intelligence of his runs. And he has improved his finishing a lot, so he can be a player through the middle. On the flanks today you have to work very hard defensively.

"

IAN KINGTON/Getty Images

Arsenal simply have to win against the Hammers to stand any chance of catching Leicester City at the top of the Premier League, while a defeat opens up the possibility of Manchester City beating them to third place.

The Gunners do have a series of easier-looking fixtures on paper after their trip to Upton Park, and Walcott will hope to be given his chance to prove himself ahead of Euro 2016.