Theo Walcott: Once a Striker Always a Striker

Memo to Arsene Wenger: Theo Walcott is not a winger. Theo is a striker who urges to use his searing pace to split defences down the middle before releasing the ball not to a fellow teammate but pass the opposing keeper and into the back of the net.

If only life were so simple, Then maybe Arsene might also realise that Eboue (aka I don't know what I doue) is not a quality football player and has no place amongst the slick playing superstars at Arsenal football club.

Now as we all already know Wenger has had some incredible successes in the pass by taking a winger and turning him into a world class striker, Henry and Robin van Persie being the two outstanding examples.

On the other hand taking a striker and turning him into a world class winger is proving a much more difficult task for the Arsenal manager.

Don't get me wrong, Walcott has done a decent job on the right flank and we have seen significant improvement over the last year or so by the young Englishman. To be fair to Theo, various injuries have halted his development as much as anything else.

If one takes the time to observe Walcott masquerading as a winger in any recent Arsenal line up it's not hard to notice the tell tale signs of someone who in a positional sense, feels like he doesn't quite belong.

Walcott often gets himself into great positions one on one with the opposing full back but more likely than not we see him cross early rather than running at the defender like any natural winger with his kind of pace would do.

When a player is playing in a position where he for one reason or another finds it difficult to utilise his main asset, then i think it's clear that said player is not being deployed in the most effective way possible.

Admittedly, Theo Walcott does not have the most prolific record in front of goal; he has averaged roughly one goal every six games so far in his career.

But what he does have and has displayed this quite a few times for Arsenal already, is the pace to get in behind defences and the composure needed to keep a cool head in front of goal.

Strength could be an issue, but I think since his most recent shoulder operation, improvement has been made on that front as well.

Right now in terms of options up front, Arsenal has Arshavin, who has done a more than decent job of leading the line, but I think he can be just as effective on the wing occasionally drifting into the centre when the opportunity arises.

Both Eduardo and Vela have tried to fill the void created by the injury to Van Persie. The former needs someone up front to play off of and seems much more affective facing goal in and around the six yard area, while the latter is more suited to a position on the wing.

I've been watching Walcott very closely and whenever he drifts into the centre, he almost automatically appears to be more calm and composed. In fact, Walcott appears to have started the second half against Liverpool leading the line and in my opinion he was doing a pretty good job in terms of movement off the ball.

Walcott in the middle just seems right. It feels right and I believe it is right.

Arsene knows. That's why I think we could be seeing Theo in his natural position sooner or later. Wenger has already stated his intention to one day play Walcott as striker and I, for one, hope that day comes sooner rather then later.