Arsène Wenger believes that Theo Walcott has a psychological barrier to overcome, as he described the winger as feeling “edgy” about a return to full-blooded contact in matches.
Walcott has endured a nightmarish 12 months, which began when he ruptured his cruciate knee ligament in Arsenal’s FA Cup third-round home win over Tottenham Hotspur on 4 January. He returned, briefly, in early November, when he made ten and eleven minute substitute appearances against Burnley and Swansea City.
However, he damaged his groin – according to Wenger – during an international training session with England and he has not played since, although he has been an unused substitute in Arsenal’s last three matches.
Walcott is expected to remain on the bench for the New Year’s Day fixture at his former club, Southampton, before making his comeback to the starting XI in Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Hull City, which will mark the anniversary of his cruciate injury.
“He has been out for one year,” Wenger said. “He has to go for contact and today, the game does not forgive you any lack of contact or defensive focus. We have to get that. He is certainly a bit edgy as he has been out for so long. About the first tackle? Yes, of course. You must have that in your mind and have to go through that.”
Wenger was happy at the time for Walcott to join up with England for the November fixtures against Slovenia and Scotland, reasoning that he would benefit from the high-level training. Walcott was not expected to feature in either game and he did not. Wenger, however, was more rueful, albeit with the benefit of hindsight, when he reflected on the episode.
“I regret it, yes,” Wenger said. “At the time, it looked like a good opportunity for him to get a game because England played a friendly against Scotland and I thought maybe a game or one half of a game would help him get through that and play at a high-level competition. But he came back injured.
“Did he push himself too hard? Maybe, I don’t know. He overloaded his groin in training. It can happen. It could have happened here as well. You have to accept that.”
Wenger has problems up front for the visit to Southampton, with Olivier Giroud suspended, Danny Welbeck facing a fitness test on the thigh injury that he suffered at West Ham United on Sunday and Yaya Sanogo out because of hamstring trouble.
Sanogo, who has also suffered because of a problem with his wisdom teeth, could be allowed to move on loan during January to help his development. Bordeaux have made an inquiry, although Wenger said that he would prefer the 21-year-old Frenchman to join a Premier League club. Wenger is also willing to loan the 19-year-old English striker Chuba Akpom.
“It’s a possibility,” Wenger said of the loan for Sanogo. “I would prefer him to go to a Premier League club. He is a goal-scorer and he’s not frightened. He’s a guy who is naturally aggressive and, in the modern game, that’s a vital quality.
“Sanogo is out at the moment. He had wisdom teeth out but that’s not the problem now – he’s got a hamstring injury. The wisdom teeth were infected and he was under antibiotics for a long time. We did it when we thought we had a little break between the Liverpool and QPR games.”