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Theo Walcott
Arsène Wenger believes Theo Walcott is ‘still aware’ of the cruciate knee ligament injury he suffered in January 2014. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters
Arsène Wenger believes Theo Walcott is ‘still aware’ of the cruciate knee ligament injury he suffered in January 2014. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

Arsène Wenger pleased with Theo Walcott but wants Arsenal to be consistent

This article is more than 8 years old
Forward has recovered well after missing 2014 with serious injury
Walcott hopes to keep place up front for Saturday’s visit to Watford

Arsène Wenger has paid tribute to Theo Walcott’s form and new-found aggression but has admitted the forward still bears the mental scars of the cruciate injury suffered at the start of last year.

The process of Walcott regaining confidence in his body after being out for almost all of 2014 has taken longer than Wenger anticipated, and is not yet complete. Arsenal’s manager is prepared to be patient and supportive.

“Look, the only way to help him is to reassure, give confidence,” Wenger said. “I believe he’s still aware of his injury. For example, when England went away they played on astroturf, on an artificial pitch, we had the conversation as to whether they play Theo or not. Overall, he’s made the most important step to get through his injury and against Man United you could see he was fully back.

“I always said that he will play through the middle and he got his knee injury when he played well there against Tottenham [in January 2014]. It took him a while to come back, I must say. But now in the last few games, he looks always dangerous in this position. The quality of his movement is outstanding and he has found his finishing again. Now against Man United he has also found his commitment back. Sometimes the confidence comes back when you go into a challenge which you naturally avoid and then you realise nothing happens when you do it. It’s important sometimes to push the player a little bit.”

Wenger is urging Walcott to maintain the physical urgency that has been a hallmark of recent performances in order to rubber-stamp his status as a high-calibre centre-forward. “What you want from Theo is the commitment he showed against Man United in the challenges,” he said. “If he adds that to his game then he will be difficult to stop.”

He has expressly asked Walcott for more aggression, and is impressed that the 26-year-old is demonstrating more appetite for the fight. An ability to impose himself physically never seemed part of the picture for a player who seemed for so long to be in development. Walcott admitted that a few years ago nobody would have expected him to be harassing and tackling Bastian Schweinsteiger. Now he is beginning to relish what that represents.

On the back of another goal on international duty, Walcott returns to Premier League duty with Arsenal at Watford on Saturday, buoyed by a run of 12 goals from his last 14 starts for his club. He has every right to expect to keep his place up front at the expense of Olivier Giroud.

Walcott has benefited from seeing Thierry Henry around the training ground, with Arsenal’s record scorer working with the under-19s. Discussions between the pair on the art of forward play have been helpful, although as Wenger points out: “You don’t score goals because of chats. You score goals because you get in the right positions and you work on the field. Let’s not forget how our strikers developed well here. Thierry Henry arrived here and he had not scored goals before and scored plenty here. There are very few examples of players who left us and scored more elsewhere than here. We know how to develop strikers quite well. But it always helps. A little chat can help.”

Wenger is hopeful Arsenal will pick up at Vicarage Road where they left off in the Premier League. They have won five from their last six domestically. That kind of form reflects a bigger picture from 2015. In the calendar year they have accrued the most points of any Premier League side. “We see that the numbers of chances created, shots given away to our opponents, allow us to believe we have made big steps,” says Wenger. “We have to show that on the pitch with our results. We feel since 1 January 2015 we have moved forward. Now we have to show we can do that through the football season as well.”

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