Tag Archives: Walcott

Theo

Walcott’s signature adds up to a good deal

Theo Walcott is not the best player on the planet. He’s not even the most promising player on the planet: an Edinson Cavani, Radamel Falcao, El Shaarawy, or whomever is the flavor of the month. But Theo Walcott has plenty going for him and has reportedly signed a new deal with the Arsenal paying him a salary of just £85k per week with a £3m signing bonus over three and a half years. Simply put, it’s a deal that makes sense for both Arsenal and Theo Walcott.

Walcott is just 23 years old and on the verge of blossoming as a player. He started his Arsenal career slowly. Netting his first goal in the League Cup final against Chelsea. It then took him 5 seasons to get into double digits in goals and 6 seasons to do the same in assists. But this season has been his best return yet, scoring 14 goals and adding 10 assists in 24 apps all competitions, many as a sub.

Strikers usually mature between 25 and 29, and that means that this 3.5 year deal keeps Walcott at Arsenal until right in the middle of that maturation period. Many are already complaining that the brevity of the deal means Arsenal will be renegotiating with Walcott in just 18 months, but in reality that is the perfect time for both him and the team to reevaluate his contract. If he’s matured, you make him rich(er). If he’s stayed at the same level, you move him on.

It’s that last bit “you move him on” which I think is one of the best parts of the deal. Many people reporting that the deal is worth £100k a week, but the Beeb says that he’s making that amount after a £3m signing on bonus. That means he’s only making ~£85k a week. “Only”, I know. But in the new reality of the Premier League with massive television monies flooding teams’ coffers and the Sheikhigarchy hyperinflating player salaries, £85k a week is not an eye-popping sum. Wayne Bridge is still making £90k a week from Manchester City to play for Arsenal’s next opponent in the FA Cup, Brighton Hove & Albion.

The £3m signing on bonus is another great bit of news. The two of you who have been following me since the Flamini days know that I have long argued that Arsenal should be using signing on bonuses as a means of keeping salaries low but retaining top talent in the last year of their contracts. With Flamini the choice was clear, it was going to cost Arsenal £15m to replace him or they wouldn’t replace him and instead wait around for two years as Alex Song matured into the position for “free”. I use Flamini intentionally, because while I know that his career has suffered after leaving Arsenal I still think his partnership with Cesc was crucial to Arsenal nearly winning the League in 2007/08. And his loss set the team back two years.

(Edit: Somehow this paragraph didn’t publish the first time.)
You also can’t forget about the premium that top English players command in the transfer market. Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, and Stewart Downing are the most notorious examples but setting aside Liverpool’s profligacy players like Ashley Young (£17m), James Milner (£28m), and Gareth Barry (£12m) all cost far more in the transfer market than a comparable foreign player would. So, again, £3m as a signing bonus is insanely cheap.

  • Carroll — £35m — 1 goal, 0 assists
  • Milner — £28m — 3 goals, 0 assists
  • Young —  £17m — 0 goals, 3 assists
  • Walcott — £3m — 8 goals, 6 assists

Above all though, Wenger prefers to keep his players rather than break the team up and buy replacements. In this, his fourth Arsenal team, he has gone with a decidedly British flavor; Wilshere, Walcott, Chamberlain, Gibbs, Ramsey, and Jenkinson represent a core of British players all of whom are young, hungry, and have been steeped in the Arsenal culture. The signing of Walcott was the last step in assuring that core would be around for a few more years.

And really, how much would it cost to buy a 23 year old English forward who has experience at a top club, and has scored 8 goals and contributed 6 assists? Those are numbers similar to players like Marco Reus, Thomas Meuller, Carlos Tevez, and Eden Hazard. Suddenly £3m is looking like quite the deal.

And while I am fully aware of the fact that Walcott can be frustrating and has shown some worrying signs of tactical indiscipline I still think that pound for pound, with his nose for goal, his pace, and his being the best “wide” player that the club have at the moment, this is a very good deal for Arsenal.

Qq

Transfer Market: Christmas Starts Tomorrow

For Sale

America, land of the free and the home of the 50% discount on selected items, while supplies last. Is there another country in the world where you can wake up Friday morning at 5am, hoof it down to your local Big 5 Sporting Goods store stand in line for a few hours to buy a Remington 30-06 combo pack with scope for just $299? It’s the Early Bird Special, folks, and trust Big 5 to have you shooting things from distance just in time for Christmas.

And if you find that rifle’s too bulky to fit under your trenchcoat why not stump up the extra $40 for the Ruger “Takedown”? It’s a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle that conveniently breaks down and fits into a neat little backpack style case (case included)!

Ho ho ho.

It’s true, Americans have already started their Christmas shopping. My neighbors have their lights up, I’ve recycled 30lbs worth of mailers, and the Korean mini-mart down the street is already playing “White Christmas” on non-stop loop. But truth be told, Christmas shopping began the day after last Christmas and was only heightened by the recent deluge of advertisements for “Black Friday”.

And you know what? There may be a global economic meltdown happening right now, Spain may be bankrupt next month, but that’s not going to stop us Yanks from gearing up for the holidays. And in that time-honored American tradition of consumption for consumption’s sake I’m going to give my list of players I’d like Arsenal to buy for the holidays. It’s Arsenal’s shopping list for January, just in time for Black Friday, which if I say it takes on an entirely different meaning than when John Terry says it.

Why not? Why shouldn’t Arsenal fans be more like their consumer capitalist cousins, The Americans? We consume everything: turkey dinners, alcohol, petrochemicals, athletes, Sports teams, you name it and we’ll devour it.

And that’s why I’m particularly fond of that part of British football culture which places such a huge emphasis on buying players. Of course, not every Brit wants to buy for buying sake and not every American buys into the consumer culture but you can’t tell me that you would turn it down if Sheik Mansour bought us all a pony, or an Aguero.

And just like when I was growing up, I think we need to make a list of what we want for Christmas by perusing the Sears catalog (WhoScored.com) and hand it over to dad and mom and have them buy us stuff. It doesn’t really matter how much we need this stuff and whether it’s on a good sale or not, just buy it. Then, just like Christmas morning, when they don’t buy us what we want, we will stomp our feet and trash the living room while screaming about how they don’t love us and how we want our family back.* Then dad will get drunk and Arsenal will go on a three month losing streak.

Merry Christmas.

Theo Walcott

Sign da ting! And by “da ting” I mean, “give him what he wants!” Or don’t, I don’t know, it’s too confusing. Should I be more frugal with “my” money or should I be less parsimonious with “your” money? This would all be made easier if some billionaire would just buy us everything we want and we could stop bickering over the pennies that we add to the club’s coffers and whether or not Peter Hill-Wood is a good custodian.

The reality is that Theo Walcott is not on sale, they want full price. Not on a limited time offer. Not while supplies last. Not take an extra 20% off with the code SPEEDSTER. He’s full price. And not only that, but certain conditions do apply. £100k/wk is just the starting point for this discussion. Add in certain guarantees in the contract (which if not met activate a release clause) and you can have him. Maybe, if Liverpool haven’t already turned his head.

Anyway, dad, trust me, he will look splendid in the new Adidas kit and is a club’s marketing dream. Think “Beckham lite”: he’s not going to cause any trouble, he’s well spoken, handsome, and English. Think of the stories we can spin over a cup of hot cocoa: when he doesn’t make the English national team he will “fight hard to regain his place” only to lose to the Germans again in some heartbreaking penalty shootout. He’ll probably marry that beautiful young lady he’s been with forever in some fairtytale wedding and they will have lots of beautiful little kids. And when he’s finally too old to play football in England he will “bring football to America.”

Also he’s a decent footballer.

I know this is seems anathema to the whole “fire sale” theme that most Americans are used to around Christmas but I think you offer Theo Walcott whatever it takes to keep him. £100k/wk? That’s what you’re going to pay for just about any decent player to replace him. Let’s say you find a guy who is willing to take £50k, you’re still going to have to pay a transfer fee, agent’s fees, and probably signing bonuses. It adds up pretty quick.

So, maybe it’s a deal to pay the guy? Not so sure about those contract clauses, but hey, this is a Christmas list who cares about clauses?

Dad, buying Theo is the Christmas equivalent to a collectable Bowie Knife.

Erik Lamela

Ok, if I can’t have Walcott then I’ll take Erik Lamela from Roma. He’s Argentinian, a great dribbler, plays wide on the right, is 20 years old, already has 8 goals for a decidedly putrid Roma team, and he even tackles!* Did you know that among the top scoring forwards he is the only player along with Messi and Suarez with more than 2 successful dribbles per game?

One problem, though, Roma are in serious financial trouble but not the kind of financial trouble that, say, Malaga were in. So, while some of us might dream of getting Lamela for a song, Roma is not new to football. They would require top dollar to get hands on a player they just paid over £20m to sign.

This is the equivalent of me asking my rather poor family to buy me the Millennium Falcon play set.

Falcao

Sure, there’s Giroud, Walcott, Podolski, Arshavin and Gervinho already taking the three forward spots at Arsenal. And they are all scoring goals.  So, does Arsenal need another forward? Does the rich kid with the Millennium Falcon play set need the Hoth play set, Dagoba, and 100 Storm Troopers?** The answer is yes. YES. YEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!

So therefore, please buy me a Falcao.

Or Cavani

This would be the Christmas equivalent of buying me… oh wait I already did that.

Etienne Capoue

Do you know which players WhoScored.com ranks as the top players in France? Yes, Zlatan is number one. Sure, Anthony Le Tallec is number two. Ok, Steed Malbranque is number three. But I’m not interested in any of those guys. I want Etienne Capoue! Numero four on the French list.

Arsenal need another midfielder to backup Abou Diaby and while I know it will take some convincing to get papa to agree, I would love it if Arsenal would buy a purely defensive midfielder or at least a “more purely defensive midfielder to fit Arsenal’s mostly not really defensive setup which seems to be getting slightly more defensive while ironically relying on one of the league’s best passing midfielders to shoulder the burden of playing in that sort of most defensive role.”

And for the second year in a row Capoue is putting up impressive numbers for Toulouse. He’s 5th in headers won in Ligue Un (which is huge for a midfielder, look for another with more than 3 per game), averages 6.3 clearances a game, 2 tackles, 2 interceptions, and an amazing 2nd best 8.8 long balls per game. Oh and 2 goals and 2 assists.

The thing about Capoue that turns people off is that he’s kind of a gangly mutt of a player. He always looks awkward when he plays and his long passing technique is strange. But it works. And frankly, he will eventually find a career in the Premier League. Whether that’s with Arsenal or not is up to papa.

Capoue may actually be on sale, not sure if I’ve seen any mailers for him but there is a limited quantity (one) so we better act soon.

This is the Christmas equivalent of buying us a puppy. But with mange, because that’s all we can afford. But the question is whether a mangy puppy is better than a broken Diaby.

Thanks

Am I asking for too much, dad? Probably. But I’m an American and we always ask for more than we should, that way we are always disappointed. It’s what makes us strive for things, this constant overbearing disappointment.

Just, whatever you do, please don’t get me what you got me last year: an IOU for a week’s worth of backrubs.

At least make me something. Or get me an old, washed up goal-keeper. Geeze.

Qq

*All Argentinians can tackle. They learn it in the womb where they practice on placenta.
**I always wanted a gods damn company of Storm Troopers.

That hairstyle is DEEEENCH

Nationalism fortnight day one: The Falcao and the Walcott

Welcome to the Nationalism fortnight. No football for two weeks unless you count some horrible matches which feature footballing luminaries like Ryan Shawcross tackling the legs out of international powerhouses San Marino. It’s just like the World Cup if the World Cup were held inside of a bone china tea cup and Ryan Shawcross comes along and crushes it beneath his boot. No doubt after he would have a good cry because he’s sensitive.

Since they don’t watch anything other than the England team (and occasionally Spain) this is the time of the year when the British press are unburdened by covering actual football matches and turn instead to human interest pieces on the players and go into hyperdrive on transfer speculation.

There will be the normal fluff interview to look forward to over the next two weeks. You know the kind, where a reporter follows a player like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain around and we get to see what it’s like to be nouveau riche (hint, they buy “rich people stuff”). After  that, some dirty secret is revealed (his mum does the washing up) and he tells us all how fortunate he feels to play football for a living and how much he loves Arsenal. If they are really lucky, they get an interview with someone like Adebayor and get to ask him what it’s like to be rescued from darkest Africa and to live in London, the center of the universe.*

The warm glow of that article is usually followed up with one of those hard-hitting investigative journalism pieces where they sit down with a player and get some juicy quotes about how unhappy he is at Arsenal. “I just want to win trophies” and “it’s not about the money” are always good copy because it riles the fan base up perfectly. I know this will shock many of you but these second types of interviews are actually planned out by the player’s management team.

For example, John Cross is reporting that Theo’s representatives are set to have a meeting with Arsene Wenger over Theo’s contract. That John Cross knows  this is precisely because Theo’s management team want him to know because he will report it. This has the effect of alerting the fans to the contract situation in order to help put some pressure on the management. I’m sure John will also be phoned next Monday if Theo is ready to “clear the air” over his contract dispute.

That is the typical way these interviews go but Theo’s situation has been anything but typical and I would be surprised if Theo gave the type of bombshell copy that Robin van Persie dropped on July 4th. Theo’s approach to this whole thing just feels more respectful. He hasn’t really moaned about anything and instead has just put his head down and gotten the work done.

I don’t need to read the quotes in the papers to see that he loves Arsenal. His emotion when he scored against West Ham spoke more than any well worn quote in the paper. I’ve also seen it widely reported that Theo stays behind and applauds the away fans and is always the last of the players to go back into the tunnel. I suppose this could all be part of some master plan to force Arsenal’s hand but that’s an awfully cynical position to stake out. No, I think that this is all very difficult for Theo and that if we do see any interview in a week’s time it will be the one that signals the end of his Arsenal career but will be done with the utmost care and respect for the club, the management, and the fans.

Why it’s come to this is the subject of much speculation. It’s no secret that Arsene Wenger has a valuation he places on all players that hove into his field of vision and he won’t pay a penny more or less for wages or transfers. When negotiating with Theo, I’m sure that Wenger had a maximum he was willing to go and we know that Theo’s side wanted more than that. But the difference here is actually nominal. The sticking point is over Theo’s demands.

And what if his demand is as simple as he makes out. That he just wants to be played in a center forward position. How would that work? Would there be a quota? “Theo gets to play 1700 minutes per season for the next four years as a center forward.”? Giving a player that type of guarantee is beyond the pale for a player of Walcott’s stature in the game. Only great players could ask for such a thing and great players never have to. Messi doesn’t need a positional guarantee because he guarantees his position with his play.

None of which begins to touch on the fact that no board would ever put a manager like Arsene Wenger into a situation which forced his team selection on him. Maybe a manager like Brendan Rodgers, but when your manager is a living legend you don’t cut his yarbles off and hand them to a young pup.  So, I don’t know how can the club put that (or really any other demand) into Theo’s contract.

However, I’m actually buoyed by this idea that Theo’s reps are meeting with Arsenal’s reps. Perhaps both sides have been swayed by recent events.

Theo has done well to keep his head about him while suffering the ignominy of being dropped to the bench and watching Gervinho take his coveted forward role. That he’s scored four goals in nine apps (seven of which have been subs) is testament to this alone. Your ordinary footballer would have been caught doing lines of blow off a hooker’s chest by now. Perhaps both sides have softened a bit. Maybe Arsene is ready to meet Theo’s monetary demands and maybe Theo is willing to drop his ridiculous contract clauses.

If not, so we are told, Arsenal have lined up Falcao from Athletico Madrid. Falcao is a good player. Falcao would improve the team. But… Athletico Madrid literally just paid £32m to get him on 6 September August of the year of our lord 20122011. And while Arsenal certainly have the money to buy him he would cost something like £15m per year (amortized transfer fee + salary). Do you really think that’s going to happen?

Really? Gee Beav, that just doesn’t seem likely.

That hairstyle is DEEEENCH

Qq

*If you can’t tell I am using this ironically then just stop reading. Not just this article, I mean everything. Give up on reading. You’re not good at it.