Theo Walcott: Analyzing How Arsene Wenger Can Still Make Arsenal Forward a Star

Theo Walcott remains an Arsenal player at the end of the transfer window. While this author doesn't really understand or particularly agree with Arsene Wenger's decision to keep him, the fact is Walcott is still at the club. The question now is, how to get the best out of him?

This is another opportunity to state this writer's belief about Walcott: He has the talent, but his commitment remains questionable. Walcott has shown how effective he can be as a cat-quick attacker with a knack for calm and precise finishing.

However, he has also shown the tendency to easily drift out of a game and spend most of his time either on the wing, or jogging slowly into areas that take him away from the flow of play. There simply has to be a way to maximise Walcott's considerable potential, and if Wenger is intent on keeping him, the manager must find it.

The obvious place to start is to give Walcott the central striker role he obviously craves. It's where many fans, pundits and the player himself believe he belongs, but what are the actual merits of the switch and how might it work?

The chief advantage is that it would encourage Walcott to play more direct, and that's no small thing. Often in football, particularly where Arsenal are concerned, the phrase "direct" is applied in a derogatory manner, implying a basic, unrefined style of play. However, a look at Wenger's history with the Gunners shows this is not a fair assessment.

It was Wenger who constructed his first great Arsenal team to feature the speed and mobility of a young, pacy striker. That player was Nicolas Anelka, and his goals during the 1997/98 season propelled Arsenal to the double and show how Walcott could succeed through the middle.

Nobody can dispute that the 1997/98 team played free-flowing, stylish football. They certainly did, but their intricate build-up play was designed to maximise Anelka's straight-line speed as its end product.

It was simplicity itself as Arsenal routinely threaded passes through and over the top of nervous defenses, relying on Anelka to just trust his pace, nothing more. It made Arsenal's game quicker as three to four passes could culminate in a goal, thanks to Anelka's ability to stretch the field.

Walcott can offer exactly the same threat and encourage exactly the same approach. It would require a slight tweak in the current mode of play. However, that might tempt Arsenal into relying less on fashioning goals from the edge of the box via endless one-touch passes.

A concern has always been Walcott's strength to handle life in the middle. Yet consider Robin van Persie's hat-trick goal at home to Wigan Athletic in January, 2011. The ball was played up to Walcott, who was playing with his back to goal.

He managed to hold up the ball and was strong enough to fend off his defender, long enough for the ball to run into the path of van Persie's favoured left foot. While one example doesn't prove Walcott could handle a regular mauling from rugged central defenders, it does show that he is capable of playing with his back to goal on occasion.

Of course in the current squad, it's difficult to see how Walcott will have the room and chance to operate in central areas. Olivier Giroud is the clear choice to occupy the middle and Arsenal are unlikely to fire numerous long passes for the Frenchman to simply flick on toward Walcott.

However, the Gunners will release long passes into the channels to utilise Giroud's mobility. When combining Walcott with the former Montpellier man, it's better to think of the 2007/08 partnership between Emmanuel Adebayor and Eduardo da Silva.

That tandem relied on Adebayor's movement and power, while Eduardo buzzed around the box, using his quickness to capitalise on Adebayor's varied link-up play. It was a perfect complementary strike force, before things were cut short by a dreadful tackle on Eduardo away to Birmingham City in late February, 2008.

What that game against Birmingham did show was Walcott's underrated predatory instincts. He scored both of Arsenal's goals in that fateful 2-2 draw, but it was his first strike which revealed the most.

Walcott pounced on a cross into the box, meeting the ball in traffic and turning it in with a deft touch. It was a true "fox in the box" finish and revealed Walcott's natural striker's temperament.

It's that type of goal that shows how Walcott could work in the middle. However, if that is the plan, then Arsenal need to start it now. Wenger should use the cup competitions to give Walcott chances as a central striker.

The big problem in the current formation is that Walcott doesn't always make the varied runs wide forwards need to make for a fluid three-man attack to work. As stated previously, playing wide in a front three is a poor excuse for a lack of goals.

Movement is the key, as Freddie Ljungberg proved throughout his career. Another player who Walcott could learn from is Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean has not been a major success in La Liga, but his varied movement and runs into the box are excellent examples of how wide players should perform in a 4-3-3.

Yet it is fair to say that quality off-ball movement is probably a combination of a player's ability to read the game and his trust in his own instincts. If Walcott cannot keep up with, or anticipate the flow of play, then he is wasted out wide.

Making that decision is the key to Walcott's Arsenal career. He can still be a success if he is willing to work at it and Wenger gets decisive about the best way to use him. If Wenger and Walcott truly believe he is a central striker, then it's now time to play him there and to play to his strengths.