Imagine the scenario; your team is behind by a goal but only need a single point to win the League. The game is in the dying seconds, but you and your team mates are on the attack. The middle of the field is crowded with players, and with time ticking down, it’s too risky to take a shot, so you lift your head and see your winger.
A precise, probing cross, delivered with pace and accuracy could work wonders, and would most certainly create at the very least a decent opportunity to score. Now, who would you want that winger to be? Choose from the whole of the Premier League. They would have to be renowned for their excellent vision, creativity and/or skill, but most importantly, would have to have the capacity to deliver that all important cross into the box.
Theo Walcott you say? Oh, you didn’t say Theo Walcott? I understand. After all, you do have the likes of Antonio Valencia, Juan Mata, Nani, Gareth Bale, James Milner and David Silva to choose from. But according to Arsenal’s young left back Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott would be the perfect option, as he believes his Arsenal team-mate is the best winger in the country, and described him as an “outstanding player.”
The typical qualities wingers must possess are: technical skill and pace to beat a full-back in a one on one situation, crossing ability when out wide, good off-the-ball ability when reading a pass from the midfield or from fellow attackers, and good passing ability and composure to retain possession while in opposition territory. All of the best wingers have these qualities in abundance. Does Walcott? The only stand-out feature of his game is pace – the rest he showcases from time to time, suggesting that he has that ability – but uses it by no means consistently enough, and not at all to the extent which would make him the best winger in the country.
If Theo Walcott is the best winger in the country, then Kenny Dalglish is a humble, modest man with a small, manageable ego and always happy to admit when he's wrong – in other words, he isn’t. Perhaps the fact that this flattering description is coming from a fellow team mate who is “best friends” with Walcott shrouds the praise in a cloud of blinded bias. In reality, Walcott is a player who has bursts of wonder, impressing erratically and rarely. When he recieves the ball, he often seems puzzled as to what he must do with it, and in the best positions, his crosses or passes are miserable, frustrating failures.
Certainly, Walcott is an ever improving talent for Arsenal, having joined the club almost six years ago, and is currently enjoying an excellent run of form - which if he could keep up for a vast majority of each season - would put him into contention as the best winger in the League. However, he has never gone a season with a significant amount of appearances showcasing the talent required to reach the level which the likes of Juan Mata and David Silva have reached in just their first and second seasons in England.
Consitency is key, as is the ability to supply his strikers with regular crosses worthy of the name, and until he achieves such a feat, he will just have to settle with the title of the best winger for Arsenal... although with Alex Oxlade Chamberlain bursting up through the ranks, just how long will that fragile title last?