Moving Target – Theo Walcott

After bringing in Cenk Tosun from Besiktas, Everton added to their options in the final third by signing Theo Walcott from Arsenal late on Wednesday afternoon.

The 28-year-old arrives at Goodison Park on a three-and-a-half year contract and is desperate to cement a regular role after falling out of favour under Arsene Wenger.

“I just want to do what I do best which is playing football and expressing myself because I’m excited, I really am.

I do really believe that I’m going to give it my all, which is what I always have done, and this place is going to get even more out of me.

There’s something about this move which I’ve just felt good about.

It felt like it was time for me to move on. It was sad but it’s exciting at the same time and I want to push Everton to win things as they have done before”.

Meanwhile, his new manager Sam Allardyce had this to say on his latest recruit.

“He wants to play every week and really take his career forward again.

We have looked at the amount of goals, assists and pace that he brings to the side and it is a very good acquisition.

If you analyse his goal record, then we are looking at a player who contributes on a regular basis, as well as assists and working hard off the ball for the team – and helping out the full-back when he needs to defend. I think that is very important.

His physical output is excellent, he would be one of our top players in that area as well, which will hopefully bring us a lot more excitement and more ability to get forward quicker and create”.

The History

Walcott joined the Southampton youth set-up back in 2000 and progressed through the ranks before making his debut for the then-Championship club in the 2005-06 campaign.

Twenty-one appearances, four goals and five months later, however, he was snapped up by Arsenal as a 16-year-old in January 2006.

Pitch-time was far from secure in his first four years at the Emirates, though – Walcott made 86 league appearances, providing nine goals and 10 FPL assists.

The following three seasons saw the England international embark on the most prolific Fantasy form of his career.

With his security of starts on the rise, Walcott featured 95 times and served up 31 goals and 32 assists, with a career-high haul of 194 FPL points in 2012/13.

But a knee injury sustained midway through the following season, allied with the arrivals of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in 2013 and 2014 respectively, meant that Walcott was back among the fringes.

In the three seasons prior to 2016/17, he returned just 15 goals and nine assists in 55 Premier League matches.

At the start of last term, Walcott was afforded a run of starts by Wenger from the off – he started 16 of the opening 17 Gameweeks and delivered eight goals and a trio of assists.

Yet a calf injury put paid to his time on the teamsheet, with Walcott scoring just two more goals from a further 12 appearances.

On the international stage, it’s fair to say he’s failed to scale the heights expected after being fast-tracked into England’s World Cup squad in 2006.

After making his senior debut in May 2006, he’s played 47 times for the Three Lions and found the net on eight occasions. Walcott also made 21 appearances for the U21s and bagged six goals.

The Prospects

Walcott will surely establish himself as a regular under Allardyce.

Priced at 7.1 in FPL and 9.2 in the Sky Sports game, his arrival looks ominous for Yannick Bolasie or Gylfi Sigurdsson as the Everton boss looks to boost his team’s potential on the counter.

The lack of cutting edge from Bolasie, in particular – 10 goals over 73 appearances in the previous three seasons – could force the former Crystal Palace man onto the bench.

Sigurdsson perhaps looks more assured, though he may eventually be shifted to a No 10 role, which in turn, could threaten Wayne Rooney’s minutes.

Certainly, the Toffees’ record since their new manager was appointed in Gameweek 15 showcases the need for improvement in the final third.

From that point onwards, they rank bottom for shots (65), attempts on target (21) and big chances (eight), while only Swansea have fired fewer efforts inside the box (39 to 43).

Indeed, with just a single goal and two points in the last five Gameweeks, the Merseysiders could be in danger of being dragged back over the relegation trapdoor.

Thankfully for Allardyce, his side’s remaining schedule is very promising – they face just four of the current top nine teams from this point onwards and subsequently sit top in our season ticker for attacking potential over Gameweek 24-38.

That run gets underway with a kind batch of fixtures that hands Everton home encounters with West Brom, Leicester and Crystal Palace and a trip to Watford in the next five Gameweeks.

But their attacking numbers above indicate that the Toffees remain very much a work in progress for now, with investment in the likes of keeper Jordan Pickford perhaps a stronger option – he’s averaged 5.3 FPL points per match (ppm) under Allardyce.

Nonetheless, closer analysis of Walcott’s numbers from the start of last season highlight an ability to inflict damage on opponents.

Over Gameweek 1-17, where he started 16 times, he was the top-ranked midfielder for shots inside the box (38) and big chances (12) and placed third for efforts on target (22).

Only Alexis Sanchez – in 90 minutes more – found the net on more occasions, by 12 goals to eight.

Indeed, over the season as a whole, he found the net every 192.5 minutes – that was bettered by only eight FPL midfielders with a minimum of 1,000 minutes and very similar to Eden Hazard’s 187.6, for example.

While it’s wise to give Walcott time to settle in his new surrounds, those numbers, allied with Everton’s run-in, suggest that he will now return as an attractive mid-price option for our four-or-five-man midfields.

Further Reference

Theo Walcott Wikipedia

Theo Walcott TransferMarkt Page

Theo Walcott 2016/17 You Tube Highlights