The evolution of Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale
While Gareth Bale often finds his free-kicks hit the back of the net with pinpoint accuracy, Theo Walcott can sometimes see his shanked horribly off-target. Both practice hard at set-pieces; Theo Walcott more so on his technique than necessarily trying to craft a niche from such shooting opportunities. For Gareth Bale, detail is everything, from the stance to the run up, and he strikes the ball in particular way so that it achieves maximum top spin rather than bend.
From that example, one might dissect a harsh conclusion of the paths of the two careers, but come the North London Derby on Sunday; both will start the match at roughly the same places of their football careers. And at 6pm, one might even overtake the other.
For most people, with both players at 23 years old, Bale is in front. His form has been scintillating for the last two years but never has he played better than he is now. He models his game conspicuously on Cristiano Ronaldo and may soon reach his level. But while Bale admits admiration for the 2008 Ballon d’Or winner, he identified this evolution last season under Harry Redknapp. Indeed, the same can be said of Theo Walcott, who has finally been given his chance to play as a central striker having been destined to play there in his head at least, since he was placed under the wing of Theirry Henry. However, if there is uncertainty about one of the player’s future and excitement about the other’s, it’s because Gareth Bale’s style just fits better in today’s game.
“He is quick and powerful, technically gifted and can strike the ball ferociously with his left foot,” eulogised one piece by Jonathan Wilson for the Guardian, summing up why Bale has provoked such joy among spectators. If the modern game’s fixation on conditioning has a means to an end, it’d be a player like Gareth Bale. Theo Walcott, on the other hand, has bags of pace but wants to play as a poacher, a position which was horribly exposed as a dated craft against the might of Bayern Munich (although Arsene Wenger has still used Walcott up front in a number of high-profile games). To be fair to Walcott, his finishing is probably his other great trait (although, and while I don’t want to encourage comparisons, you wouldn’t say it’s massively superior to Bale who is deadly anywhere from about 45 degrees from the centre of the goal.
The main objective, though, of both players is to play with freedom so that they can be explosive and for that, credit must go to the coaches. Gareth Bale has talked highly about the tactical structure put in place by manager, Andre Villas-Boas, which allows him to cut inside with the security that his position is covered. Tottenham Hotspur work rigorously on shape in training. For Wenger, the deployment of Walcott centrally has been years in the making, stating that by playing a player wide, it allows him to “get used to using the ball in a small space, as the touchline effectively divides the space that’s available to him by two; when you move the same player back to the middle, he breathes more easily and can exploit space better.” That probably explains the apprehension in not using Walcott in a striking position earlier and certainly, in recent months, his dribbling has improved dramatically. There’s still uncertainty about what is Theo Walcott’s best position but given the freedom he’s been allowed by Wenger, has allowed him to turn in more consistent, game-changing performances. (Although the by-product is that it has said to have exposed Bacary Sagna, and perhaps that’s an area Villas-Boas’s side have the upper-hand over Arsenal).
The evolution of the Bale and Walcott ties in nicely too, with my piece two years ago on the contrasting styles of the two players. Because, while comparisons between the pair are always going to persist, they’re actually more similar in role now than they were even last season when both played as wingers. Then, Bale was the traditional touchline hugger and Walcott a modern-day inside forward, attempting to profit from the spaces in between the full-back and the centre-back (something which he still does frequently now).
Freedom has made both players more effective, although for Bale it’s made the bigger difference. Two seasons ago, when I wrote a piece entitled, “Crossing is football’s greatest divide” I concluded that Bale’s style of getting to the byline and getting crosses in is very inefficient and almost out-dated. The statistics concurred, finding that although 27% of all goals scored in 2010/11 came from crosses, only 1.6% of ALL crosses lead to goals. Bale’s return was similar at 2%. Walcott’s, whose style was about timing his runs and then measuring crosses if need be on the other hand, was 53%. A professor, Jan Vecer from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, has taken this research further and published a paper (which you can download here) highlighting the negative impact crossing has on scoring.
Since the change in style, to a roaming role, Bale has doubled his goalscoring output on each of the last two seasons with 15 goals. His assists have dropped this season, creating only one goal (although he’s setting up much more chances than he did in previous seasons), indicating that he’s become more self-centred with more freedom. However, if Bale read Vecer’s paper today, “Crossing in Soccer has a Strong Negative Impact on Scoring: Evidence from the English Premier League”, it’d give him very sound advice, telling him to give up crossing altogether. Because conversely, despite the change in role, Bale is actually crossing more! Vecer says that teams like Arsenal and Tottenham “have the potential to score one more extra game per match if they reduced open [play] crossing.”
Certainly, that’s not what Theo Walcott’s game is about although circumstances dictate he puts the ball into the box more than he should. Statistically, though, he is doing the right things and with 11 goals and 8 assists in the league, Walcott might actually be the key player when the North London Derby kicks-off at 4pm on Sunday.
Filed under: Arsenal
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Walcott has a specific skill set which can prove devastating. A game plan is followed to get the player in the right positions and in the right circumstances to create mayhem with his electric turn of pace, his control, his agility and his finishing ability. A fearsome weapon when utilised correctly and a top player.
Bale however is big, strong; a superb athlete. He has frightening pace and close control, he can defend due to his days at full back; he is good in the air and can finish with his head, he is consistently dangerous from free kicks, he can score from anywhere (second most goals in Europe from outside the area, one less than Messi) as well as score the tap ins. He can produce a fantastic volley and a great cross. Bale makes his own goals regularly and dominates games on what is now becoming a consistent basis.
Walcott is a brilliant player, but the much over used ‘world class’ tag can only be applied to one of them and that is Bale.
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I’m a gooner through and through. You could compare Bale and Walcott but free kicks is where you’d start and stop. Bale at the moment, as much as it hurts to say is almost a playstation player, you expect him to score and he does it, and he’s doing it consistently. He has the freedom of the pitch, uses the ball well, and yes he is cloning Ronaldo, but not many can, and actually do it..look at Nani
Theo will never be a Bale, he has a more natural talent, if he alied ball control to that devastating speed he would be feared..but he already is, opponents dare not give him the space to exploit, some double up but with Walcott in your team you always have the chance of seeing something special. It may take time and he may not ever be world class, but when he gets it right, he will be a supremely devastating weapon.
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Bale is one of those rare players who can score entirely on his own, by receiving the ball some distance from goal, getting past players and getting good shots off. And he is frequently indulged in this respect by his team.
Arsenal haven’t had a player like that since Henry, and perhaps that is the kind of big-money signing that we need. Walcott is still reliant on having someone get him the ball in the right position; he’s often devastating, but only in conjunction with someone who can feed him the ball. One Arsenal player that has this potential is Oxlade Chamberlain, as he is quick, strong, technical and with good shooting ability, but he’s still got a long way to go.
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kv Reply:
March 3rd, 2013 at 3:22 pm
@Eurazian,
Players who can dribble past opponents have always been not only the most exciting to watch but also the most important players on the pitch. Goals are scored when there is a numerical advantage and these kind of players are instrumental in freeing up another player(by attracting two defenders) or by dribbling past their direct marker. Bale is very good at doing this and a player of his style can make the difference at Arsenal. Wilshere is probably the only one who can do that; Santi is a bit too horizontal. Walcott on the other hand relies on pace and clever movement to get past his marker but his dribbling and close control have improved by miles( maybe he could model his game on Muller and offer a little bit more in the build up). But I completely agree that a Bale-esque player will only improve our attack and might even take Walcott’s game to the next level.
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Eurazian Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 11:27 pm
@kv, actually in hindsight, Arsenal have had such a player post-Henry: Arshavin. Things might not have worked out as we had hoped, but the Russian was still unable to unlock games and scored goals that no one else on the team could have. Wenger brought him in to enliven a team that was defensively strong but offensively dull. We could use someone of his like again. I think Gervinho was meant to be that sort of player as well.
It’s often been said that Wenger takes good players and makes them great. But I think with both Arshavin and Gervinho, it might be fair to say he hasn’t brought out the best in them, and it’s interesting that they are similar types of players. In Arshavin’s case, he almost never got a chance to play in his preferred role; Gervinho is a more flawed player, yet his regression from the player he was in France is a sign that he hasn’t had the direction that he needs from coaching staff.
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I wonder if Gibbs could become a Bale was he played further up. Hes go pace, hes god a good shoot, hes got composue, he can add strength and hes decent with the ball…
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Eurazian Reply:
March 15th, 2013 at 2:58 am
@enigma, aside from his terrible fitness record, Gibbs is the perfect attacking fullback. There is a huge gulf in the attacking skills needed to be a winger and a fullback. Gibbs is very similar to Ashley Cole before him; both started out as a winger, but their attacking qualities are not quite good enough to make it in that position. But both are better than the average fullback in an attacking role.
Bale is a different sort of player. He started out as a left-back with above-average attacking abilities – even early in his career he was regarded as a free-kick specialist – but he was probably not good enough defensively to hold down that position. But Bale is one of those players who has shown the ability to keep adding new dimensions to his game. Few would have imagined Bale being this good when he first entered the league. The only recent Arsenal players I can think of who have improved and developed their game in such a way are RVP and Alex Song; by the time they left the club, they were completely different players to when they arrived. While Walcott has improved in some aspects that were previously lacking (dribbling and crossing), he still remains limited. A very useful player but not a game-changer.
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Oh and was not Nasri abit like this? he was about to become a real star when he left. had he stayed he would now have been one of the biggest stars in european football. AW would have unlocked his potential and he would have been among the greatest instead of just a good player…
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Eurazian Reply:
March 15th, 2013 at 2:42 am
@enigma, I think that Nasri has some of those elements (a good shot and fantastic technical ability), but he also tended to slow the game down somewhat when he was with us. Bale, Walcott, Arshavin and Henry are far more direct.
Oh and Nasri is also a bit of a cock.
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