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Walcott wants to emulate this Arsenal legend, and it’s not Henry!

By on September 24, 2015

Theo Walcott says he wants to emulate Arsenal legend Ian Wright by learning from his clever runs and cool finishing in and around the box.

After years on the wing, Walcott has recently got his wish to play through the middle as a central striker and it’s led to him scoring 11 goals in his last 11 games for the club.

The 26-year-old has often been likened to Arsenal’s all-time leading goal-scorer Thierry Henry – mainly due to his blistering pace – but Theo says he wants to learn from another Arsenal legend to improve his goal-scoring record.

The former Southampton youngster says Ian Wright is the man he is trying to learn from due to his clever runs and his calm finishing in the box, and it’s something Walcott is now trying to add to his game.

Walcott is quoted in the Daily Mail as telling Arsenal Player:

‘I loved him [Wright], along with everything about his style of football because he always played smiling,’

‘He obviously scored so many goals and caused havoc for defenders. He wasn’t the tallest man in the world but the amount of pressure he would put on defenders just scared them.

‘I can learn from the runs he made, the pace he had in his game and his finishing. When he was in the box he didn’t panic.’

‘That’s something that I have been learning, that when you’re in the box you have a lot more time than you think. He made it look very easy. That’s something that I’m taking out of his game and I’m starting to learn.

‘He’s obviously scored so many goals for the club and they’re all so different as well. He scored all sorts of goals and that’s what you want from a striker, to be able to score any goal. He could just change a game just like that and that’s the sign of a special player.

‘He is one of those who is in the history books and he is definitely a cult hero.’

Wright was Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer after netting 185 goals during his seven year career at Highbury so he’s certainly the ideal player for Theo to learn from when it comes to finishing in and around the box.

Henry obviously went on to eclipse Wrighty’s total in 2005 but Theo still has a long way to go before he gets close to either player having scored 78 goals since arriving from Southampton almost 10 years ago.