Theo Walcott was Arsenal’s captain for the three-nil defeat away to Crystal Palace on Monday night.
That was Arsene Wenger’s first major error on the night.
Walcott embodies almost everything that has been wrong about Wenger’s second decade as Arsenal manager.
There was massive hype surrounding the England winger when he was signed back in 2006, but it quickly became apparent that he was no more than a useful squad player.
However, 11 years later, he’s Arsenal’s captain for a must-win game.
This was absolutely brilliant https://t.co/39v6ml8N4v
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 11, 2017
Wenger’s blind loyalty in Walcott, and other underperforming players – we’re looking at you, Granit Xhaka – has come back to haunt him.
The Arsenal manager has been positively reinforcing mediocrity for years. There appears to be no consequence for playing poorly. If there was, players like Walcott wouldn’t be still at the club.
Instead, he was captain for the heavy defeat to Palace, and his post-game comments rightly irked Jamie Carragher.
“That wasn’t us tonight. We are all disappointed in the changing room, like the fans are – we let them down,” Walcott said.
“We don’t go out there to lose games, we work the best we can. Tonight, it didn’t happen. We can only apologise.”
“They (Crystal Palace) wanted it more. You could sense that from the kick-off.”
Carragher, who had earlier criticised the latest meek performance from Arsenal, was appalled by Walcott’s admission that he felt from the start of the game that Palace wanted it more.
He also derided the idea that ‘at least Walcott was being honest’, saying there’s an element of selfishness about such post-match interviews, that players are just looking to cover themselves.
While Walcott’s claim that the game didn’t represent Arsenal particularly annoyed the former Liverpool defender. The defeat to Palace leaves Arsenal in sixth place, seven points behind Manchester City in fourth.
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