Arsene Wenger knew he would see different Theo Walcott after Euro 2016 heartache

Theo Walcott
Theo Walcott scored his third goal of the season against Chelsea Credit: Reuters

Arsene Wenger has revealed how he was convinced that Arsenal would see a new Theo Walcott after a summer heart-to-heart with the forward about his Euro 2016 heartache.

Walcott held talks with Wenger regarding his future after losing his Arsenal place at the end of last season and subsequently being left out of England’s Euro 2016 squad.

The 27-year-old agreed to stay and fight for his place and the decision has so far paid off, as Walcott has won his place back in the Arsenal team and was included in Sam Allardyce’s first England squad.

 Walcott goal
Walcott is now just as strong going forward as he is defensively, according to Wenger Credit: AP

Walcott scored his third goal of the season in the 3-0 victory over Chelsea and Arsenal manager Wenger said: “I said many times at the start of the season that we would see a different Theo Walcott. I could see he made a decision and sticks to it.

“I spoke to him about the disappointment of not going with England. He is a special case. He went at 16 to the World Cup. We are now at 2016 and he hasn't been to another World Cup. He has matured, when a player survives this type of disappointment from what was promised for him at 16, the way he dealt with the situation, I always felt there was something special in this guy.

“I think he used to be 90 per cent forward and 10 per cent defending. Today he is 50-50. He does the job both ways and he does it both ways with commitment. And I always felt there is character and intelligence in this boy. He is a guy with a good assessment of his performances and qualities.”

Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring and Mesut Ozil added the third after Walcott’s goal, as Arsenal cut Chelsea to shreds at the Emirates and recorded their first success against the Blues in five years.

Wenger now believes Arsenal have set themselves a standard to try to maintain for the rest of the season.

“It will help with belief, but in football you start again on Monday morning and show you can do it again,” said Wenger. “But we showed that we can play the style of football we want to play. That is based on pressure on the opponent, to play with connections, with pace. I know we can do that. That is what football is about. It's not about one player. It's not me, me, me. It's about one, two and three. Top level competition is to show you can do that in every single game.

Arsenal bench
Arsenal celebrate victory over Chelsea Credit: Rex

“We still have much more to do. Defensive solidity, our movement off the ball, our movement without the ball, our pressing isn't always perfect. What is amazing in life is that the energy of a group of people fluctuates, to maintain that level of energy in a group – nobody masters that. So the players have to take care of that. But the most important thing is they have the desire to improve.”

Arsenal entertain FC Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but Wenger has warned his players not to take the Swiss team lightly.

“Everyone will think that Basel will be easy and then you look at the results of Basel against the English teams, and you start to think it will not be easy,” said Wenger.

“They beat Manchester United, they beat Chelsea, they beat Liverpool. So let’s prepare properly and keep our feet on the ground because in our job, one thing I know, if you are not prepared you are quickly hit on your head.”

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