Is Theo Walcott going to be the next Ray Kennedy?

By Avenell Dave

There are a few players who wore Arsenal colours that will forever live fondly in the memory for me.

Cesc Fabregas is the latest, but going back in time, Thierry Henry, David Rocastle, Liam Brady, Charlie George and Ray Kennedy are all players we have loved and lost, who didn't provoke anything but love when they returned to the club where, essentially, they amde their name.

Kennedy, who has suffered with Parkinson's Disease, was a gentleman and despite playing for the dominant Liverpool side for much of his career, his contribution to Arsenal, and in particular the Double-winning side of 1971, cannot be underestimated.

Talk today has been of Theo Walcott moving to Liverpool, his boyhood team, and we have to hope that the club find the right blend of first team assurances and salary to sign him up before it's too late.

It's so frustrating that we get ourselves in this position so often. It happened with RvP, it happened with Flamini, Edu and we even had issues with Dennis Bergkamp because we refused to break our one year contract deals for over-30s.

Walcott is such a hot and cold player, someone who showed on Tuesday that when given the right position and opportunity, he can take defences apart.

He is not a player capable of beating opponents on the wing in the manner of Ronaldo, but he has shown he can finish and that when played centrally he is capable of causing all manner of problems.

The fact that even Graham McNorthbank, one of Theo's biggest critics over the years, thinks we should sign him up underlines how much he has come on.

The thought of seeing him blossom and then come good somewhere else is just too much to bear.

Of course, the M*nure defence is more robust than Reading's back line, but it still lacks the ruthlessness of United defences of the past.

I hope Theo plays, but we also need Giroud to hold the ball up so I'm not sure how that will work unless Arsene Wenger goes back to a 4-4-2 which seems to suit the current crop far more than his preferred 4-3-3.

Our recent record at Old Trafford is pretty woeful and while M*nure's defence is poor, their attack is superb and we have to keep three or four players (Shrek, Valencia, Hernandez and RvP) if we're to have any chance of coming away with something from the game.

We're capable of winning if we are disciplined and it's surprising to see that we have the best Premier League defence even though we haven't looked particularly solid of late.

All eyes will of course be on RvP and the chances of him scoring are high.

Of course, there's no way the away fans will go easy on him, but I do hope we confine it to booing and avoid the kind of the awful chants that we get so up in arms about when the Mancs make them about Le Boss.

We can be vocal without losing class.

Addict XI

Mannone

Sagna Mertesacker Vermaelen Santos

Cazorla Arteta Wilshere

Walcott Giroud Podolski

Gunners in seventh heaven: time to improve Theo's contract offer

By Graham McNorthbank

If there was ever a game that summed up the emotions of football then last night's trip to Reading was that game. A 7-5 victory which took Gooner viewers from the embarassing and utter despondent to pure joy and elation, pride, fear and, thankfully, back to sheer jubilation again.

Keeper Damian Martinez had a torrid night, but to be fair to the youngster, his defence did him no favours in the first 45 minutes. However, a bit more training ground practice on dealing with crosses, under pressure, would not go amiss.

But coming from 4-0 down to secure victory is remarkable and if I hadn't watched the match myself I wouldn't have believed the difference that the half time break would have made to the Arsenal team. From looking like rabbits lost in the headlights in the first 45 minutes, the performance of the team in the second half was nothing short of astounding. The greatest comeback in the history of the competition. Fact. And if that doesn't make you proud then nothing will. I'm not saying we should do a Tottenham by releasing a DVD of the game, but I reckon the people in marketing at Highbury House should contemplate a new Greatest Comebacks DVD which could include our efforts in Reading.

There's no point going over each and every goal. Quite frankly, I don't have the time. If you were not lucky enough to be there, or to be watching live on TV, then I would implore you to watch it back on Arsenal Player via the club website. And if you have the time to watch the entire game, do it.

For those of you who have been regular visitors to Arsenal Addict over the years, you will know that I am not Theo Walcott's biggest fan. But he really staked a claim to being an out and out striker last night and his performance was truly outstanding. If we could get him to put pen to paper and sign a contract extension now, it would be a real fillip for the fans. And if you didn't catch his reaction to Carl Jenkinson claiming the sixth goal and, therefore, robbing Theo of his hat trick and the match ball, then again I'd urge you to find the coverage via Sky Sports. Not only did it show a great sense of humour and gallantry, but it also really showed the fantastic team spirit among the players.

But the last word really needs to go to the travelling support who made the journey to Reading last night. If there were a few souls who gave up the ghost and left the stadium at 4-0 down, I can't say I'd really blame them, given the lacklustre performance up until that point. But the red contingent were magnificent throughout, urging their team to put up a fight from that low point, until the ridiculous high when Marouane Chamakh finally put the cherry on the icing on top of the cake close to two hours later.

Pride for the performance last night was immense, but pride for the perseverence of my fellow Gooners was just as huge.

Roll on the Mancs this weekend...

Is Arsene taking the League Cup more seriously than he says?

By Avenell Dave

The Capital One Cup. A trophy. The only domestic silverware Arsene Wenger has not won and a competition where he has twice reached the final.

And yet he thinks it is of least importance and I can't say I disagree.

Which is why it was a surprise to see such a strong squad named for this evening's game at Reading.

You could argue that his squad is actually stronger than the one which took the field at Old Trafford last August, when we were humiliated by a merciless M*nure team.

Olivier Giroud is clearly being given as many games as possible to get used to English football and I'm convinced if he plays as well as he did on Saturday, he'll come away with a goal.

The defence and midfield virtually chooses itself so the trick is to work out who will play in the forward positions either side of Giroud.

Saturday's game changed as soon as Wenger brought on proper wide players rather than a midfielder and forward in wide positions.

Tonight Le Boss has an embarrassment of riches and can choose all manner of combinations.

With Gervinho injured, I suspect Andrey Arshavin will start wide in case he is required for the bag one on Saturday, which just leaves one, possibly right hand position.

Theo Walcott has to be favourite, unless he is being included in the squad simply in case of emergencies, in which case, Serge Gnabry should be given a start to show what he can do and give him more experience of first team football.

With every passing week, the likelihood of Walcott leaving in January or not re-signings grows more likely and while I'm not for one minute suggesting that we should make do with Gnabry, getting him used to the demands of first team football can't do any harm.

I used to work in Reading and have a soft spot for the Royals and Brian McDermott was one of the first Panini stickers I got for Arsenal back in the day.

We've seen a few trainees go to Berkshire including Steve Sidwell and James Harper in recent years but they've not had a good start to the season and are yet to record a Premier league win.

Let's hope this isn't the start of their revival.

Addict XI

Martinez

Jenkinson Koscielny Djourou Miquel

Frimpong Coquelin Eisfeld

Walcott Giroud Arshavin

What do you think? Who should start for Arsenal this evening against reading?