Stephen Pickering gives his opinion on the top news stories of the day. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion feature.
The big story from the games today was the return of a ‘nearing’ fit Theo Walcott and what impact he could have for England in the summer. This season has seen hype build around numerous young English players, Ross Barkley, Ravel Morrison and even in the Championship with Will Hughes. But, when it comes to Tottenham’s Andros Townsend, I can’t remember much stronger hype for any English player, for years.
The threatening winger has been called Tottenham’s best by pundits this season, and many expect him to the star-man for England in Brazil. Yet, I can’t see what Townsend has accomplished that Walcott hasn’t – in fact, the truth is the exact opposite!
I have been extremely impressed with Townsend when he has performed well for England in the few caps he has won under Hodgson, and I do see him as a threat but at the minute he is beneath Walcott in every single way.
Andros Townsend has started 10 games for Spurs this season, and come off the bench three times – he has the ability to run at his man, but once past him he becomes constantly unstuck.
He has lashed no-less than 46 shots at goal this season, which is one of the highest in the Premier League yet has only hit the net once, in comparison to other Premier League players – it really is quite poor.
The most alarming statistic is the fact he has still yet to be accredited with an assist in the Premier League. He notched his first on Thursday during Tottenham’s Europa League win, but aside from that he is still falling flat on his face.
In summary, his Premier League record this season is 10(3) games, one goal and 0 assists. A record worst than Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling.
And when compared to Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, a player that is still trying to find fitness, it all becomes clear about who is the more effective, and better player.
Walcott has managed five Premier League starts this season, and four from the bench. He has scored two goals, both came against Manchester City yesterday and has set-up three. All-in-all he is guaranteed to produce more substance than the Spurs man and offer the same ‘role’
So when it comes to the World Cup and if there is only room for one of them, then I would be pretty shocked if its not Walcott, despite the current buzz over the Tottenham midfielder.
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The biggest news from the day was West Bromwich Albion sacking their manager Steve Clarke after a bad run of form. My initial reaction was to roll my eyes and shake my head. I wasn’t in disbelief because in football anything can happen, but I was certainly disappointed.
Relatively speaking in terms of fees that can be thrown around in the Premier League, he certainly has not had that much too work with and last season he masterminded an incredible 8th placed Premier League finished. It was such a wonderful achievement for a club of West Brom’s expenditure and stature to be able to bed themselves in the countries top 10. And although this season hasn’t started to plan, I would have never thought he was on the line for the chop – regardless of what the fans demanded.
I had heard that West Bromwich Albion fans had been doing the ‘norm’ after a couple of losses and had been vocal about sacking their manager in desperation for a change in results. I don’t know who they are expecting to come through the door, the favourite for the job is another manager they previously sacked for a poor start, a year after they were promoted!
So, I am left completely baffled. I don’t know where West Brom will go from here but I wouldn’t be surprised if this decision sets them back enough that they end up in the bottom three at the end of the season.
image: © wonker
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