Warm Wwlcome for Gervinho but Arsenal ace Theo Walcott Warns Against false start

Posted Monday, July 25, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

Warm Wwlcome for Gervinho but Arsenal ace Theo Walcott Warns Against false start
Above: Arsenal's Theo Walcott laid on the second for Gervinho

THEO WALCOTT admits Arsenal have piled pressure on themselves to hit the ground running this season – or face even more heartache.

Last season’s end-of-term collapse meant the Gunners finished without a trophy for the sixth year in a row and also slipped out of an automatic Champions League qualifying spot.

That means Arsenal kick off the new season with a punishing schedule of five games in 15 days that will shape their entire campaign.

face Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester United in their first three Premier League fixtures.

And they must also get through a two-leg play-off round in Europe to secure a spot in the Champions League group stage.

But Walcott recognises the players only have themselves to blame for such a tough start and believes the team owe it to the Arsenal fans to get off to a flyer.

He said: “We don’t have any time to bed in at all. We don’t expect any game to be easy, but we’ll be ready.

“We want to start off well and we want to challenge for something this year. Only time will tell what we do.

“Without a doubt, we owe the fans a good start. They have been so loyal to us when we have not been winning trophies, which we should be for such a big club.

“As players we are disappointed in ourselves, but that is in the past now. This year is a massive one for everyone, for the club itself. The fans are very important to us all and hopefully we can make them proud.”

Arsenal’s preparations have not been helped by big doubts over the futures of captain Cesc Fabregas and Manchester City target Samir Nasri.

Fabregas is being chased by Barcelona and is yet to train or play with the squad during pre-season.

Walcott claims the players are in the dark over what will happen with their team-mates, though he insists both can play important roles while they are still at the club.

“It is for the manager and the staff to answer, whether the futures of Cesc and Samir get sorted out sooner rather than later,” said Walcott.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and their careers.

“Samir is always in good spirits. He is very professional and gets on with his job.

“He is playing for Arsenal and hopefully he will continue to, but only time will tell.

“Cesc is our captain. I think he has a slight knock and is working back at home, getting fit. We’ll see what’s going to happen.”

One man who certainly looks ready to make an immediate impact is new £10.6m signing Gervinho, who scored twice on his debut in the 2-1 win in Cologne on Saturday.

Walcott set up Gervinho’s second strike and described the forward’s arrival as “a breath of fresh air”.

The England winger added: “He looks a great talent. You can tell he can bring goals, he has got plenty of pace about him and is very comfortable on the ball.

“I’m looking forward to playing with him. He will be a breath of fresh air I think. You don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but I’m sure he can deal with that.”

Wenger was also delighted that Gervinho got off the mark immediately and hopes the Ivory Coast international proves to be one of the bargains of the summer.

“If you went six weeks without a goal, for a striker, you raise questions, but now it’s out of the way,” said Wenger.

“You could see how quick he is to get behind defenders.

“He has qualities that are always very interesting for a team like us, with a lot of other players that go behind defenders at the right moments.

“I hope he is a bargain. When you see all the fees around, you become dizzy. In this case, he wanted to join us and he had only one year on his contract, so it was a good opportunity for us.

“The most important thing in pre-season for us is to go through the games and a win is great. You want to work yourself to be ready for the start of the season.”