Ian Wright: Arsenal boss Wenger's decision to trial Walcott as a striker came five years too late

Ian Wright believes Arsene Wenger's decision to play Theo Walcott as a striker has come five years too late.

Walcott led the line for the Gunners during the narrow victory over Newcastle after Olivier Giroud had struggled in the role against Liverpool on Monday.

But the England international struggled as a central striker, missing two good chances, and former Arsenal striker Wright criticised Wenger's decision-making.

Speaking on BT Sport, Wright said: "They needed to do this five years ago if they were going to take him out of the right-hand side and into the centre and try to teach him how to make those runs.

"Now all of a sudden that Giroud isn’t playing well, they’re trying to get Benzema.

"He scored a hat-trick against let’s face it West Brom at the end of last season and a very poor Aston Villa side in the FA Cup final and now they’re putting him up front and basically telling him to get on with it.

"He needed to be in this position four or five years ago learning because he’s not a bad finisher."