Walcott explains why he will sign new Arsenal contract

Theo Walcott has not always been all that popular with the Arsenal fans but he enjoyed arguably his finest hour as a Gunner yesterday and then appeared to commit his future to the club, thanking Arsene Wenger profusely for giving him a Wembley start ahead of Olivier Giroud and talking about the future of the club and his own part in it.

In a post match interview reported on the Arsenal website, Walcott gave a clear explanation of just why he wants to stay with Arsenal and it is all very positive stuff.

He did not talk about money or the fact that Wenger now seems convinced that he is worth a regular starting role but he did talk about the current Arsenal squad being the strongest that he has known since joining from Southampton back in 2006.

He said, “It’s absolutely incredible. It’s a great achievement to win the FA Cup on consecutive years and it just shows this is a special team and we’re going to continue to win many more, I’m sure.

“It’s weird how things come to place, scoring the goal with my left foot, which was the leg I had an issue with. I’ve worked really hard, not just me, everyone behind the scenes that nobody gets to see, the support and the faith that the manager’s had in me. The fans have been incredible as well. We need to remember the players who all contributed to the run to the final, it wasn’t just about the players who played, it’s almost a whole squad here. It’s a family thing and it means as lot to everyone.

“We knew that if we defended well we would win the game. We did that exactly. We defended really well from top to bottom and we were leading 1-0 at the break. Shay Given was absolutely fantastic in goal but we had a great performance. When you want to turn it up, you have to do it in finals and all the lads turned up.

“It’s an incredible amount of support that we have, not just in England but across the world. We want to do this more and more for these guys because they deserve it and this group of players deserve it. I’ve been here for a long time and this is the best group.”

So will Arsenal, with Walcott, prove that this FA cup is just the beginning?