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Theo James Walcott - dubbed as England’s wonderkid in 2006 when Arsenal splashed out £5 million on the 16 year old, great things were expected of the ex-Southampton starlet. With pace to burn, an exciting striker with a good finish (at the time) and likened to Thierry Henry, Arsenal fans were very much excited. Fast forward to 2012, and majority of those Arsenal fans want him OUT.
Why?
Well, with the Arsenal fans excited about Theo and his future development at the club, a certain Swedish manager also got a bit too excited. Sven Goran Eriksson included the 16 year old in his 23 man England squad for the 2006 World Cup – with Theo not even playing a single game at the top level of English football.
Though, Theo didn’t feature in any of the England’s games in the World Cup, he maintains that the experience has helped him. Has it? Or did the inclusion virtually destroy his confidence during the early stages of his career? With fans and media alike barely having watched the youngster play, expectations were increased alot after Walcott’s inclusion in the 2006 World Cup squad.
Even when Arsenal were by a goal down against Aston Villa on the opening day of the 2006/2007 season, everyone expected Theo to turn the game around when he came on as a sub (though in fairness, he went on to assist Gilberto Silva for the equalizer).
“The fact that Mr Eriksson had included me in the squad made me a lot more visible, a lot more high-profile. There was a lot of pressure on me when I got back to England because everyone was waiting to see if there was any substance to this kid who people were now saying had been selected for the World Cup on the foolish whim of a desperate manager,” said Theo Walcott.
In other words, the inclusion kept Theo under the media’s radar at the tender age of 16, catching up on his progress and how he was faring in the top flight of English football. Make a mistake, and Theo was to be lambasted by the papers the very next day. Sven Goran Erikssen took away the chance for Theo to develop as a footballer at Arsenal, behind closed doors.
“My opportunity to do my growing up as a footballer out of the spotlight had disappeared for ever. I couldn’t now learn on the undercard of a bill, like a young fighter making his way through the ranks. I was still a raw novice but I had to accept that I was also one of the headline acts. It didn’t matter whether I liked it or not. I just had to get on with it.”
The fact that he has been playing out of position as a right winger at Arsenal hasn’t helped either – inconsistent is a word closely associated with Theo, sometimes he’s absolutely exciting when he exploits his pace and takes on the defenders, sometimes he’s dreadful as his finishing is horrible. He is right now, a regular for both Arsenal and England but majority of the fans are still not convinced about his skill. Many rate him as a ‘sprinter with no footballing brain’.
Last Sunday, after a dreadful first half performance against Tottenham, he scored two brilliant goals in the second half. Every time he scores the fans have a laugh about it: “Theo Walcott’s goals are like a bus, you wait ages for one and then suddenly, two come along.”
Theo Walcott of Arsenal is mobbed by team mates.
Walcott is just 22, he’s no Torres who is approaching the twilight of his career as the Chelsea player turns 28 within a month. Theo is far from his prime and has time on his side. Are the fans ready to wait? His goals this season are worthy of any top striker’s as his requests to play in the center have been denied by Wenger. Theo is still effective as a right winger – most of van Persie’s myriad of goals since 2011 have been from Theo Walcott assists. He is also a big game player, having scored against the likes of Spurs, Barcelona, Man United, Chelsea, as well as in the Carling Cup final in 2007.
What if he wasn’t included in the 2006 World Cup squad? The big expectations fans and the media had for him would have been erased, he could have slowly developed as a footballer in the ‘Arsenal Way’ with no unneeded pressure.
Hence, this is why Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, ironically another ex-Southampton star, is barely being played by Arsene Wenger. The same mistake must not be repeated and Wenger is aware of this as he slowly bloods Oxlade-Chamberlain into the team. It’s for the best, though fans will be angry as Oxlade-Chamberlain has performed better at 18 than what Theo has performed at that age.
If you look at Federico Macheda’s case at Man Utd - he came on as a sub in the 08-09 season to score a last minute winner against Aston Villa which spurred them on to win the title. However, he has not done much since, much to the disappointment of the United fans.
Like him or hate him, Theo has been improving season after season, though inconsistent, he’s a key player for Arsenal and it’d be stupid for them to let him go.
