Theo Walcott is showing the maturity off the field and potency on it that can make him a vital asset for England
It was curious to see the swift Theo Walcott left standing. England set off without him for the World Cup finals earlier this summer and that must have been particularly galling since it had probably been the impetus of his hat-trick against Croatia in September 2008 that swept the side to South Africa.
If there is any feeling that he deserved better, the Arsenal attacker conceals it well. The 21-year-old Walcott could simply be mollified now that he is back in the ranks of the national team and, having started in the friendly with Hungary last month, looks set to be a key element in the first Euro 2012 qualifier, against Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday.
There is no sign that he ever did feel wronged by Fabio Capello, a manager who, after all, had been ready to trust the teenage Walcott. The forward has just suffered from a slightly jumbled development. Having taught Croatia a lesson as a 19-year-old, he then had to undergo the education that should help sustain his career.
With four goals in three appearances with Arsenal in this campaign he has already equalled his tally for the whole of last season. His target of scoring between 10 and 15 for the club is realistic, but tributes no longer come so readily. Alan Hansen, echoing an earlier complaint by Chris Waddle, was critical of Walcott's decision-making even after the Arsenal player's hat-trick against Blackpool in the recent 6-0 drubbing.
Walcott has at least learned how to be both diplomatic and wry. He expressed his love of the television highlights while dealing humorously with the punditry. "I'm sitting on my own watching Match Of The Day, watching the goals go in," he said while describing his habits, "and then go off and make myself a cup of tea."
If his kitchen is a refuge it might have seen rather a lot of him earlier this summer. He is mature enough to admit being angry at missing out on the World Cup. "Yes of course," Walcott said. "It's always disappointing. You want to play in the biggest competitions in the world. You want to play against the best. And you want to play for England. But I couldn't point fingers at anyone. I had to blame myself because the form wasn't there at the end of the season and I just wanted to make sure it didn't happen again."
There is a degree of self-examination in Walcott's comments and it is, for instance, the player who emphasises that his only goals for his country in a dozen appearances to date came in that encounter with Croatia. He is frank, too, about the necessary work he is putting in to improve his final ball and his understanding with the Arsenal right-back, Bacary Sagna.
At the same time Walcott does seem sure of himself as a menace to defenders. "When I was 17 or 18," he reflected, "if I got kicked I probably would have stayed down. Now I get up. And that's when the full-back thinks 'I'm going to have a torrid day today'. That's what I've got to do. If I do get kicked, if I get hurt, I've just got to get up from it."
He makes light of the injuries that sidelined him and led to inconsistency when he was on the field. Aaron Lennon was preferred for the World Cup, but now he is the one left out by Capello amid concerns about the Tottenham Hotspur winger's current form and fitness. Walcott is not in the mood to view his exclusion from the campaign in South Africa as any sort of blessing even if it was ignominious for those who did make the squad.
"I would still have loved to have gone," Walcott says stubbornly. There is an independent streak to him and reference to the rout of Croatia does not induce sentimental happiness. "I wasn't really involved much," he argues. "I just scored a hat-trick."
He is more conscious of the scope for development. "My involvement in general play is getting much better now," he said. "It has been up and down but I have been in the limelight since I was 16. I have been around for a very long time. I am 21 now. It has come right for me this season. You need to mix your game. For Arsenal especially I have been coming inside a bit more and getting on the goal sheet."
He then spoke about the need for staying wide. That was not so much a contradiction as a suggestion of the variety a footballer needs to respond to the demands of particular fixtures. "If I stay out wide I can drag a couple of people with me," Walcott said. "When a winger is not involved [directly], they can still be involved by taking other players out of the game to create more space for the likes of Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney [with England]."
He is still far from being a counterpart to his great Arsenal predecessor Thierry Henry, but is at least a player whose style can evolve. England's recovery from the 2010 World Cup will indeed depend on the personal progress made by relatively young players such as Walcott.
Source: Kevin McCarra, The Guardian on 31 Aug 10
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