Sink or swim time for Theo

Theo Walcott must be a slightly worried man at the moment. He always looks to me as if he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but right now he will be feeling under more pressure than usual.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has emerged as a competitor, not only for his place in the Arsenal team, but in the England team as well.

With Gervinho due to return from the African Cup of Nations shortly and Oxlade-Chamberlain impressing everyone with his performances in the Ivorian's absence, who will Arsene Wenger select out of Gervinho, Theo and Ox?

And with Fabio Capello resigning as England manager and Harry Redknapp looking the most likely bloke to take over, it is possible that the new manager will have different ideas than the old one.

If Radknapp does get the job, will Aaron Lennon be given more games? If you were England manager who would you pick for the wide positions out of Walcott, Young, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Johnson, Lennon and a much improved Stuart Downing?

Theo and Young are probably in pole position at the moment. Capello has stuck by Theo when his form has not been the greatest simply because he can see the potential in him, but with tough competitive matches coming up in the European Championship finals, will Redknapp (or whoever else gets the job) pick more on form?

Theo can still be a top class player. He is still young (people forget that) and, despite regularly frustrating the fans who see him continually struggling to fulfil his potential, he has shown steady improvement each season since he has been at Arsenal.

There are two ways that this can go for Walcott. He can go into his shell and loose confidence like we have seen from him on occasions in the past, or he can either knuckle down, see the competition as a good thing and come out a better player.

Personally, I think the competition will be good for the player. Arsene Wenger has a habit of mollycodling his young players and protecting them from too much competition as he believes this is what is best for their development.

Alex Ferguson has a different approach – it's either sink or swim. If a young player isn't playing well enough to get into the team, he will be dropped. Occasionally, this means that young players fall by the wayside, but that probably means that they were never good enough in the first place.

And I believe it gives players a competitive edge – if a player isn't used to fighting for his place in the team then it seems logical that he is less well equipped to fight for his team when the going gets tough.

So, Theo, it's time to sink or swim.


(Picture courtesy Ronnie McDonald)

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Sink or swim time for Theo

Denmark v England - Jack Wilshere is the new Messiah

Picture courtesy Ronnie Macdonald

Jack Wilshere has not yet made his England debut and people are already talking about building the team around him as if he is the new Messiah. So, no pressure then.

Nicklas Bendter, never one to lack self-confidence himself, is concerned that England might mess Jack around like he did with Theo Walcott, building him up too quickly then forgetting that he is still a youngster and knocking him down when he doesn't immediately perform in every match:

"Jack is definitely capable of playing for his country now. But young players are always put under a lot of pressure very early in England. You always throw players around really quickly. I have my own theories on how Theo Walcott was treated by England but I don’t want to get too much into that because it will probably just get me in trouble. But Theo can be a lesson for the way you treat Jack."

England coach Fabio Capello is of course trying to ease the pressure on Wilshere by not hyping him up too... oh no... wait... er, what he actually said was:

"I remember the best players that I managed – Baresi, Maldini, Raúl – and they started really young. It’s their talent. You have to wait now and let him improve more. Jack plays with confidence, never with fear. That’s incredible for someone so young."

Former England manager Graham 'do I not like that' Taylor has also expressed caution, saying:

"The big surprise to me is how much Wilshere has been praised by Fabio Capello, how flowing in praise he's been of one player before he's actually played one full game. I just hope Wilshere does have a good game tonight.

"He's a good player, there's no doubt about that, from all accounts he handles all situations very well. But at international level, we have a record of players who don't produce it at international level, that's been one of our problems.

"Let's give him a few games and then lets get talking about him instead of building him up into such a player before he's completed one international game."

For what it's worth, I think Jack will handle the pressure well. My only concern is whether people will appreciate him if he forms England's 'invisible wall' in front of the back four.

And my prediction for tonight's match? Denmark 2-2 England, with Walcott and Bendtner both to score.

Fingers crossed for no Arsenal injuries!

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Denmark v England - Jack Wilshere is the new Messiah

Capello admits Walcott World Cup selection error

According to the Daily Telegraph, Fabio Capello has admitted he made a mistake in leaving Theo Walcott out of his squad for the 2010 World Cup. He is quoted in the paper as saying:

"He is one of the players after the World Cup I thought about a lot. He can play 25 minutes and be dangerous. I made a mistake not selecting him. He's one of the players who can make the difference. I should have taken him. This is one change I would have made for this World Cup. He's one of the players who is so fast he can make the difference in every moment."

He went on to say that the decision to leave Theo out had been a difficult one:

"It was a really difficult choice. Aaron Lennon was playing very well. He was at the top at that moment. I chose Lennon and not Theo for this reason. Lennon was perfect. I decided after Austria training and the Japan game. But then Lennon was injured after two games."

Capello was also full of praise for Jack Wilshere and revealed that he sees a role for him with England as a deep-lying midfielder.

"Wilshere is the best young player. He now plays all the time with Arsenal. If you play with Arsenal, you are a really good player because Arsène Wenger likes good players.

"I want to put him in this position in front of the back four. I have to decide because he's so young, he would stay alone in midfield and that can be dangerous.

"I think he's mature enough to play this role. He's a really interesting player. When he started, in some moments he played without big confidence. He was timid, shy. Now every game he improves a lot, he plays with confidence, without fear and he tackles to win." 

In the long run, I think that Arsene Wenger sees Wilshere as being a more attacking player in the mould of Fabregas. Cesc started his Arsenal career in the deeper-lying role that Wilshere is currently playing before moving further forward, and I believe that he has the same plans for Wilshere. He has done great in his current position but all of us who have seen him in reserve and friendly matches know that he is capable of so much more attacking wise.

It's good to see Capello being so positive about Arsenal players though. The Sun, the Daily Mail and Sky should take note. They have been constant in their criticism of Arsenal for not having any English players, despite doing more to develop young English talent than possibly any other club, while other teams have escaped criticism despite the fact that they have bought most of their English players and have done little to develop English football.

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Capello admits Walcott World Cup selection error

Gibbs, Wilshere and Walcott - how did they do?

Jack Wilshere (picture courtesy Attilafozo)

I think I must have been hallucinating yesterday evening because it looked as if Arsenal had three players in the England team. And you know what? They all looked good.

Inevitably after all the hype surrounding Jack Wilshere, it was Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs who impressed the most.

Kieran Gibbs was probably the most impressive of all. He came on at half time for Cashley Cole and was probably England's best player in the second half, two moments of sheer bloody brilliance from Stephen Gerrard aside. As incredible as it sounds, Gibbs along with Stevie G., were the driving forces for England and I would even go so far as to say that it's unlikely that England would have won the match without them both.

As for Gerrard, after a mediocre first-half display in which he constantly seemed to give the ball away, he was magnificent in the second half. The thing I like about Gerrard is that he isn't a fair-weather player (metaphorically speaking). Most of the really top players are good when the team is playing well, but some struggle when the going gets tough. This is not the case with Gerrard. In fact he seems to play better when backs are against the wall (the 2005 Champions League final is another fine example of this). Let's hope he isn't as good on Sunday.

Theo Walcott put in a good evening's work and was probably England's best player in the first half before being replaced by Ashley Young at half time. He made some very lively runs with the ball, caused chaos in the opposition's defence and delivered the final ball when required - something he has been accused of not doing in the past.

Sometimes I feel that the criticism of Walcott is very harsh. Ashley Young didn't put in one successful cross or shot last night but was hailed as a success; whereas Theo often puts in good crosses which the forwards fail to convert and gets criticised for it. Hey-ho!

I said before the World Cup that Walcott, despite his obvious rough edges, could offer England far more than either Lennon or Wright-Phillips, and I wonder if Fabio Capello now regrets not taking him.

In case you need reminding of what Theo Walcott can do when he's on form, check out this earlier post from last week 

Jack Wilshere might have slightly mixed feelings about the match. According to the Press Association, he was detained in hospital on Tuesday night with stomach pains and only returned to the England team hotel at 5am on Wednesday. On the advice of doctors therefore, Capello only gave Jack ten minutes to impress, which wasn't really enough. On the plus side however, he made his full England debut and can be very pleased with his ten minutes overall. F*** it, scratch that, he made his England debut at only 18 years old and must be over the moon. Let's hope that he takes confidence from this and has a good performance against Liverpool on Sunday.

So all in all a good evening for Arsenal's English youngsters. I only hope that they keep their feet on the ground and that fraternising with a lot of overpaid, over-hyped, arrogant w*****s won't rub off on them.

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Gibbs, Wilshere and Walcott - how did they do?

Theo Walcott videos - top 15 goals, top 15 assists and more

For those who doubt Theo Walcott's ability when he's on form, here are a few reminders...

Top 15 goals

Top 15 assists

Early career at Southampton

2 goals for the under 21s

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Theo Walcott videos - top 15 goals, top 15 assists and more

Six of the Best Arsenal News Stories from the Past Few Days

Cesc Fabregas (Courtesy RobTM)

• The Telegraph: Arsenal refuse to speak to Barcelona over possible Cesc Fabregas deal

Arsenal tell Barca they have no intention of selling Fab and that they should f*** off and die.

• Metro: Joe Cole 'to join Arsenal on free transfer after signing three-year deal'

Rumours are building that Joe Cole has signed for Arsenal. We shall see.

• Swiss Ramble: UEFA say fair play to Arsenal - UEFA's new financial rules put under the microscope

An well-balanced article on UEFA's planned financial fair play rules.

• Gunnerholic: Thanks for sweet FA, Capello

Theo Walcott has been used and abused by England.

• Daily Mail: Aaron Ramsey takes positives as rehabilitation from horrific leg break injury comes along nicely

Good news - Aaron Ramsey is on the mend.

• YouTube: Arsenal's future: Wojciech Szczesny - The Wall

Another great video of Arsenal's future no. 1 in action. I get excited every time I see him play. (No, not in that way!)

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Six of the Best Arsenal News Stories from the Past Few Days

Theo In, Campbell Out

Theo Walcott (picture ourtesy RobTM)

As you have probably heard by now, Theo Walcott has been named in Fabio Capello's initial 30-man England squad for the World Cup but Sol Campbell has been left out.

I think Sol must have got the fairly obvious message that Capello doesn't fancy him too much. He hasn't been included in the squad of 30 which included six centre backs: Jamie Carragher, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Ledley King, John Terry and Matthew Upson.

Of those, John Terry is obvious a shoe-in, but Carragher was asked to come out of retirement, Dawson is uncapped, there are doubts about Ferdinand's fitness, Ledley King is a permenant crock and Upson has never really impressed. So if he can't get in before those lot, he's got no chance. Phil Jagjelka or Joleon Lescott would probably be next in line.

Personally, I would have liked to see Sol at the World Cup but Mr Capello is England manager and he probably knows what's best for the team.

I'm not sure whether Sol is technically still an Arsenal player but I hope that he will sign on for another season. According to Arsenal Mania, the player himself is keen to stay.

England's 30-man provisional squad in full

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.

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Theo In, Campbell Out