Fire in Walcott’s belly is most encouraging sign to date
Add comment November 19th, 2007
For the majority of his Arsenal career, Theo Walcott has resembled a boy playing a man’s game. Granted, he is but a teenager, but he’s one who could eventually cost £12m and has been built up as this country’s best footballing prospect. Expectation levels are spectacularly high, and the pressure has weighed heavy on Walcott’s (sometime dislocated) shoulders.
On Friday night, playing for the England U21s, we saw a glimpse of the emerging confidence in the maturing Walcott. After a surging run drew a penalty, he was furious that James Milner was allowed to take the kick, and made sure manager Stuart Pearce knew all about it:
Now whilst those pundits seem slightly put out by Walcott’s behaviour, as Arsenal fans we should be encouraged. Not that I expect Walcott to ever take that kind of tone with Arsene, but because it shows he’s finally beginning to find his feet atop the heady podium of expectation. He now has the confidence to be “The Man”, and his two clinical finishes in the 7-0 thrashing of Prague will only have helped him blossom.
In other International highlights, Tomas Rosicky volleyed home for the Czech Republic whilst Nicklas Bendtner scored in Denmark’s defeat to Northern Ireland.
And Jens Lehmann did something stupid. But that’s hardly news.
