Theo Walcott has made me an England fan again
167 comments September 12th, 2008
I know this is an Arsenal blog, but then Theo Walcott is an Arsenal player, and on Wednesday night in Croatia he almost single-handedly rekindled my interest in the England team.
Starting only his second International game, Walcott justified Fabio Capello’s decision to pick him ahead of David Beckham with a stunning hatrick.
Like every Arsenal fan watching, including Arsene Wenger, I hope he can reproduce that kind of form with Arsenal. The impact he made reaffirmed my belief that he is most potent making runs from deep, like a much much quicker Freddie Ljungberg.
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Walcott on the bench at Blackburn tomorrow – having played twice in the past week I’d anticipate Emmanuel Eboue starting ahead of him. Mikael Silvestre and Samir Nasri are likely to miss out, but Abou Diaby could be back in contention.
33-year old Brazilian International Mineiro has been closely linked with the club, and according to arseblogger was on trial earlier this week. If you’re hoping for a Patrick Vieira-style figure, think again: Mineiro is just 5’6″ tall. I have to say, if we’re seriously looking at Mineiro, our lack of interest in Stephen Appiah baffles me.
The next seven days sees us travel away to Blackburn, Bolton and Kiev: a real slog. But first, a fantastic weekend of Premier League football beckons. Can’t wait.
