Archive for June 2nd, 2010

Theo: Get mad, get even, and get better at football

195 comments June 2nd, 2010

I’m writing this at 1am.  I’ve already been to bed twice, but I just can’t seem to find any rest.  If there’s anyone out there who’ll know how I feel, it’s Theo Walcott.

Theo won’t sleep tonight, or probably for the next week.  Having been left out of Fabio Capello’s England squad for the World Cup, his mind will be awash with questions: How did something which looked so certain slip away?  Where did I go wrong?

The tabloids have posited a couple of suggestions today: was it because he failed to stick to the touchline as instructed?  Or was his technique just not up to scratch?

Speaking to the BBC, Martin Keown is in no doubt as to what the problem is:

“He runs at a frightening pace, he is rapid, but when he gets into those positions he is not able to think quickly enough, does he pull it back, does he shoot or does he go on his own?  His decision making is the problem, he hasn’t been able to do that. He has become a bit of a one-trick pony in terms of going for the line. People just double up on him. When he has got time and space then he finds it a problem and he has got to sort that out with his game.”

The venerable Goonerholic makes the point that Walcott’s poor form is in part of the FA’s own making, as they took him away with both the senior and U-21 teams last summer, only to send him back broken.

Whatever the cause, the truth behind Walcott’s exclusion is simply that he hasn’t yet managed to turn flashes of ability in to the consistency on which Capello will rely this summer.  That said, selecting Shawn Wright-Phillips ahead of the exciting Adam Johnson to replace him is something of a kick in the teeth.  I fully expect a crowing Ian Wright to appear at any minute.  Maybe he’ll join his Talksport pals in making all this Arsene’s fault for not playing Theo upfront.

All I hope is that this lights a fire under Theo.  However polite his official statement, he needs to get mad and get even.  And get better at football, too.

This blog has a hugely international readership but as an Englishman it’s something of a sore point for me to not have a single Arsenal player in my country’s World Cup squad… unless, as I suggested yesterday, we sign Joe Cole.  It seems we can cross Spurs off the potential list of suitors, with melty-faced manager Harry Redknapp saying:

“I am a big fan of his but the feedback we’ve got is that he’s already signed for somebody else.  I’ve got a feeling he may have agreed a deal with somebody.  Certainly in the summer someone is going to make a very good free signing if he doesn’t stay at Chelsea.”

There’s a paradoxical thing going on whereby Arsenal fans are fairly non-plussed about the possibility of signing Cole, whereas Man United fans – who support a team significantly better than ours – are really excited about getting him.  It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up.

Aaron Ramsey has signed a new long-term deal, which should raise his spirits/bank balance during his recovery from that broken leg.

You’ll have noticed I’ve gone a bit quiet on the Cesc front.  That’s because, frankly, I find it incredibly boring.  All the talk coming out of Barcelona is masking some incredibly slow-moving negotiations behind the scenes.  My hunch is still that they’ll get the player they want, but the chances of anything happening before the World Cup kicks off are slim-to-none.

Right.  Another crack at sleep.  Night all.


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