Arsenal must protect Walcott
The last two under-20 promising England strikers to hit the headlines ended up leading the front line for club and country at a very young age – not the ideal circumstances to groom a young player into an established superstar.
Michael Owen at 1998, Rooney at Euro 2004 – both players ended up having their countries’ hopes resting on their shoulders every time they walked out on a football pitch. Both players were also asked to be the front-line strikers for their teams at a time when they weren’t prepared for the responsibility and the changes it would bring to their game.
There’s a lot of hype and a lot of counter-hype after yesterday’s win against Croatia – but like it or not, the press are going to talk about Walcott for every England game and bit by bit the pressure is going to be built up to a point where fans start ‘expecting’.
And when that happens, Arsenal will need to make sure Walcott keeps developing at a natural pace and isn’t forced to make drastic changes to his game to suit the ‘greater good’.
Walcott’s a good kid, let’s hope he can establish himself as a regular starter for Arsenal and England on the right-flank by the time Euro 2012 comes along – but for now, maybe it’s too early to push into the spotlight for every game (he’s definitely going to South Africa though).
Topics: Arsenal, England, English Premier League
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He will go if england does.
September 11th, 2008 @ 18:09I don’t see any problem here. Arsenal managed him well throughout the hoopla surrounding his inclusion in the World Cup squad. I can’t see Wenger being swayed by this one performance.
September 11th, 2008 @ 22:43The bizarre thing about Walcott is that, despite all the hype when he was included in the England WC squad, in 2 seasons since he has not made the breakthrough at Arsenal.
I’ve been amazed at how little playing time Wenger has given him.
Normally a players club performances drive his international career, with Walcott it seems to be the other way around. But it’s early days. I’ll hold my judgement on him until he delivers these type of performances on a regular basis.
Hopefully he is left alone to develop but he seems to have a good head on his shoulders.
September 12th, 2008 @ 09:36Some time back the ‘English managers brigade’ (that ambiguous group that blames Arsene Wenger for every problem in English football) was blaming Walcott for making the wrong move citing that he was not getting enough playing time, his position wasnt fixed, blah, blah, blah (namely Harry Redknapp ie someone who loves to berate Wenger but is always after every player Wenger discards and a certain DB who left Arsenal and is presently a Yid). But now the outpourings (as in this article) suggests Wenger should protect the whizkid. Like Wenger is going to listen…………….
September 12th, 2008 @ 21:25Wenger’s not playing him enough!
and David Bentley would have been better if he had gotten more time at Arsenal…
September 12th, 2008 @ 23:32I personally agree with you Ahmed, but what we have to hope is that all the hype that England fans are giving him now doesn’t go to his head and cause him to jump ship early as Bentley, and Lassana Diara, have.
September 13th, 2008 @ 06:19