da aposte e ganhe： Theo Walcott is a curious case of hitting the big-time too early.
da pinnacle： This year marks his ten year anniversary as an Arsenal player, having signed for the club a decade ago as a young 16-year-old.
So much was expected of the pacey striker. A Young Sports personality of the year award nomination threw the young Saint into the limelight and from then, he was all people talked about.
Similarities of Thierry Henry were frequently made as a young-looking Walcott began his Arsenal career and people were seriously excited, it must be said.
But 10 years on, and now nearly 27-years-old, some are beginning to look back on Walcott’s slightly blemished career with a more critical eye. How did one of the country’s most exciting gems become a background player, featuring more from the bench and seemingly always injured?
At nearly 27, we are still yet to see a finished product in Walcott. We know he plays best upfront but rarely gets the chance to play there and he doesn’t get enough goals from the wing. He’s at an age now where he should be guiding the likes of Alex Iwobi through their first years as professionals but it still seems Walcott is the one who needs the guidance.
He divides Arsenal fans. For some, his pace and ability to score in the big ties makes up for his sometimes obvious lack of goalscoring ability.
He had and still has lightnening pace but 10 years ago he was such a raw talent, he needed nurturing. As we’ve seen with many fantastic players it does take some time to turn that talent into natural striking ability of skill. But not ten years.
By 2011, Walcott had scored his first England hat-trick away at Croatia and had cemented himself as a first-team regular in the Arsenal side.
2012-2013 remained Walcott’s most productive years but they had to be: with Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas all leaving the club, he needed to step up. And with the addition of Mesut Ozil he settled, and had a productive season.
But arguably, this is where it went downhill for the Englishman. A cruciate ligament injury ruled him out of the 2014 World Cup and he has been in and out of the Arsenal team ever since.
It would be great news for England if we can get Theo Walcott firing again. Perhaps the return of Danny Welbeck could act as a stepping stone but he’s just too inconsistent at this level.
With Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy performing so well upfront for their clubs this season, and Daniel Sturridge coming back from injury, Walcott may struggle to get on the plane.
One minute he can play as well Thierry Henry and the next he can be falling over his shoelaces as he goes through on goal.
It’s unclear as to why he is such a footballing anomaly but he needs to grow up faster than ever.
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