Should Walcott be going to Germany?
The media frenzy surrounding Theo Walcott’s inclusion in the England squad is understandable. Sven Goran Eriksson admits to never having seen him play and on relying on Arsene Wenger’s recommendation in selecting him.
Brazil’s World Cup squad at USA 1994 also included a 17 year old phenomenon - Ronaldo, although he did not play.
There are two major differences between Ronaldo’s selection then and Walcott’s selection now. First Ronaldo had already experienced top level action, having scored 58 goals in 60 games for Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte before being selected. Walcott scored 5 goals in 12 starts this season for Championship strugglers Southampton before joining Arsenal for an intial £5 million, where to date he has only played for the reserves. Second, Brazil had a fully fit partnership of Romario and Bebeto leading the line with plenty of goals in back-up forwards Viola, Paulo Sergio and Muller. England’s two first choice forwards Rooney and Owen are either injured or recovering and Peter Crouch is hardly prolific. With such strength in depth, Brazil could afford to bring a young player with bags of potential along for the experience. It’s doubtful whether England can.
If Wenger believes that Walcott is ready to handle arguably the most pressurised competition in football and carry the hopes of a nation on his young shoulders, then why hasn’t he thought him ready to handle the Premiership or the Champions League? If he is ready, may be he should be given a run out in Wednesday’s final against Barcelona?
As for Sven, he has little to lose in selecting Walcott. If the gamble pays off, he will be hailed as a genius. If it does not, he is leaving his job after the World Cup and so will not have to face the stinging criticism of the notoriously fickle English tabloids.
