Can Walcott’s failure be blamed on Wenger?
Former players round on the ‘schoolboy’ winger for his lack of progress in four years at Arsenal
John Terry may have escaped from Wembley unscathed after England's victory over Egypt, but one player who most certainly hasn't is Theo Walcott - Arsenal's great enigma. And former professionals are now lining up to stick the knife into the winger.
The most withering attack on the 20-year-old, who lasted less than an hour on Wednesday night and was replaced by goal-scorer Shaun Wright-Phillips, came from a man who knows what it takes to play on the flank for his country - Chris Waddle.
The former Spurs player, who has 62 England caps, has clearly run out of patience with the young Gunner. And his strong criticism could also be taken as an attack on Arsene Wenger's much vaunted footballing philosophy, which supposedly helps players blossom into talents with an innate understanding of the beautiful game.
"I've never seen any difference in Walcott since he was at Southampton and broke into the team at a very young age," declared Waddle - effectively claiming that Wenger has achieved nothing with the player he bought to Arsenal five years ago.
"People keep saying he's young but Wayne Rooney understood the game at 16, 17," added Waddle. "I've never seen him develop. He just doesn't understand the game for me - where to be running, when to run inside a full back, when to just play a one-two. It's all off the cuff."
He even went as far as to dismiss Walcott's finest hour - a hat-trick for England against Croatia in 2008 - as a fluke. "I just don't think he's got a football brain... He hasn't done anything for a long time and I think Croatia was a one-off. I just think he's got a lot to learn."
That theme was continued by another critic, this one a former Arsenal player, whose words would have stung Walcott even more. Writing in the Telegraph, Alan Smith likened Walcott to a "schoolboy" and added: "During the four years he has been exposed to the Premier League at Arsenal, Walcott doesn’t appear to have learned very much."
Trevor Steven, another former England player of the same vintage as Waddle and Smith, added another voice to the chorus of disapproval aimed at Walcott and Arsenal. "Somewhere along the line Theo Walcott's development has been seriously derailed," he opined in City AM.
All of this has been heard before, and it is well-known that Walcott veers from excellent to exasperating almost as much as the Arsenal team itself. But the fact that former professionals, who understand how a player's career develops, are expressing their frustration will be a big worry.
Before the game on Wednesday Wenger, perhaps guessing the sort of response a below-par performance from Walcott would induce from the critics, sought to blame the player's patchy form and injury hit season on being forced to turn out for the England under-21s in the summer.
But in Stuart Pearce Wenger picked a tough target and the former England hardman - who now manages the under-21 side - responded: "When he left me he was fully fit. I can't be responsible for him picking up an injury at Arsenal.
"Two years ago, when Theo played every match for the Under-21s, it built his confidence up when he wasn't playing so well for Arsenal, they benefited and I didn't hear him [Wenger] complain then." ·
