HAVING GONE INTO WEEKEND celebrating the A-level results of his girlfriend, Theo Walcott has finally passed a significant test of his own. In only 17 minutes on the pitch, this 17-year-old football scholar showed signs of his much-heralded promise, suggesting that he will graduate with full honours from Arsène Wenger’s university of footballing arts.
On a day that Arsenal focused on the future in their impressive new Emirates Stadium, the youngest player in their squad gave them reason to look forward with relish. Walcott received a standing ovation on his 73rd-minute introduction against Aston Villa and the home fans never returned to their seats, standing transfixed as this callow youth energised the entire team, running at defenders, using the ball intelligently and providing the cross from which Gilberto Silva equalised in the 83rd minute.
After waiting seven months for his debut since his £12.5 million move from Southampton, Walcott was determined to make the most of it, with no sign of the nerves that forced him to return to the little boys’ room before leaving the substitutes’ bench.
“I wasn’t nervous, not at all, although I did go to the toilet just before I came on, so there might have been a bit there,” he said. “Once I had the first touch of the ball, the confidence came into me. Coming on with 60,000 people here, when I didn’t even expect to be in the squad, was a really big thing for me, but I worked hard to get there.
“I have been waiting a long time, but I have been so patient and I have to thank the boss for playing me. I was so up for it. I need to have a few more games, but I’m on a high. My goals for the season were just to come off the bench and do well. Now I want to get a start.”
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Having had his mere presence in the England squad in Germany questioned by Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Walcott could be forgiven for wanting to forget about the World Cup, but insists he benefited from the experience.
“The World Cup was a brilliant experience for me, training with world-class players, but I just want to concentrate on Arsenal now,” Walcott said. “Dealing with the pressure and watching how players prepared for big games helped, but now it’s gone. I didn’t feel pressure — you shouldn’t at 17, really — but I was picked and it didn’t affect me. I will play anywhere — left, right or up front, As long as I’m on the pitch I am happy.”
Walcott’s cameo was also a triumph for Wenger, whose faith in the teenager has also been questioned, particularly the role he played in persuading Sven-Göran Eriksson to take the forward to Germany. The Frenchman will continue to tread cautiously, but a full debut in the Champions League tie against Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday is a possibility.
“The criticism was unfair,” Wenger said. “He’s young and already has had to cope with a lot of pressure and I’m surprised he got criticism he didn’t deserve. At our level, when you’re a football player you can understand criticism when you don’t play well, but when you don’t play at all . . .
“I don’t know if he will start on Wednesday, but he will certainly be involved in the squad. He’s in a difficult situation because he’s very young and needs to be given time, but people want him always to come on. They’re saying, ‘Give us a star in England.’
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“He will play some games and the fact that he came on today will speed up my desire to put him in.”
Walcott deserves another opportunity after this display because without him Arsenal did not look as if they would cancel out Olof Mellberg’s headed opener. With Liam Ridgewell outstanding at the back and a five-man midfield successfully smothering the home team’s dominance of possession, Aston Villa were good value for a point under Martin O’Neill. The Northern Irishman might have changed during his 15 months out of the game, but his teams remain as competitive as ever.
“I think I have got a broader perspective of life,” O’Neill said. “The same things matter to me, are of concern to me, but in a broader scheme. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt me. I want it to. I want it to hurt the players if you lose the game and I want them to be ecstatic if we win the game.”
HOW WILL THEY DO?
With Martin O’Neill’s energy and organisational skills coursing through the club, Aston Villa are already improving, but the same cannot be said of Arsenal. For all their talented young players, they remain short of experience and will have to rely heavily on the inspiration of Thierry Henry