Are England missing a trick with Theo Walcott?

If ever there has been a player to divide opinion among fans, journalists and legends, then look no further than beyond the borders of North London.

He sets an example of leading a quiet personal life in comparison to some of his England colleagues, but Theo Walcott has never quite evaded the media spotlight. After-all, he will always be known as the 17 year old who went to the World Cup without playing a single game in domestic top flight football.
More recently, his omission from the international team has certainly helped his career take a turn for the better. Lionel Messi even went on record and said "I thought it was a bad decision to leave Theo Walcott at home. I can only speak from experience but he was one of the most dangerous players I have ever played against. Barcelona players are not scared easily but I can tell you that when we played Arsenal he truly worried us"
Walcott came on as a second half sub to earn Arsenal a draw in the Champions League two seasons ago and manager Pep Guardiola was in awe of the Englishman’s talent pace by admitting, “You would need a pistol to stop him”.

Despite the high praises, England fans however are uninspired by the former Southampton player. His 3 goals in 19 starts is a far cry from Arsenal league record where he has 20 goals from 72 starts. And having playing some 16 hours less football than PFA Player of the Year Gareth Bale, Walcott recorded more goals and assists than the Welshman last season.

His development has been closely observed by various figures in the game and the young Englishman has certainly received some very harsh and unfair criticism over the years. Yet, if there is ever a way to set an example of proving your doubters wrong, Walcott would be the ideal candidate having made improvements to his game with quality performances, most notably at Stamford Bridge this season.

There aren’t many left backs in the world better than former Gunner Ashley Cole. Yet, the Chelsea defender has struggled on many occasions when faced with the pace of Walcott. And his goal at the Shed End in the bridge would’ve even had Chris Waddle jump off his seat. The winger battled through 4 Chelsea players to unleash a blistering shot past Petr Cech as Arsenal took the points at the Bridge.

While the England manager Fabio Capello watched from the director’s stand, he may have been wondered why his playing style consistently fails to take advantage of Walcott’s ability. Why is it that a player producing excellent performances against the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea cannot do the same when faced with likes of Montenegro or Switzerland? Why is Arsene Wenger the only manager who benefits from the young Englishman’s pace and accurate finishing? Are England missing a trick in the way Capello deploys Walcott?

The answers may lie in the way Arsenal adopt their attacking style by utilising the wide men in the opposition half. There is always movement from the Arsenal’s midfielders off the ball. Gervinho, Van Persie and Walcott are constantly swapping roles in an attempt to confuse the defenders and create space.

Wenger allows his attackers to play with freedom in their movement and expression on the ball. His instruction to his creative players is to look for Walcott’s run after regaining possession inside their own half. Fabregas, Ramsey and Wilshere have on many occasions played the ball deep into the opposition half for the former Saints player to create opportunities.

Capello demands a style that is more a rigid in formation and strictly disciplined in attack with very few risks in passing. The result of this is a lack of creativity and monotonously predictable attacks by England. The team rely heavily on opposition making mistakes while the players are more vulnerable to being man marked and have little room for variation.

The England manager’s idea of Walcott running down the flank and crossing the ball for the centre forward is old fashioned. The full backs do not attack as much as they are used to for their clubs and only Rooney has the license to drift.

If Capello feels that playing a more free-form attacking role with his forwards would make his team vulnerable defensively, then perhaps he has neglected the improvements in Walcott’s defensive routine. Various teams, including the likes of Chelsea, Marseille and Sunderland have targeted Arsenal’s right side identifying former Charlton player Jenkinson as the weak link.

Analysing Walcott’s play on Guardian Chalkboards, the diagram on the left shows the wingers passing against Sunderland this season in comparison to his passes against Wolves two seasons ago. Walcott has attempted to track back more often this season to help the full back recently and has taken on more defensive responsibilities this season. His passes appear to be more direct and organised rather than short-horizontal in comparison to his performance two years go.







England should certainly adopt aspects of Arsenal’s attacking tactics when suitable, especially against teams likes Spain where they are likely to have reduced possession. Capello will be hoping midfielder Jack Wilshere will recover in time for the Euros. Wilshere’s understanding with Walcott at club level may well prove to be a catalyst for England’s success in the future.

No style in English Football

Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas has highlighted exactly what is wrong with English football. Fabregas’ interview with Telegraph should no doubt turn some heads in the FA as to what kind of an approach is needed in England. He explains how constant demand to win neglects what the primary purpose of football is.

“In Spain, we believe in one style of football. The way we play is the most important. It’s about how you do it. You will never play the ball longer or do some things you are not used to. We want to win playing football. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen but we want to be the best this way. We did it last summer and we want to keep doing it”

Footballistically, the culture and expectation around Europe is staggering compared what we witness in England. Bert van Marwijk, the Dutch manager that led them to the World Cup finals was constantly slaughtered in the Dutch media for his style of football throughout the World Cup as was Dunga, though as much as I despise them for reasons unknown, I must admit watching Brazil in the World Cup I thought was fantastic.

The approach we in England take to football has given us no recognition of any sort for years and although the country can boast having the best league in the world, the fact of the matter is that it is the foreign players that light up the league.

Teams can play with defensive long ball tactics against tougher opposition. That is understandable when so much is at stake in the game. Whereas a game watching Stoke play Blackburn can be interesting to see how many players leave unscathed, we can be assured that the rest of the world would be sitting there having a good old laugh at us.

“Here in England it is passion and the fans love it when there are hard tackles and you play long balls and counter-attack. If you do that in Spain they will boo you.”

“…because they are used to another kind of football. Here [in England] if you play good football, good football, good football and you don’t win then they can boo you for the opposite. You have to believe in your style and go for it”

Football is an entertainment business and that is the truth of the matter. In recent days however, we have seen the word “entertainment” removed from the phrase. And it is exactly the reason why England always fail at the major international stage. There is a lack of discipline among the players mixed with a complete disregard for what the game stands for.

Over the past 6 or 7 years, other than Wayne Rooney at Everton/Manchester United and Steven Gerrard, there hasn’t been any English players that would turn a head in World football like Iniesta, Ronaldo, Fabregas and Messi would.

“In Spain they make you study and have discipline,”

“You can be a good footballer, but if you don’t study, if you don’t behave, if you don’t have the discipline to get to training on time and eat well then they don’t care if you’re the best."

“Discipline and humility is very important. If you think you’re better than the others they’ll put you on the bench straight away. "

“They want the kids to be good but they want it to be that when they get into the first team, they behave the same way they did at 16."

"And that’s the most important thing because now it is very easy at 17 to become a first-team player, get some money and to go back down again because you think you have made it. But in Spain they would never let you do that. If that happened you would be out of the team straight away.”

It is hard to imagine how a player like Kevin Davies with some 120 goals and some 112 yellow cards can go home on a Saturday evening sit down and think, “I enjoyed my football today”. How do you enjoy playing football when all you’re doing through a game is watching out for when the long ball comes in and then bask in the glory of beating it past a defender by wrestling him to the ground?

“Sometimes my family couldn’t find me. You are out on the street. you came back at 12 o’clock at night and rested and then got up on Sunday morning and did it again. It was like this. One of the things you see in Spain a lot is that when you go, especially in small towns, on the street you play street football with your friends.”

"You cut your knees badly but you still stand up and play and it’s important to do that at this age. From there, players progress in a certain way."

“You fall on the floor, you stand up, you hit a wall, you sometimes break some windows. That is the beauty of football in Spain.”

There are no technically gifted players in the England team as there is of the robust energy powerhouse players which is useful to have, but causes an imbalance.

Rest assured, the new generation of players coming through to the English team have promising abilities. Jack Wilshere, Rodwell of Everton and Adam Johnson from Manchester City look the part in what is needed start undertaking a new philosophy in football

“I’m sure you have the players, but you have to find your own style. We were not born like it but we were taught to play like it.”