It has emerged that England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce has not given up hope of having Theo Walcott at his disposal for the European Championship finals in Sweden next summer. The 19-year-old will obviously still be eligible for the tournament, but having scored a hat-trick for the senior team to burst onto the international scene – this would be a bad move for England and Walcott.
Walcott’s performance in the World Cup qualification victory over Croatia should act as a spring board for his international career. Therefore, talk of him stepping back down to Under-21 level seems rather wide of the mark. The main purpose of the Under-21 squad is to mould players ready for the senior team and they have done exactly that with Walcott. The Arsenal man is now ready to continue his career as part of Fabio Capello’s England – not Pearce’ England.
I can understand that Pearce wants his best players available, but I don’t think Walcott should be used next summer. Wayne Rooney was still eligible for the Under-21’s until last year, but there was never any talk of him playing form them – so why Walcott? Imagine if he did fly to Sweden with Pearce next summer and picked up an horrific injury that ruled him out of important England world cup qualifiers. I don't think that would go down very well.
Walcott’s club manager, Arsene Wenger, has voiced his concerns about how it would affect the player ‘mentally’ should he drop back into the Under-21’s. The Arsenal boss says that it would be ‘very difficult’ for Walcott to cope with the idea of playing for the Under-21’s after starting to establish himself in the top team. Wenger went on to mention Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka – who had returned to the French Under-21 team after appearing for the senior team – and he said that this ‘never worked very well’.
After his stunning performance for England against Croatia, Walcott should be focusing on helping the national team qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Any talk of anything such as playing for the Under-21’s will only act as a distraction for someone who is one of the most talented players England have produced.
Walcott’s next international appearance will be for England against Kazakhstan on the 11th October and with the football odds expecting a dominant England performance – it is another chance for him to shine on the international stage.
By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting
I’m offended by the fact that at no place in this article does it mention the fact that England U21 still have a play off against Wales U21 before they even have a place in the finals. Does Stuart Pearce just assume he will win?