Theo Walcott, Arsenal, And England

By: Abby | September 10th, 2008

In case you haven’t heard (and if so, where have you been?), our very own Theo Walcott got a hat-trick with England in Zagreb. The 4-1 win was an amazing result, even with 10 men on the Croatia team. Croatia hasn’t lost in Zagreb since 1994, England have been generally terrible for two years (and not hugely impressive for years before that), and no one was expecting much. Plus, it was an Arsenal player grabbing the headlines.

Arsenal fans get stick from fans of other teams for their lack of English players. As an American, I don’t care either way, but as Arsenal is technically a team in England, I can see how it would be a problem for some people who do care. We’ve been able to point to the lack of success in the England team, and the high price commanded for English players who are merely competent, for reasons why we have so few, but it’s continued to be something to barb us with. Some have even suggested that the reason the English national team is so bad is because elite teams like Arsenal prefer to field teams of foreigners rather than have English players.

Theo Walcott is an anomaly in our team- a genuine English boy. He’s been in and out of the starting lineup since coming to Arsenal as a highly rated teenager. Some sections of the Arsenal fanbase has been critical of him, but I’ve always been of the opinion that he needs more time- he’s still a teenager, after all. Very few players are brilliant at his age- Cesc may have been an exception, but not all of our players will be Cesc. And clearly, he’s been growing each year. His finishing has improved, he’s learned what we’d hope he’d learn. He’s not 100% consistent yet- he’s still only 19- but he’s definitely growing as a player.

That was seen tonight. Great finishing, great instincts, and a performance that has all of England purring. He’s shown on a large stage what he’s learned in his two years at Arsenal, and my hope is that he’ll bring it back to London (and Blackburn, and Bolton, and Kiev). It’s got to be a massive confidence boost for him, to score so many goals at such a level. I hope it doesn’t go to his head, but he seems like a grounded kid, and he’s in a good place to shield him from such forces. We’ve done a decent job of it so far.

Which brings me (eventually) to the point. Theo’s learned a lot about football at Arsenal- finishing, passing, beating defenders, etc. He’s not the finished product yet. He still has a lot to learn. But Arsene clearly saw in him an English player who’s able to learn the Arsenal system, and right now, that’s helping England improve their lackluster performances. Instead of ruining the English national team, there’s evidence that Arsenal may just be the one to save it.

It’s not just Theo. There’s also the English youth. We’ve got a lot of Academy kids in the English youth system, and while they’ll not all make it in the Arsenal first team, they’re all learning how to play like Arsenal. They learn how to play in our style, that advanced, lovely sort of football we all adore so much. And it’s starting to work in England. A recent friendly between the England U-19s and the Holland U-19s had 5 Arsenal academy players involved- 4 English boys and 1 Dutch one. England won 2-1. Both goals were scored by our own highly rated young forward Rhys Murphy. The captain of the English boys was Henri Lansbury, considered one of our brightest midfield prospects (illness and concern over his commitment hampered his form, allowing other English prospects like Jack Wilshere to pass him), and he impressed on the night. This is the generation of kids raised at the Academy. English boys who’ve been with Arsenal since they started learning about football. Who’ve learned to play our way nearly since the beginning.

There are no guarantees in football. There’s no promises that Theo will become the next England superstar and raise them to the heights that English fans feel they deserve. There are no promises that our prospects like Rhys Murphy and Henri Lansbury and Gavin Hoyte (brother of Justin, considered to be a better prospect than the elder one) will make it, both at Arsenal and international level. But maybe, just maybe, we’ll be what saves England from perpetual disappointment.

Let’s look at what we can take a bit of credit for right now.