Walcott dropped by Capello
Theo Walcott has been omitted from England’s final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, according to reports.
The 21-year-old was expected to make his way into the squad, but but a season of injuries and in-and-out form has cost him his place.
Three Lions boss Fabio Capello phoned him to break the news while Walcott was playing golf earlier this morning.
Capello had said that he could not find room for Walcott, Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips in his party, and that it would have to be two from the three. It now appears Wright-Phillips has forced his way in. The Manchester City winger has the versatility to also play on the left.
Walcott has endured a stop-start season because of a seemingly never-ending run of injuries but he felt that he had finally found his form. His hopes that he would be on the plane were raised when he started in the friendlies against Mexico and Japan but now he must begin to come to terms with the role of spectator.
Give your thoughts on Walcott’s surprise omission in the comments section below.
joe cole got the nod over him….to be honest, i support capello..walcott has no footballing brain at all. wat he got is just pace and nothing more….he shouldnt be in arsenal first eleven at all. he really need to step up. wilshere is the only promising english player that we have in arsenal…he has a more brighter future than walcott for sure. walcott is a crap and he deserve to be dropped. end of story..
Yeah, damstar, me too. I’m very glad he is dropped, just to show him he must improve if he wants to achieve big things.
Walcott is the perfect impact sub though..Capello might live to regret this
WOAH some crazy GOOD news 😀 yeah http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/aaron-ramsey-signs-new-deal-with-arsenal
No end product and no football intelligence, he basically has not improved over 3/4 years, injuries have not helped but neither has being at Arsenal, he does not suit us, he needs to play in a direct side, we pass too much for him, its not his game, he needs to go to Aston Villa, another thing that would help is actually using him as a striker, he should have been tried there more, fair enough we wanted to give him an all round game but its not helped, I feel sorry for the boy cause he seems a good lad but he needs to settle into a position and work on his game or maybe to leave.
Well it wasn’t a surprise really, after all theo really hasn’t proved himself at all, his been in and out during the season, his had the chances to show what kind of a player he can be, but I’m sorry theo, you time isn’t rite now. If theo really wants to make the next world cup, he as to improve as a player, yes he as pace, but I’m affraid thats all he as at the moment, I’ve watched theo many times, and I get a feeling everytime he gets to the 18 yard box, he panics, always seems in a rush, and 9/10 times when he crosses or goes for goal he messes it up.
Can half understand why he has lost out. However I think its a mistake – his pace off the bench in the last 20 minutes if England are chasing a game would be a great weapon to have. His overall game is not up to a starting place but he offers something no other player can match and just for that alone I would have kept him in. At least the red tops will not blame him when England under achieve again.
not surprising we’ve been waiting all season for some glimpse of improvement but look at his performances against a decent full back he doesn’t have variety or the where with all to do or try something different.Capello has given him every chance.
Bendtner apparently injured. He didn’t make the bench against Australia (live now).
Gr8 news. do we know how long for?
It’s a 6 year contract extension worth £40-50k a week, I believe.
Bendtner is wanted by Jose at Madrid anyway.. 🙂
i meant. does anybody know the duration of Ramsey’s new contract is?
how long was his contract when he joined us?
The only thing about walcott that has improved is his gift of the gab.
Poor fella, I would be seriously peeved at this if i was him, if i remember correctly he was forced to practically go to th U21 tournament last summer against Arsene wishes as it would cement his england place, turns out he got injured as Arsene predicted fucked up his whole season, Nice one Staurt Pearce you prick!!! If i was Theo I would never play for England again.
Wright Phillips can not defend he loses the ball far to often I would always pick Theo over him espeically as an impact player…
I think Aaron signed for 6 years anyway when he signed, probably just a raise, to be honest before the injury I thought he looked outstanding..they are preparing for the Cesc departure..
I really don’t know how Ramsey got 50k based on (immense) talent, and we couldn’t pay flamini 80k when he was the best DMC in the world
to all of you posting comments about Walcott, he is not an out and out striker, secondly he does not benefit from not being played as the sole striking outlet upfront. people dont appreciate what that means, its similar to Henry going to Barcelona and being another player in the team rather than the sole target man. same might be said about Cesc going to Barcelona where he might struggle if he isnt played in the playmaker role he currently holds at Arsenal and which Xavi currently holds. Walcott will come good i believe at Arsenal or at another club. Henry had the same problems at Juventus if any of you remember that far back and he was older than Walcott is now..
damstar, apart from wiltshere, arsenal also have promising englishman kieran gibbs who I think will be one hell of a player, not just walcott!
@agastilo: he improved his salary
Theo has not really progressed at all, his career took a step back when he insisted on going to the u21 championship after playing for the seniors when he was knackered.
Stuart Pearce contributed to this set back.
I have no problem with Walcott being dropped if it can be justified.
However who can honestly say S.wright-phillips, and adam johnson have done more than Walcott? As a tactical weapon walcott was the only game changer in the squad, the rest of them are one-paced ponys.
Good decision from capello.. No point in bringing these dead-wood players to the world cup.. Might actually give us a chance with the right squad.
Maybe wenger will learn & drop these players who are not good enough to even make the bench for there international squads.. I.e nasri & now walcott.. who else?? im sure theres more.
He has improved since he joined Arsenal. He would never have got a hat-trick 3 or 4 years ago. His form simply dropped after his injury earlier in the season.
cant see how wright phillips has done anymore than walcott, at least walcott had some sort of impact during qualifying… i agree theo shouldnt have started but who else would be better in the last 10-15 minutes, needing a goal.. than theo running at a knackered full back.. come on holland!
@ rafi..agreed..but i still think gibbs should be playing on the left wing not left back…he maybe too lightweight for the Lb position now..but he is still young and he still got time to develop into a solid left back…
Walcott is great player. But I can’t argue with the decision. This should give him the imputus to knuckle down and work on that “brain” of his. Player of the season next year anybody?
so no Gourcuff then??? Hope he will come. Ramsey and Wilshere can only learn from him!!!
OMG look at this http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-quartet-set-for-world-cup-2010 there is no Fabregas in this list???
It says underneath: “Arsenal.com will continue to keep you updated on squad announcements concerning Arsenal players. England, France, Ivory Coast, Spain and Switzerland all named Gunners in their preliminary squads but are yet to formally confirm their final 23 for the World Cup. “
it will be interesting to see what walcott will turn up next year….. the sulky one for not being picked or the i show cappello how good i am…. if it is the first we should all await his departure because that attitude shouldnt be in our club…again (gallas when he lost his captency)
Actually I aint surprised he has been dropped. He was touted as very promising when Arsene got him from Saints. It’s not the end of the world for Theo. His position must be either on the wing or central striker. Arsene likes to rotate players from their favoured position.
It’s best they play in the position they were bought. I’m no soccer mamager but a player will best play this way. In a way Arsene is responsible for Theo’s exclusion. If Theo had played more often in one position maybe he will excel.
I think we should look at the positives. The fewer Arsenal players are involved in the World cup the better. It means less injuries, available for good preseason, not being tired at the start of the new season and basically finished by Christmas, which again transforms in more injuries.
Now Theo can concentrate on his Arsenal play and try to transform the pain into some quality play.
I dont care what becomes the fate of England without Walcott.I do care what Walcott does after now, how he reacts to this drop.If I were him, as I have stated before now, I’ll go cut down on all that ‘big star attitude’, go hire a personal trainer and while everyone’s at South Africa, I’ll be both in the gym and out of site with my trainer, getting ready to shock England and the rest of the world with a new Walcott.
Time to learn one-touch ball control, add variety to his game, learning to defend, and developing a killer instinct in front of goal. Learn to go past defenders like C. Ronaldo who knows how to break his speed at will and open up defenses.
Apparently,he should n-know by now that what Wenger is teaching is no longer enough outside Arsenal;he should add what is lacking. Walcott is also poor at crosses and now that we have a Chamakh who can score tons of goals with his head, a Walcott should improve his final ball delivery.
Then there is that worrying side of being easily pushed around and never tracking back to defend. SWP may be no taller than Walcott but he is stronger and more tenacious on the ball and very effective at defending;Walcott now has time to IMPROVE ALL-ROUND. Wenger may overlook many things but other coaches wont;Walcott had better improve on it, NOW!
So last season, against AW’s advice, he overstretched himself at the U-21and came back injured, and then was of little use to Arsenal for the whole season.Now that he has no WC to once again overstretch him, I expect a fit and much improved Walcott shocking everyone next season.Same goes for Nasri and Arshavin who are not heading for SA.
With the possible departure of Cesc, we need others to step up to the plate and show that the team can survive without Fabregas.Walcott, without doubt, can be one of those if he does the right things.At 21, not going to the WC is an opportunity to prove that all the talk about his potential and is not just a hype.Great things are expected of you TW14, time start delivering!
Theo should have gone !
@damstar:
Please guy stop all these nonsense that Theo hasnt improved, he has had 2 shoulder operations in his very short careers [thats time that he could have spent on doing on technical work that he spent on realibitation work]. Plus bloody stuart pearce took him to that Uefa U21 tourney against Wenger’s wishes as he thought Theo’s body is ready for Tourney followed by full season and another tourney. Suprise suprise he had injuries throughout the season because of that.
it isnt true THeo wont be included it!!!
http://www.itv.com/sport/football/news/englandinternationals/generalnews/capello-set-to-make-final-cut-901271071.html
There is no word about him!!! We need to wait and see the final squad.
HART
SAGNA CAHIL TV5 GIBBS
WALCOTT SONG ????? NASRI
RVP CHAMAKH
@ GOONER,
damster has a right to be pissed off with walcott who is close to becoming typical arsenal wonder kid -> flop ie. jeffers, reyes, pennant, bentley
it makes no difference really cus England will get eliminated in the rd of 16th or the quarter-finals. England has a pretty terrible team to be honest. Perhaps Walcott can get some much needed rest cus this will be a curial year for him at Arsenal
definitely hold no hope for england thats for sure.. they will bottle it. im looking forward to seeing teams that actually play good football, ie holland, spain, brazil etc. i HATE most of the england squad anyway, bunch of wan*ers week in week out in the prem.. lampard rooney gerrard etc all hypocritical divers
walcott is too inconsistent
Theo has had a tough season. He’s earned a break to be honest, considering how he was forced to play for the under-21’s last summer, then he’s had all the injuries. Give him a few months off and he’ll be ready for the new season.
On another topic, how the hell has Carrick got a place?? If he’s an England international then so am I!
In truth Walcott is not good enough for Arsenal. He is not particularly professional by talking to the press all of the time. He should buckle down and work hard on the pitch – even with all the hard work I still think he lacks the foresight on the pitch to be good enough for Arsenal – sorry Theo but you are a donkey !
Wenger in my opinion has a lot to answer for,not a single arsenal player in the squad.Arsenals back 5 were the Backbone of the national team before he arrived,and because of his inability to give english players any chance in his foreign bias football teams we are starved of extra players with champs league experience or big game mentality.Just look at what hes done to a great talent like Walcott.The sooner he goes the better for English football
I think Capello made a good decision
@The Left Hand Of HENRY:
that is a very mediocre lineup
I really wish people would lay off THEO. Fine he’s missed out on the WC which in my opinion is ridiculous when you look at the impact off the bench theo can make compared to SWP…
just take a moment to look at the facts. The boy has only played 15 games this season and struggled to get a consistent run going. Before his injury problems he wass in some great form. He is 21 and already had 2 major shoulder surgeries. Mark my words he will come back stronger from this shun and with a full pre season behind him i expect a fit and better theo walcott next season. I will be getting behind him and maintaining my faith in him and the fact that ast 21 he still has the potential to be an all time arsenal great.
Us fans need to give him the confidence he needs to push on Come on TRheo and come on arsenal!!!!
that doesnt surprise me, walcott was fantastic for arsenal towards the end of the season but for england he really frutrated me. What underlined that for me was when wright phillips replaced him against…cant remember who it was against, it was the game before mexico, not sure who but crouch scored an assist from phillips and phillips ended up scoring himself.
But it was the difference, phillips has more experience and stayed on the line with the defenders and moved into the spaces, rather like walcott does for arsenal. But when Walcott plays for england…its like, he switches off, goes a step back, instead of staying on the line with defenders he trys to be more defensive and in a way, tries too hard. He took defenders on head to head instead of trying to race past them and it not what he does for his club.
maybe next time but he builds too much pressure on himself and then doesnt do his job properly. when he hits 24, I reckon thats when he’ll shine through
@David: no he isnt, shut up. I cant see him going. why would phillips want bendtner when hes got good enough strikers at real, seriously, stop reading the rumours. I prefer to see what happens when it happens, rather than what might happen when it doesnt. Just gets everybody worried
@American Gooner:
Been having some time off from this blog?.. Actually missed reading your non-biased comments.. lol
This decision will make or break Theo…
What is the big surprize about, Walcott didnt deserve to be in the squad, he has been mediocre at best this year, MY surprize would be if he had been included in the squad. this talk that he is an impact sub makes me laugh, I think wright-phillips is just as likely to make an impact(honestly more) because he is better at taking on full-backs, better crosser, and I have heard that SWP has all Walcotts faults as well as his own, but that is totally untrue, he may not have all the pace Walcott possesses but he makes more use of it when i see him, and yes he has not been playing that much near the end of the season, but I think he is more than good enough to make an impact. MY surprize omission is Adam Johnson a man who took the Championship by storm, earning his transfer, and made quite an impression with Man C, even playing out the right, his less favoured side, he is a man I think could have make a impression at the WC, given a chance as a sub,