England to give Arsenal striker first start since 2013

The Arsenal and England international forward Theo Walcott looks set to be given his first start for his country since September 2013 tonight. The pacy 26-year old will be well aware that he needs to put on a good show tonight for the sake of his club career with the Gunners as well as his international one.

Just as at club level, it is the former Man United striker Danny Welbeck that Walcott needs tofight against for a place in the starting line up and it is the knee injury picked up by Welbeck during his Man of the Match performance in the Euro qualifier against Lithuania last week that has given Walcott a chance.

The Guardian has reported that England are set to make a few changes, some of them forced on Hodgson and some of them to counter Italy´s five man midfield. So Walcott will partner the in form Spurs striker Harry Kane in front of a midfield diamond and that should offer him a chance to show his pace, movement and finishing on the big stage.

If Theo does have a good game against the defensively strong and experienced Italy side then he would stand a good chance of being selected by Arsene Wenger for the Arsenal team for the Liverpool game on Saturday and that could be just what he needs to get his Arsenal career back on track, with rumours flying in the media about a possible transfer exit from the club this summer.

The pressure is on Theo but can he deliver?

Tags kane welbeck

21 Comments

      1. How come now, all are hoping Walcot plays well with England, when rubbishing him before. Are you lot sure your fans of Arsenal or just like thinking you know best CB

  1. Cool. Hope he scores and brings the same for Liverpool

    I’m still waiting for a lineup of Alexis, Walcott, Ozil, Giroud ALL on top form.

    Scary prospect for other teams

  2. Good Theo!

    OT: Diaby, Debuchy & Arteta are Back, should Debuchy START ahead of Bellerin when we Play Liverpool? Your opinion guys?

    1. No. I think Debuchy is better but Bellerin should start for three reasons

      1. If someone comes back from injury, he should come off the bench. Ease in gradually
      2. There are only a few games left and don’t want to unsettle our rhythm. We are on a winning streak
      3. Only a few matches left and Bellerin has earned starting place

      1. @Fred Cowardly, but i remember last season Sagna could replace Jenkinson when he was back from injury, i can see the same case here, Debuchy all the way!! Experience..

        1. On second thoughts maybe your right lol

          Actually before Debuchy got injured he was picked over Sagna for French national team, so he is definitely top quality

          Actually, the first time he came back from injury he also played awesome at CB. I remember I was impressed

          So perhaps he can go straight back but I think he will probably come of the bench against Liverpool (maybe)

  3. Jeez!!!…. I am so happy right now….. Arteta, Debuchy and Diaby at the same time….. Theo is just lacking in confidence. I hope he does well today….. But if Welbeck is fit on Saturday, he will surely start.. He is the player in form right now and I think he is really helping Giroud’s game.

      1. @JamesB… Diabys fit, thanks i didnt realise. Surely he wont do what he done last time when he played excellent stuff just before his contract ran out and Wenger had to gamble on him. If he does play this season and plays excellently well i can only imagine he kept himself out just so he could play for a contract in last months as he knows he wont last extended periods. I could be wrong harsh and or way off but i just never liked the fact that Diaby is still as slim sleek or whatever as when we first signed him, look at how Ozil has prepared himself in second season. Some may say Diaby cant bulk up for whatever reason (i think i heard one) but that must be nonsense. If for some miracle Diaby impresses and Wenger takes another gamble it better be a pay as you play. Unfortunate none the less that we havent seen the very best of Abou Diaby.

  4. What would you guys say to selling Walcott and picking up Pedro? I saw a rumour that this could be on the cards. Sell Theo for £25M and pick up Pedro for around the same. Personally, I don’t think Pedro is enough of a step up from Theo to warrant the move. However, I also wouldn’t be heartbroken to see Theo leave if he keeps playing hardball with his contract. I don’t think he’s worth the same wages as Özil and Sanchez which is what he’s looking for. If he doesn’t sign for less money than Özil and Sanchez, I’d sell and go all out for Reus.

    1. One paper says that Barcelona want £15 million for him. Not sure How accurate that is.

      Pedro can shoot with both feet and so can play both wide positions. Apparently he has also scored in all 6 competitions Barcelona has played in. So seems like a good player. Don’t know much about him.

      I would love us to Pay more and get Reus if possible (if Walcott does leave)

      I’m hoping Walcott stays though

      1. I would like Walcott to stay as well but don’t want to pay him the big bucks. For me, he’s simply not worth the wages he wants. If he compromises then great, but I think we could have a better player than him for 120,000-150,000 a week.

        1. That’s true.

          I have no idea How much he wants, so NOT judging him, but IF he is demanding Ozil or Sanchez type figures then we could get Reus for same amount or someone as good as Walcott for less..

          That said lets hope he only wants £100,000 and he stays. I want Theo to STAY

          No matter what happens, he must not be sold to United, City, Chelski, Liverpool or Spuds.

          1. It is amazing that Theo would command near thirty mil and someone of Pedros ball capabilities goes for fifteen, and Chambers sixteen also theirs many worse examples. Imagine when England do start producing players of Cazorlas ilk, i wonder how much money theyl go for. Saying that, Theos end product is up there all the same.

  5. Having seen jenkinson performance in the last match with u21, I think he has future in arsenal and deserves first team squad . The one who should be considered to move to another position is chamber. Wenger should be thinking hard where the best position for him in arsenal squad is whilst do not distract his development as a player.

    1. Yes Jenkison played better at RB this season than Chambers. Chambers has been fine in CB position.

      I’d like him to concentrate on CB and DM. So that Jenkison can be our third RB

      Some players need to be out on loan to improve or get more playing time ie. Akpom, Hayden, Sanogo but some players like Jenkison are good enough to play for us now

  6. Whos going to feed him balls. I dont think Kane is the right type of player for Theo to benefit, other hand i think Theo is good for Kane as long as he can keep up with him.

  7. *OT*
    Looking at the front 3 for England v Italy of Rooney, Kane and Walcott. They’re gonna do some damage…

  8. Walcott, take ur chance, I don’t think walcott deserves a pay rise, not at all… He has to prove his mettle,wen he scored 21 goals that season, arsene had no choice but to giv him what he wanted… Same is applicable here

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