It has been a couple of weeks now that the Arsenal match day squad has had Theo Walcott in it, but so far the pacy front man has only been given just over 10 minutes on the pitch, at the end of the comfortable win over Burnley. I know that Arsene Wenger is being ultra cautious about one of his key players but he does need time on the pitch as well as training to get back to his best.
And if the manager was undecided about whether to use him against Swansea City in the Premier League on Sunday, the news reported by the Daily Mail today should have made up the Frenchman’s mind. Because the paper has revealed that Walcott is set to be handed a place in Roy Hodgson’s England squad and you know that the national boss will have little hesitation in using the flying forward.
And I think it should be from the start at the Liberty stadium. With Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the Gunners will have an attacking line up with more pace than the Jamaican sprinting team and that means that we can remain pretty solid and compact and utilise the longer ball in behind.
If Walcott doesn’t start and Arsenal are struggling, the prof will be reluctant to bring him on and if he heads to international duty with no game time, it will increase the chance of him coming back with another knock. What do you think Gooners?