The Arsenal forward was the only one of the current Arsenal team included in the first England international squad selected by the new man in charge of the three lions. He did not start but will be pleased to have made an impact after Sam Allardyce brought him on for Raheem Sterling with 20 minutes to go.
Walcott thought he had given England the lead but was flagged offside and even though the ball was played back by a Slovakia, replays showed it had brushed the foot of an England man so the decision was correct if a little harsh on our forward.
With Harry Kane, Sterling and Lallana having made little impression throughout the game Walcott should be feeling good about his chances of featuring heavily for England in the World Cup qualifying campaign, as long as he is playing regular football for the Gunners of course.
The same can be said of the other Arsenal players and their England futures. Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will all be hoping to force their way back into Allardyce’s plans and the players who were in Slovakia did nothing to suggest they won’t be able to. Rooney and Henderson were poor in central midfield and Danny Rose had a bad game at left back.
If Wilshere plays a lot for Bournemouth as we expect him to then I am sure he will be in the England squad at the very least at the next international break and if the Ox can find siome form he has a good chance as well. The situation with Gibbs is tougher but if Wenger does start to give him some game time for Arsenal then he must grab it with both hands or his England days could be over.
Bob.