The former Gunners attacker is a unique voice when it comes to breaking into the first-team picture at an early age, having signed for Arsenal from Southampton at the age of 16.
Walcott was named in the England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, just months after his Highbury move and on reflection believes everything was thrust upon him at once.
Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo ahead of punditry duties on Amazon Prime Video’s coverage of the UEFA Champions League this week, Walcott says the current crop of young players coming through at the Emirates Stadium is ‘exciting’.
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Theo Walcott: ‘It’s important not to give them everything too soon’
Theo Walcott on punditry duty (Image credit: Getty Images)
“I look at it really differently as well, because when I came to the club, I couldn’t relate to any of the players because of my age gap. And I look at Max [Dowman] coming through, and you see Ethan [Nwaneri], a couple years older, and maybe not even that, Myles [Lewis-Skelly] again, [can] all relate, probably doing the same things together away from the game.”
Walcott’s Arsenal arrival came after the youngster had impressed during the first half of the season at Championship side Southampton, where he had become the Saints’ youngest-ever player at 16 years and 143 days old.
Theo Walcott broke through initially at Southampton
Nwaneri and Dowman, both aged 15 at the time of their Arsenal debuts, are the Gunners’ two youngest-ever appearance-makers.
“I think it’s important to just to bring them back down to earth at times, and not to give them everything too soon. I’m not saying I had it too soon. However, it was very different for me coming through and that patient side of it, keeping the guys away from the media at times, protecting them.
“I was thrown straight into it with that World Cup. ‘Go, bang.’ And so it was a different dynamic for me to deal with. I turned out okay, it could’ve gone a different way, it really could.”
Walcott didn’t play a minute of football at the tournament in Germany that summer, despite England’s lack of fit and available attackers; Sven Goran Eriksson subsequently drew criticism for his decision to select the teenager in the first place.
Theo Walcott on England duty whilst still a teenager
Arsenal’s youngsters will face challenges and media scrutiny of their own in the years to come but Walcott believes keeping them grounded is the first step towards helping them fulfil their potential.
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“I think it’s important, even like Max has not played for a while now, just being around the squad, it was like me when I went with the England team, being around the squad, knowing in time I will be there at this level, but not ready.
“He’s not quite ready, because he’s got quite a lot of guys ahead of him. However, he’s an option, and he’s someone that is the unknown. And when I was the unknown, no one really knew what I was going to do.”
Walcott’s speed and unpredictability made him a difficult customer for defences, particularly when given space to run in behind. He still regards his assist for Emmanuel Adebayor in a 2008 Champions League tie versus Liverpool as ‘my goal’ having dribbled almost the length of the pitch and past several Reds players before laying it on a plate for the Togolese striker.
Theo Walcott skips past Xabi Alonso (Image credit: Getty Images)
“That’s an assist,” Walcott tells FFT. “You know, when you see players, like Reece James touched it to [Neto] the other day, and that’s an assist. Okay, I suppose it touched you last but when I look at assists, that goal, dribbling past those players – and when you see Saka, and he goes past you and he cuts it back to someone or whatever – they’re the real assists for me.
“That goal I can still re-live it constantly in my mind. I can just picture all the players that are running after me, the players that missed the ball, and [Steven] Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Mascherano, and Adebayor’s dance, the slap I got from Cesc Fabregas still hurts to this day, but it was great.
“A lot of people are, ‘Oh, Theo Walcott’s decision-making at times’, but those people may not be able to run as fast as that. Everyone has different attributes, and they make decisions their own way. And I don’t think there would have been any other player to do [that].”
Arsenal host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night with Walcott featuring pitchside alongside presenter Alex Aljoe and comedian Jack Whitehall.
Prime Video’s coverage of Arsenal vs Atlético Madrid is available at no additional cost for Prime members.
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