Little Theo Walcott, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you. The Englishman in the most lustrous attacking football team in the country finally got his chance to sparkle last night and his two goals gave English football something it could cling to. As the national team prepares to enter a long, dark winter of the soul, any fragile hope will do.

“At times it was a joy to watch,” Arsène Wenger said although he was not just talking about Walcott but the whole Arsenal attacking ensemble that swept past Slavia Prague on seven occasions. This team of Wenger’s have been accused of trying to walk the ball into the net at times and, for the seventh goal from substitute Nicklas Bendtner, they did exactly that. It was gripping stuff with Walcott at the heart of it.

The 18-year-old was only denied a hat-trick by a despairing save from Martin Vaniak in the 81st minute, but that was just about all the Slavia goalkeeper stopped. The seven-goal margin equalled the biggest-ever victory in the Champions League and for Walcott it was a night that he will never forget. Wenger agreed there was “a touch of Thierry Henry” about Walcott’s second goal, although that particular old boy does not seem to be missed one bit.

From The Independent

Theo Walcott put in a fine display as Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners on the night against Sparta Prague (5-0 agg)

Theo produced a fine run and perfect delivery for Tomas Rosicky to open the scoring for Arsenal, late goals from Fabregas and Da Silva completed the victory for Arsenal.

The Arsenal boss said: “Theo had a good first half. He can be decisive. He’s very direct, quick, is a good crosser and finishes well.

“He’s improving his link play and is more aggressive. When he uses all the assets he has he will be dangerous for everybody.

“Once he plays through the middle he will make good runs and get behind defenders.

“Close to the line you need better technique and his greatest quality will be the runs he makes behind defenders.

“In the future he’ll be used more as a central striker. He can make a difference for England because there are not many strikers in this country who have his qualities or pace.

“If a defender is one yard behind him Theo will never get caught. He makes good runs along the line of the defence and he will be able to use that more when he plays through the middle.

“But it’s good for him to learn the job on the flanks. All the young players can show their top quality in the Champions League.”

Full Article at ITV Football

England Under 21 boss Stuart Pearce hopes that Theo Walcott nails down a regular place in the Arsenal team after the forward gave Romania the runaround in a 1-1 draw tuesday night.

Pearce was impressed with the performance of Walcott, who underwent shoulder surgery in the summer, but knows the 18-year-old needs to be playing regularly.

Pearce said: “Theo gets you off your seat and goes past people for fun. He needs to get 90 minutes under his belt as often as he can. It would have been nice to have had him in the squad in the summer.”

Theo Walcott gave a reminder of just why he was taken to the world cup in last nights 1-1 draw against Romania U21.

Walcott’s running terrifeid the Romanian defence, and forced the Norwegian referee to show three yellow cards before half time for fouls on the Arsenal star.

Full match report of England U21 v Romania U21

Theo Walcott returned to action in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Blackburn yesterday playing on the right side of midfield.

It was another blunder by Jens Lehman that gifted Blackburn a draw.

For a full match report click here

Theo Walcott’s girlfriend Mel Slade was celebrating A Level success this morning.18-year-old Mel Slade got Bs in psychology and maths and a C in biology.

Speaking outside Itchen College in Southampton, Hants, she said: “I feel good. I did find them really hard and had a lot of distraction over the last two years so I’m really pleased.

“I’m spending my day with my family and going out tomorrow to celebrate with all the girls which will be good fun.”

She intends to take a gap year during which she will climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania before taking a place at St George’s Hospital in London to study physiotherapy.

Slade hit the headlines after Sven-Goran Eriksson named Arsenal youngster Walcott in his England World Cup squad.

Slade became a fashion icon and a member of the WAG’s group even though Walcott was on the substitute’s bench for the entire tournament in Germany.

Last year Slade completed an A-level in critical thinking.

Stuart Pearce has today named his first England U21 squad as the full-time Coach.

Theo has of course been included in this squad, along with Wolves winger Michael Kightly who, less than a year ago, was playing in the Football Conference with Essex club Grays Athletic.

The full squad:
Ben Alnwick, Joe Hart, Martin Cranie, Craig Gardner, Michael Mancienne, Nedum Onuoha, Andrew Taylor, Steven Taylor, David Wheater, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Michael Johnson, Michael Kightly, James Milner, Fabrice Muamba, Mark Noble, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Dexter Blackstock, Matt Derbyshire, Luke Moore, Theo Walcott

According to Theo Walcott, Sparta Prague are the toughest test Arsenal could have been handed at this stage of the Champions League.

The 18-year-old is itching to be part of the starting XI this evening as Arsène Wenger’s team take on the Czech ‘double’ winners in the third qualifying round first leg. But, if selected, he will not be taking the hosts lightly.

“It will be an interesting game against Sparta Prague,” he said. “For me, they are just about the most difficult team we could face at this stage. But if you want to win it, you have to beat all the top teams anyway.

“The win over Fulham has set us up for it and the confidence is really high going into the game.”

Walcott had an important cameo role on Sunday as Arsenal roared back to win the season’s opener at Emirates Stadium and he is well aware Wenger is without three midfielders and two strikers for a crucial tie.

“It’s up to the boss of course,” he said. “But I don’t mind where I play - right, left or up front. It’s unlucky for those players who are out. It’s really bad timing because we had a great pre-season and after all that hard work they have a set-back and then have to catch-up. I’m sure they will be back soon though.”

taken from Arsenal.com

ARSENAL’S Theo Walcott dropped into town yesterday (August 13) to unveil Newbury’s newly decked out ambulance station.

The 18-year-old footballing prodigy, who grew up in Compton, came straight from Arsenal’s training ground to cut the red tape outside the station, officially opening the Newbury ambulance crew’s brand new home.

The station has undergone a major revamp thanks to the Vodafone property team, which stumped up £10,000 to pay for a new living area complete with cushty brown leather sofas and a smart new TV.
The team, who took time off work to complete the job, stripped out the entire interior, repainted it and laid new carpet with the cash, which was doubled by Vodafone.

Walcott said: “I didn’t get a chance to see the opening of it before but as I can see it smells new.
“I do a bit every year. Little things really just to support the cars. It’s a brilliant job they [the ambulance staff] do.”

In 2006, the Arsenal and England Under-21 football star became president of the West Berkshire Rapid Response Car Fund.
The charity raises money to fund the purchase and running of the rapid response cars, which are used by volunteer paramedics to attend emergencies.

Emergency resource centre manager for the south central ambulance service, Kirsten Willis, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. We have been so lucky. All the work that’s been put in over the last few weeks to have Theo coming down and opening it is really great.
“Obviously the staff do such a hard job, having somewhere to come back to where they can relax and just chill out after some stressful jobs is really cool.”

taken from Newbury Today