Walcott reveals the moment he became a man
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I TACKLED ARSENE ON MY FUTURE
EXCLUSIVE by ANDY DUNN
THREE weeks into his twentieth year and Theo Walcott is staging a valiant but losing battle to grow a decent covering of stubble. But he knows the moment he became a man ... when he took a deep breath, marched towards Arsene Wenger and asked him for a quiet word.
"Sometimes, it's been frustrating," admitted Walcott. "There are times when I haven't deserved to play because I wasn't playing well enough but there have been times when I have been playing well and not been involved and that struck me a bit.
"So I actually went up to him for the first time and asked him what I had to do to start. "I initiated the conversation and walked over to him on the training ground. It was a difficult thing to do. I was nervous. But I'm glad I did it.
Automatic
"And he was fine. In fact, I think he thought it was really big of me to go to a top manager when I was 18 and ask what I had to do to improve." Not quite a showdown, certainly not a practice-pitch bust-up, but a definite watershed in Walcott's short but chequered Arsenal career.
Since that heart-to-heart earlier in the season, Walcott has not exactly established himself as an automatic pick. But he has become what Americans would call a 'go-to' player. The man the coach relies on to step in and make a difference, to lift a performance, to send a current of expectation through the crowd, to inject a burst of speed into a one-paced performance.
But now, that is not enough for Walcott. He said: "Not many 19-year-old players are doing what I'm doing. "And it's an honour even to sit on the Arsenal substitutes bench. And when I come on, I like to think it lifts the team and lifts the supporters. "But now I want to push on. I want to be starting and starting regularly." But Wenger - for the first time in his life - seems to be playing the long-ball game.
Golden
"He has been bringing me on slowly," said Walcott. "But now I want to be pushing on to the next level." And that next level will mean a move to the central striking role vacated by none other than a certain Thierry Henry. Whie Emmanuel Adebayor has given Arsenal an added, muscular, goalscoring dimension, they have missed the direct speed and electric running of Henry. But Walcott revealed that Wenger has plans for him to fill those golden boots.
He said: "When I had the chat to him, he wanted me to be more aggressive in my style. Not going around kicking people but aggressive in an attacking sense. I think I have done that. "I think I will be playing as a striker next season and the boss seems to think that as well.
"I will play anywhere for the team but as a striker seems to be the future. "I would never compare myself to Thierry because he is just an unbelievable player - in fact, when I first signed for Arsenal, one of the first things I did was to have my picture taken with Thierry.
Expensive
"But I was star-struck then. Not any more. I feel comfortable now. I feel established as a Premier League player and I want to push ahead. "The boss is taking a similar route with me as he took with Thierry - playing me out wide, protecting me a bit and then going upfront later in my career.
"The boss has told me that is the way he sees it. And I am working on a lot of things. I am trying to dictate when I want the ball, always trying to be on the front foot. And I am doing extra finishing practice after training, working on things like my left foot."
When Walcott signed for Arsenal from Southampton as the most expensive 16-year-old in the history of British football, expectations were high. When Sven Goran Eriksson took him to World Cup 2006 - before Wenger had even selected him for a Premier League game - those expectations went into orbit. And, according to Walcott, those people who perceive a non-fulfilment are being harsh.
He explained: "Everyone seems to forget that I didn't play for the first seven months I was here. "And even though I didn't play in the World Cup, everyone was expecting big things of me straight away. "And then towards the end of last season, I had the shoulder problem. When everyone realised it, they just kept battering me on the shoulder, knowing it could pop out at any time. It was a nightmare and I was in a lot of pain. "We knew we had to get something done so we did and it's all sorted now.