Reaching for the Stars

Arsene’s Wenger’s triumph in capturing 16 year old Theo Walcott, the best English prospect since Wayne Rooney, has inevitably provoked comments on the success of the Gunners’ youth policy.

Apparently, Birmingham City winger Jermaine Pennant has “warned” Theo that “it will not be easy to make the grade at Highbury” because “the French coach is not the best at allowing young talent to develop”.

The essence of Jermaine’s case seems to be that because he and others like him (Steven Sidwell, Matthew Upson, Graham Stack and David Bentley come to mind) were talented but did not make it with Arsenal, there must be something wrong with the system and/or the manager.

He’s right about one thing, though – it is not easy to make the grade at Highbury because Arsenal are looking to develop world class players. That means top talent and the highest levels of commitment and professionalism.

For all his technical ability, those were standards which Jermaine, unfortunately, could not consistently meet. Something which would have disappointed Arsene Wenger almost as much as it did him, because the Arsenal manager has an unrivalled reputation when it comes to finding and nurturing young players with outstanding potential.

As Theo Walcott is about to discover.