Touch of the Master

It would be fascinating to discover what the grey army of self-styled ‘experts’ who rubbished 17 year old Theo Walcott’s inclusion in England’s World Cup squad last summer made of his substitute appearance for Peter Taylor’s Under 21 side in Leverkusen.

England had taken a precarious 1-0 lead into this tense second leg encounter and by the time Theo was introduced with around 15 minutes to go, Germany had missed a penalty and both sides had been reduced to ten men, following red cards for Markus Bizenska and Steven Taylor.

But Walcott’s two goals totally transformed the game. In the 84th minute, he seized on Leighton Baines’ long through pass with superb control and his pace took him straight down the centre before he calmly placed the ball into the right hand corner of the net. Six minutes later he collected the ball on the half way line and accelerated so smoothly past two German defenders they seemed to be treading water, then half turned for a glorious far post finish.

There is only one other player who could have scored those goals and he wasn’t in Leverkusen. Theo trains with him every day but unfortunately he plays his international football for France. The electrifying pace, the clarity of vision, the composure, the power and the accuracy – it was just like watching Thierry Henry, from whom, already, young Theo has learned so much.

The question is, what can be done to help the ‘experts’ learn?