Walcott going to the world cup?

Chardee MacDennis

Rumours this afternoon suggest theo walcott, who hasnt played a game for arsenal since his big money move, may be called up as one of 4 back up players to englands world cup squad.

If i was an bent, harewood, ashton, zamora, fowler etc and didnt get called up but walcott does i would be pretty pi$$ed. what do you think?

Vokes

Yeah, just saw it. BBC reckon he'll be one of the 4 standby players. Crazy news!

Would be mad to pick him ahead of those players you mentioned + Johnson, Heskey, Vassell.

godtabh

SofaKing wrote:

Yeah, just saw it. BBC reckon he'll be one of the 4 standby players. Crazy news!

Would be mad to pick him ahead of those players you mentioned + Johnson, Heskey, Vassell.

Heskey and Vassell arent good enough. How many goals have the scored this season? Plus I think Vassell is going under the doctors knife soon enough isnt he?

I do agree about the other players.

Vokes

You would take Walcott (who hasn't made a full Premiership debut) to the World Cup ahead of Vassell or Heskey ?

godtabh

SofaKing wrote:

You would take Walcott (who hasn't made a full Premiership debut) to the World Cup ahead of Vassell or Heskey ?

I wouldnt take any of the 3

Juan Pablo

kearnsr wrote:

Heskey and Vassell arent good enough. How many goals have the scored this season? Plus I think Vassell is going under the doctors knife soon enough isnt he?

I do agree about the other players.

Vassell has scored the same number of League goals as Peter Crouch this season. He has been carrying a hernia problem since Feb and is due to go under the knife in the next couple of weeks so that would rule him out of the World Cup. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchestercity/s/212/212173_blues_plan_vassell_op.html

Surely you would have to put James Beattie or even Andrew Johnshon in ahead of Walcott ffs.

MrJoeSoap

I've seen a fair bit of Walcott, and I feel he'd do very well for England, but it would be completely unfair to pick him ahead of any of the names mentioned above.

Still, its Sven's decision, and if he picks Walcott I'd be delighted as he is one of those players I just love to watch, he's like a combination of Owen and Rooney. His pace is incredible.

PHB

He won't be picked, it's a nothing story

Dont be at yourself

If he is picked, it will once again indicate that it`s the media that pick the England team.

Mossy Monk

what justification would Ericson have to pick him? if he does it shows how spineless he is

Zaph

If he is picked it would be just further proof that Sven has completely lost the plot. It's bad enough that he'll pick Rooney when there's not a chance he'll be fit in time, even for a final that they won't come close to making.

MrJoeSoap

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

If he is picked, it will once again indicate that it`s the media that pick the England team.

How is that?

Kingp35

This makes no sense to me. Wallcott is a proven Championship player but he is not a proven Premiership player. Andy Johnson is proven in both leagues so if Wallcott gets picked over Johnson its a complete and utter joke and proves just how awful a manager Sven really is.

evilhomer

I think alot of you are forgetting that Sven has nothing to lose by bringing him.
He is out of the job July 10th regardless of how well England do.

He might give theo a run out in a friendly.

Robbie Fowler would be as good of not a better choice then Heskey or Vasell. Ever since going back to Liverpool he fitness has gone throug the roof and he banging away the goals. 5 goals in the last 6 starts.

Beattie is a definite possibility too, seems to be over his injury problems.

Roddy23

Ye it seems a bizarre decision if ye should take him to the World cup. However giving him the experience of training with the England team coming up to it, should bode well for the future. Walcott should be around for a long time, and exposing him to it at this young, will help him in future squads.

Bringing him on the other hand would be a little too much at this stage. It would be a major slap in the face to other more proven strikers. I feel Fowler would be an excellent addition, he has a lot of experience, is a proven goal scorer, and he hasn't looked this hungry in a long time.

Culchie

evilhomer wrote:

I think alot of you are forgetting that Sven has nothing to lose by bringing him.
He is out of the job July 10th regardless of how well England do.

He might give theo a run out in a friendly.

Robbie Fowler would be as good of not a better choice.

ditto

Sven has a big self ego, he'd love nothing better to be remembered as the guy that unearthed Walcott to world football, even if he's not ready now.

Fowler is looking sharp, he should go.

gandalf

Very very strange decision if it comes to fruitition !!! Personally I doubt it's for real and just a column filler.

If it does come through I bet David Dein gets the blame :P

mchurl

Walcott really has unbelievable potential, but its just that POTENTIAL. If he is brought into the squad it will seem more like a joke on Svens part. All of th players mentioned above would really be disappointed if this came to fruition and i just cant see it happening, although with Sven, you really never know:rolleyes:

okidoki987

Alan Mullery on SSN just made the valid point
"He's a championship player, he's never even played a Premership match!
There's no chance of him going, he's also too young".

johnor

The only thing about bringing a player like him into the squad is that the whole squad gets a boost by his talent.... could be what they need given the injury to rooney, maybe thats what he is thinking, players love other quick and skillful players. I remember when rooney was introduced into the England team all the senior players could talk about what his skill and enthusiasm, might be playing on Svens mind. Sven and Tord have been going to watch him train with Arsenal and maybe if Arsenal weren't going all out for 4th spot he might have featured for the firsts.... I agree its a little silly considering he hasnt played for arsenal but he has had plenty of games for southampton and i reckon he would boost morale in the squad after injuries to owen and rooney....

MrJoeSoap

okidoki987 wrote:

Alan Mullery on SSN just made the valid point
"He's a championship player, he's never even played a Premership match!
There's no chance of him going, he's also too young".

You could also make the point that he has moved for £12.5m at age 16. Its not as if he doesn't have talent...

tred

MrJoeSoap wrote:

You could also make the point that he has moved for £12.5m at age 16. Its not as if he doesn't have talent...

I think hell make the squad today as a an emergency fill in. if rooney wont be fit, hes a guy you could try. hes pacey and exciting. but the fact wenger hasnt brought him into the Arsenal first team yet is a little worrying. I think if hes picked its because what someone else has said here, it makes the papers write about something else for 2 weeks and divert from the fact they are actually relying on Peter crouch to win the world cup !!! lol.....

Kingp35

People are forgetting that Walcot didnt even play a full season in the Championship only half a season and has hardly played a game since making no appearances in the Premiership. WIth all this talk of Defoe not getting first team action etc it would be mad to bring a player who has hardly played a game in 4 months!

blu_sonic

see if it all goes great and he turns into a rooney or owen through this the world will herald sven as the talent find of the year blah blah blah.....

MrJoeSoap

blu_sonic wrote:

see if it all goes great and he turns into a rooney or owen through this the world will herald sven as the talent find of the year blah blah blah.....

Can't see that happening at all.

futuredeath

Paul Robinson
David James
Robert Green (think Scott Carson would be a better choice)
Gary Neville
Rio Ferdninand
Johny Terry
Ashley cole
Sol Campbell
Jamie Carragher(by the way the team is being named it would seem he is 4th choice CB)
Wayne Bridge
David Beckham
Michael Carrick(personally rate Parker Higher)
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Owen Hardreaves(i'll put it this way during the montage they showed him hitting the crossbar . . . )
Jermaine Jenus
Stewart Downing
Joe Cole
Aaron Lennon(better than SWP???? no)
Wayne Rooney(Shouldn't be in the squad)
Michael Owen
Peter Crouch
Theo Walcott(Erickson = Retard)

Kingp35

What an absolute joke, then again its England so I couldnt give a toss.

MrJoeSoap

PHB wrote:

He won't be picked, it's a nothing story

:rolleyes:

We all bow to you, oh knowledgeable one.

MrJoeSoap

futuredeath wrote:

Paul Robinson
David James
Robert Green (think Scott Carson would be a better choice)
Gary Neville
Rio Ferdninand
Johny Terry
Ashley cole
Sol Campbell
Jamie Carragher(by the way the team is being named it would seem he is 4th choice CB)
Wayne Bridge
David Beckham
Michael Carrick(personally rate Parker Higher)
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Owen Hardreaves(i'll put it this way during the montage they showed him hitting the crossbar . . . )
Jermaine Jenus
Stewart Downing
Joe Cole
Aaron Lennon(better than SWP???? no)
Wayne Rooney(Shouldn't be in the squad)
Michael Owen
Peter Crouch
Theo Walcott(Erickson = Retard)

Parker is injured. Hargreaves is a joke. Lennon IS better than SWP.

Its Eriksson by the way.

Paul Tergat

futuredeath wrote:

Paul Robinson
David James
Robert Green (think Scott Carson would be a better choice)
Gary Neville
Rio Ferdninand
Johny Terry
Ashley cole
Sol Campbell
Jamie Carragher(by the way the team is being named it would seem he is 4th choice CB)
Wayne Bridge
David Beckham
Michael Carrick(personally rate Parker Higher)
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Owen Hardreaves(i'll put it this way during the montage they showed him hitting the crossbar . . . )
Jermaine Jenus
Stewart Downing
Joe Cole
Aaron Lennon(better than SWP???? no)
Wayne Rooney(Shouldn't be in the squad)
Michael Owen
Peter Crouch
Theo Walcott(Erickson = Retard)

Solid defesnsively, apart from maybe king instead of campbell....

lennon is a good choice too IMO, don't know if he'll make the final squad though (as SWP has barely played this season and Lennon has been electric)...

Hargreaves seems like the utility man of the squad

and 1 of 4 strikers is an uncapped, 17 year old with no premiership experience and included (seemingly) off the back of a few decent championship games, hopefully he'll set the word on fire!

Paul Tergat

futuredeath wrote:

Paul Robinson
David James
Robert Green (think Scott Carson would be a better choice)
Gary Neville
Rio Ferdninand
Johny Terry
Ashley cole
Sol Campbell
Jamie Carragher(by the way the team is being named it would seem he is 4th choice CB)
Wayne Bridge
David Beckham
Michael Carrick(personally rate Parker Higher)
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Owen Hardreaves(i'll put it this way during the montage they showed him hitting the crossbar . . . )
Jermaine Jenus
Stewart Downing
Joe Cole
Aaron Lennon(better than SWP???? no)
Wayne Rooney(Shouldn't be in the squad)
Michael Owen
Peter Crouch
Theo Walcott(Erickson = Retard)

Solid defesnsively, apart from maybe king instead of campbell....

lennon is a good choice too IMO, don't know if he'll make the final squad though (as SWP has barely played this season and Lennon has been electric)...

Hargreaves seems like the utility man of the squad

and 1 of 4 strikers is an uncapped, 17 year old with no premiership experience and included (seemingly) off the back of a few decent championship games, hopefully he'll set the word on fire!

futuredeath

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Parker is injured. Hargreaves is a joke. Lennon IS better than SWP.

Its Eriksson by the way.

NO i didnt mis-spell did i????
oh no . . my life .. . its over
you're acting like a spa.

Fair enough about parker but so is Rooney,
Agreed Hargreaves is a joke that was my point,
and lennon IS NOT better than SWP
but you trying to say that as fact is again quite silly.

Zaph

I just hope Leeds had enough cop-on when they sold Aaron Lennon to include a payment clause if he plays for England. He's been playing great for Spurs and simply because he's playing nore regularly I would have included him ahead of SWP.

mchurl

Lennon is better than SWP imo, he is also a more viable option to bring on for the last 20 minutes as Beckham will surely start on the right, do you reckon Ledley King wasnt included due to his fitness or just because Sven rates other players higher?

MrJoeSoap

Well Parker is different to Rooney in that he has glandular fever and won't have any chance of being in any way fit for the World Cup. Why would you want him in the squad?

I realise Hargreaves was a joke on your part. He is a joke full-stop.

I think most people who watch the Premiership regularly would have picked Lennon over SWP. SWP has played a handful of games, still has yet to play 90 minutes for Chelsea, so picking him over Lennon would be a joke.

Having said that, he picked Walcott... but there can only really be room for one shock.

Nobody has really mentioned Downing yet. I'm delighted he's in.

MrJoeSoap

mchurl wrote:

Lennon is better than SWP imo, he is also a more viable option to bring on for the last 20 minutes as Beckham will surely start on the right, do you reckon Ledley King wasnt included due to his fitness or just because Sven rates other players higher?

Sven said King wasn't included because he is three weeks off fitness. Although Rooney is further off, Sven said that Rooney had to be picked because of his talent, whereas England have four centre-backs ahead of King.

Rikand

Jenas, Hargreaves, only 4 strikers, one of them crocked, the other a 17 year old who has never played a premiership game and Peter Crouch???

Sven is really going out in style!

godtabh

Rickylovesuall wrote:

Sven is really going out in style!

THis isnt is final squad is it? He can still change it up till the day he plays his first game. Right?

If this is his final squad and barring injuries then the above applies!

Chucky the tree

He can only change injuried players though cant he? So basically Rooney can be replaced by defoe or johnson(thats if no else gets injuried obviously)

haha, i was in stitches when i saw this team. Bent is the top english scorer in the premiership, yet hes pick a player who has never played a premiership game in his life ahead of him? haha, i love it!

Not sure how johnson got in ahead of in the stand-by list either.

PiE

Eriksson sabotages England's chances once again.

Hurrah.

eirebhoy

Chucky the tree wrote:

Not sure how johnson got in ahead of in the stand-by list either.

I personally think Johnson is better than Bent.

Jonny Arson

Eriksson also sabotages the potential talent of a 17 year kid!

The pressure that lad must be under now must be immense.

Also what an F-U to the likes of Darren Bent and Andy Johnson who have ran their legs into the ground over the past few seasons while also scoring a sh!tload of goals at the highest level unlike Walcott who hasn't even appeared in a top flight match FFS!

MrJoeSoap

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Eriksson also sabotages the potential talent of a 17 year kid!

The pressure that lad must be under now must be immense.

Also what an F-U to the likes of Darren Bent and Andy Johnson who have ran their legs into the ground over the past few seasons while also scoring a sh!tload of goals at the highest level unlike Walcott who hasn't even appeared in a top flight match FFS!

At £12m, Wenger must be as much to blame as anyone (if you are going to blame anyone that is).

I personally place the blame with Harry Redknapp, for giving the guy his debut!

Jonny Arson

MrJoeSoap wrote:

At £12m, Wenger must be as much to blame as anyone (if you are going to blame anyone that is).

I don't believe Wenger picked a complete novice for the world cup though! In that case I should be heading out with the Ireland squad to Portugal

Kingp35

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

I don't believe Wenger picked a complete novice for the world cup though! In that case I should be heading out with the Ireland squad to Portugal

Well Terry Dixon is

Chucky the tree

MrJoeSoap wrote:

At £12m, Wenger must be as much to blame as anyone (if you are going to blame anyone that is).

I personally place the blame with Harry Redknapp, for giving the guy his debut!

*takes out his nit-picking device*


Its actually 5million. The rest is based of appearances and other clauses. Chances are southampton will see a good chunk of that now he has been called up too england. Alot sooner then they expected aswell i'd say!

MrJoeSoap

Chucky the tree wrote:

*takes out his nit-picking device*


Its actually 5million. The rest is based of appearances and other clauses. Chances are southampton will see a good chunk of that now he has been called up too england. Alot sooner then they expected aswell i'd say!

Well you know what I mean. And having seen Walcott play a few times I have every confidence it will reach £12m.

gandalf

Well that proved me wrong !! Bloody hell just when you thought Sven couldn't get any worse !!!

evilhomer

Chucky the tree wrote:

Its actually 5million. The rest is based of appearances and other clauses. Chances are southampton will see a good chunk of that now he has been called up too england. Alot sooner then they expected aswell i'd say!

There will be a few seats missing down the back of the Emirates stadium now.
I would say there is a fair few quid of an installment due to Southampton now.

Pepe LeFrits

I was pretty amazed at the squad when I first saw it but the more I think about it, I think it's an excellent selection.

The majority of the players in a 23 man squad will barely get a look in at a major tournament. By selecting Lennon and Walcott, two kids who will be around for years to come, he's giving them experience of the World Cup which should be of great benefit to them.

When I first looked at the squad I immediately thought that it was exceptionally light in attack and heavy in midfield. It then occured to me that Sven is probably picking the squad with a 4-5-1 in mind. He's going to take Rooney if there is even the slightest chance of him being available at any stage in the tournament. He's picked the rest of the squad on the assumption that he won't be though, and as a result has picked 3 strikers (Owen, Crouch, Walcott) to compete for 1 spot. Owen will start if he is fit, if he isn't Defoe will replace him and probably start. As an alternative, there is Crouch, a targetman. Lastly there is Walcott, who will most likely not play anyway. If he does, it will be for a few mins at the end of a game. I don't really see the point of bringing someone like Beattie or Bent, who probably doesn't have much of a future in the international setup and will most likely just be sitting on the bench or in the stands. If they do manage to come off the bench for a few minutes, I think Walcott has as much chance of making an impact as any of the other possibles. He'd be a complete unknown quantity to opposing defenders, and has far more pace than most. Sven has watched him, and ultimately it's not about what a player has done, but what a player can do.

The selections of Hargreaves and Lennon are good choices too I think. If he does go 4-5-1, that most likely means 2 attacking centre-midfielders and 1 defensive one. In Gerrard, Lampard and Jenas, you have the attacking midfielders. In Carrick and Hargreaves, you have the defensive ones. The fact that Hargreaves can play anywhere across the midfield and defence helps when you consider that Gary Neville is the only right-back in the team, and if Carragher was moved to right-back in the event of an injury to Neville, then there'd only be Campbell as backup to Terry & Ferdinand. Considering how injury prone Cole, Bridge, Campbell and Neville have been lately, I think he could be a very useful player to have around.

In Lennon, you've got another unknown quantity who is in great form and who could make a big impact as a sub late in the game. Hard on Shaun Wright-Phillips, but he's done very little all year and doesn't look capable of making the same kind of impact from the bench as Lennon does at the moment. Downing is an excellent option for Sven to have around too.

Sven gets an exceptionally rare thumbs-up from me this time, he's picked a squad with lots of different options if he finds his plan A failing miserably as it has against Brazil & Portugal in the last two tournaments.

Chardee MacDennis

it would not surprise me to see theo start at least one game, and i reckon it will be against T&T, but who knows.