The importance of being Theo

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
20 Feb	3:00 PM	P	Sunderland (H)	2	0	Win

Being the only England international at Arsenal has made life very difficult for Theo Walcott.

The attention the boy gets, and has got throughout his time at Arsenal is staggering. Arsène Wenger has been critical of the way the media analyses his player's every move, particularly in this World Cup year.

Walcott impressed in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Sunderland yesterday, and the Arsenal manager was once again asked about the young Englishman's World Cup chances.

Sick of hearing about the World Cup, Wenger said: "You all have the national team on your mind because you want to bring the World Cup back to London.

"What we forget in football is that when players have been out for a long time it takes a while to get back to their best with sharpness, confidence and zip. That is coming back now. Let the players work and enjoy their game. The World Cup is not today - it is in July.

"It's terrible but that is the modern media. The difference when I played was that there was no television. Now every single thing is analysed."

Can Wenger really be surprised by the attention Theo gets? He paid a lot of money for him when he was only 16, when it's rare enough for him to pursue overpriced English footballers of any age.

There's no one else at Arsenal challenging for an England place to take the spotlight off young Theo, for this reason he was incredibly popular when he first started playing for us, and in turn fans have perhaps expected too much from him at an early age.

These days Walcott is pretty unpopular. I've definitely been a big critic of his, perhaps as a response to his initial popularity. I don't feel he deserves all the attention he gets, and I don't feel he should be anywhere near the England squad at the moment, but if he weren't the only high profile English player at Arsenal maybe I wouldn't care as much.

It's been a debate for numerous reasons for a long time now - should Wenger buy more English players? I've never been too fussed before, but looking at the way things have gone for Theo, I see that being an English player at Arsenal must be a strange and lonely experience these days.

If there's a reason to bring in more home-grown talent, then it's to set a standard; English players at Arsenal shouldn't be such a unique species that everyone makes such a fuss over them.

Wenger's right, it's a problem with the modern media and their obsession with the national team, but he should come to expect that by now.

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