I’m sure that it didn’t completely inform the England manager’s decision, and it wasn’t solely down to Walcott, but Arsenal last season failed in all the big games didn’t they?
Man. Utd. and Chelsea in the league, Barcelona, Man. City and Stoke in the cups.
Maybe Walcott didn’t play in them, I don’t know, but they’re the eight games which determined the success or otherwise of Arsenal’s season.
He must have played in some.

Played 8, Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 7.

I thought it at the time, and I think it still, that Walcott should have stayed at Southampton (albeit with an agreement to go to Arsenal in the future).
Instead of being a big fish in a small pond and a real hero playing for a ‘town club’ in front of 28,000 people every week, he’s been a shadowy figure, a bit flaky and always on the margins at one of the Bore Four.

A bad decision all round…..and Southampton wanted to keep hold of him didn’t they?

Does anyone know how many of chelsea players, man u, and spuds players are at the world cup compared to Arsenal I hope all of them have twice as much and come back really tired I imagine chelsea must have quite a few, the first real benefit of having youngsters, less of them start and less of them get picked methinks

I take solace in the fact that chelseas squad ia a year older and aging badly as with Man poo,liverpool are out of the equation and scarily it is spuds on the rising at least until arry makes them go bust, as anyone started a pool yet Im having them going bust 2012!!! The msg today looks clear please keep our players together one thing mourhino made clear and I totally agree is it is not about the individual but about the team, now this bunch of kids has been together for a while now, they know each other and if they give everything for the team, blood sweat and tears, the collective is much stronger, look at mourhinos teams they are not the best but he gets them working hard, if Arsenal dont win anything I as a fan can accept that if I see them fighting for each other, that all most fans ever ask,I have a feeling Nasri is going to step up and if a few others join him and the rest play to their capabilities they can take away 5 years of Hurt

I am sure AW will speak to Theo and I hope this time Theo listens to him. Capello & Stuart Pearce have a lot to answer for. Theo’s had too much too soon and this knock will toughen him up. I am glad Wiltshire & Gibbs have not been dragged into the farce which is the England squad. I can’t wait for the clean slate which is the 2014 world cup. I hope England get their act together but I doubt them doing well without the help of referee decision’s. If it was down to performances alone, Darren Bent, Ashley Young and maybe Scott Parker would be in the squad.

I think I read the headline somewhere ‘ Spurs 4 Arsenal 0′ in reference to this Theo situation. Oh well never mind I say, I guess tiny totts players will be pretty exhausted after WC and then will have important CL qualifiers. I hope they don’t make it out of the rounds as it will be more TV money for us (if I understand it correctly), every cloud has a silver lining.

Joe cole is a nice to have, not need to have. I think he’s more suited to ManIOU or Spurs really and i’d rather not see him play for us though ultimately I will support anyone that AW put’s in the team. Micah Richards would be on the plane to WC if he played for Arsenal.

I have to say I am really happy with the statement by Arsenal about Captain Fabulous, its quite clear and direct. We will see how Barca respond to it. I think they have behaved disgracefully and shown a lack of class. Cheap and inferior are words that spring to mind about them and Real Madrid fans must be laughing.

Aaron can become an exceptional player.

Theo has not had the consistent game time in the 4 years he has been with us, mainly because of a series of lengthy lay off through injury. It has been hard to asses his true ability as he has had no chance to establish any rhythm. Most sensible pros seem to rate him & we have seen him do some extraordinary things, sadly combined with elementary errors. Only 21 so he has plenty of time. He could have been a something different in SA but it does not surprise me he has been left out. In the long run it may do him some good.

Rhys, this is what AW said in 2006:

“I was surprised when he was named because he has no real experience but it was a pleasant surprise because he is a big prospect and it will mature him to be exposed under such a top level competition.

He’ll be in touch with the pressure of the tournament. I don’t think the level of the players will be above the once he is experiencing every day but he will have a bigger responsibility.

He’s still a bit in shock but at that age you don’t really understand how good you are.

Now someone is telling him that he is one of the best players in the country and he is ready to go to the World Cup, which can only make him better.”

He may have made some flippant comments before that but I don’t know quite what you find so wrong in that. He is hardly likely to rubbish his own player is he?

I agree with Harry but suspect you may be a little “tongue in the cheek” yourself.

i have high hopes for rambo too, i hope bnot making the cut gives theo a wake up call, if i thought that was all theo was capable of then fine, but i think he can really improve along with nasri and many of our young players. problem is i dont know their character, i know Defoe and ferdinand were cut in previous world cups and england tournaments and this gave them fire in their belly to show just what they can do.

there is a bit of irony because theo got a back injury playing for both the senior and under 21s when wenger was more than displeased and now he has not even made the cut so it is good news for arsenal because he is will be well rested. CLub country is another story, I am an Englishman and love england but YOU must play well for club first, you must become consistent then you are automatically picked, there is so many benefits of playing well for your club

until on official website,i will believe it of course but good buy if we get him

A great reaction from Arsenal!!!

All that wasted webspace and paper and Arsenal just say one answer: NO!!! Great.

It just like Wenger say:”Fxxk you Barca.”

I feel sorry for Theo. I think he merited a place in the squad. If Paul “I mean” Merson says he didn’t deserve to go..then that surely means he did. Perhaps he doesn’t really fit in with Cappello’s (dull) brand of football anyway. Hopefully this will benefit Theo (and Arsenal) in the long run.
I lost interest in the England circus years ago….with Theo not even on the bench there goes my last reason to watch a bunch of over-hyped multi-millionaires fall miserably short once again. Hurrah!

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/ramsey-signs-a-new-long-term-contract

Let me put it this way…. to take Heskey out of the team now would be the equivalent of Wegner abandoning the youth project and spending £100M over the next few weeks. I’m sure you’ll appreciate the irony.

J

As it is I dont think Walcott deserves a place on the plane to SA (neither does SWP for that matter, but hey ho) but as Walter rightly points out this is partly due to his lack of pre-season last year having knock on’s with regard to injuries, regular run in the side and of course form. (and his lack of pre-season was thanks to the U21 tournament AND his playing in the WC qualifiers – thanks Fabio)
As a welshman (and with a name like Rhys, I’d reckon you’d have at least some sympathy to this point of view) whetehr england win or not, I couldnt give two hoots. What the WC means to me is a chance to see good quality football, with some of the best players in the world coming together. I for one will enjoy watching the games, without fear of injury to walcott!!

But to be fair I’m not here to write on the England team, which I wish all the best and I sure hope they will reach the semi final at least, but only wanted to comment on what the not selection of Walcot could mean for Arsenal.