EXCLUSIVE by ANDY DUNN
THREE weeks into his twentieth year and Theo Walcott is
staging a valiant but losing battle to grow a decent covering of
stubble. But he knows the moment he became a man ... when he took a
deep breath, marched towards Arsene Wenger and asked him for a
quiet word.
"Sometimes, it's been frustrating," admitted Walcott. "There are
times when I haven't deserved to play because I wasn't playing well
enough but there have been times when I have been playing well and
not been involved and that struck me a bit.
"So I actually went up to him for the first time and asked him
what I had to do to start. "I initiated the conversation and walked
over to him on the training ground. It was a difficult thing to do.
I was nervous. But I'm glad I did it.
"And he was fine. In fact, I think he thought it was really big
of me to go to a top manager when I was 18 and ask what I had to do
to improve." Not quite a showdown, certainly not a practice-pitch
bust-up, but a definite watershed in Walcott's short but chequered
Arsenal career.
Since that heart-to-heart earlier in the season, Walcott has not
exactly established himself as an automatic pick. But he has become
what Americans would call a 'go-to' player. The man the coach
relies on to step in and make a difference, to lift a performance,
to send a current of expectation through the crowd, to inject a
burst of speed into a one-paced performance.
But now, that is not enough for Walcott. He said: "Not many
19-year-old players are doing what I'm doing. "And it's an honour
even to sit on the Arsenal substitutes bench. And when I come on, I
like to think it lifts the team and lifts the supporters. "But now
I want to push on. I want to be starting and starting regularly."
But Wenger - for the first time in his life - seems to be playing
the long-ball game.
"He has been bringing me on slowly," said Walcott. "But now I
want to be pushing on to the next level." And that next level will
mean a move to the central striking role vacated by none other than
a certain Thierry Henry. Whie Emmanuel Adebayor has given Arsenal
an added, muscular, goalscoring dimension, they have missed the
direct speed and electric running of Henry. But Walcott revealed
that Wenger has plans for him to fill those golden boots.
He said: "When I had the chat to him, he wanted me to be more
aggressive in my style. Not going around kicking people but
aggressive in an attacking sense. I think I have done that. "I
think I will be playing as a striker next season and the boss seems
to think that as well.
"I will play anywhere for the team but as a striker seems to be
the future. "I would never compare myself to Thierry because he is
just an unbelievable player - in fact, when I first signed for
Arsenal, one of the first things I did was to have my picture taken
with Thierry.
"But I was star-struck then. Not any more. I feel comfortable
now. I feel established as a Premier League player and I want to
push ahead. "The boss is taking a similar route with me as he took
with Thierry - playing me out wide, protecting me a bit and then
going upfront later in my career.
"The boss has told me that is the way he sees it. And I am
working on a lot of things. I am trying to dictate when I want the
ball, always trying to be on the front foot. And I am doing extra
finishing practice after training, working on things like my left
foot."
When Walcott signed for Arsenal from Southampton as the most
expensive 16-year-old in the history of British football,
expectations were high. When Sven Goran Eriksson took him to World
Cup 2006 - before Wenger had even selected him for a Premier League
game - those expectations went into orbit. And, according to
Walcott, those people who perceive a non-fulfilment are being
harsh.
He explained: "Everyone seems to forget that I didn't play for
the first seven months I was here. "And even though I didn't play
in the World Cup, everyone was expecting big things of me straight
away. "And then towards the end of last season, I had the shoulder
problem. When everyone realised it, they just kept battering me on
the shoulder, knowing it could pop out at any time. It was a
nightmare and I was in a lot of pain. "We knew we had to get
something done so we did and it's all sorted now.