![]() Walcott was an instinctive finisher and, in conversation, it rarely took long for him to mention that he had mapped out a future at centre-forward. Another was the conjecture over where he should play. skip past newsletter promotionĪn unhappy injury record was one of Walcott’s hindrances: an assortment of issues, beginning with a shoulder problem and troughing with a ruptured cruciate ligament in 2014, ate into about two years of his Arsenal career. It remains one of the best performances by an England attacker in memory, which should perhaps temper criticism that there were not many more. That was in September 2008 and if anyone had suggested Walcott would score only five more international goals at that point, three of them against Estonia and San Marino, they would have been considered a doom-monger. The following season, a solo effort at Shakhtar Donetsk was perhaps the crystallisation of peak Walcott: a breathtaking chase up the left flank before opening up his body for the kind of early, curled finish he had watched Henry produce time and again.Īmid all that came the hat-trick in Zagreb, the first competitive treble mustered by an England player in seven years, that confirmed the best result of Fabio Capello’s staid tenure. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PAĪ year later he was scoring on the same stage against Villarreal, helping Arsenal to the last four in 2010 it was his goal that turned an apparent cakewalk for Barcelona at the Emirates into one of the most exciting European ties of that decade. ![]() Theo Walcott scores his third for England against Croatia in their 4-1 win in September 2008. When Walcott sliced through Liverpool’s defence in a Champions League quarter-final at Anfield in 2008, setting up Emmanuel Adebayor for a tap-in that should have been the winner, it felt like a dizzying exhibition of skill and a night of coronation. Yet there were plenty of moments that showed why Wenger had plucked him from Southampton for £9m and why, almost a dozen years later, the pair’s mutual trust never really wavered. Walcott had superstardom fitted out for him in advance and it meant any other outcome would seem, in some eyes, tantamount to failure. Could Walcott’s body and brain keep up with such a conspicuous gift that often leaves its owner exposed? There were rough edges to his game that never quite smoothed out the microscope zoomed in further when, in 2008, he took the No 14 shirt Thierry Henry had vacated upon leaving Arsenal a year previously. With exhilarating running ability comes a layer of added scrutiny. During those early years the top flight had rarely seen speed like his: pace was an attribute he never really lost and it underpinned the rise that, shortly before the World Cup call-up from Sven-Göran Eriksson that raised expectations sky high, led him to become England men’s youngest senior player. ![]() They are also a reminder that Walcott is joined only by James Milner in playing Premier League football every season between 2006-23. There should have been more goals, certainly, but the manner and intuition of Arsenal's play showed that they feel ready to take control of the group and make a real dent in this season's competition.'It's very scary': Theo Walcott announces retirement from football – video Instead they were, if anything, even better, playing with real fluency in the first half especially. Reporter's view: Andy Brassell ( There was concern before kick-off that Arsenal would not be able to live up to their impressive win against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday. Granit, by contrast, was allowed to spray the ball about with comfort having been reinstated to the Arsenal midfield in the absence of the injured Francis Coquelin. They had contrasting evenings in north London, older sibling Taulant working overtime at the heart of a busy Basel back five as the Gunners took control. Xhaka v Xhaka Brothers Granit and Taulant Xhaka faced each other again here, having previously done so when Switzerland played Albania at UEFA EURO 2016. Taulant and Granit Xhaka after the final whistle ©Getty Images ![]()
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