A new “furious” streak has made Theo Walcott a leading player for Arsenal and England, according to his club goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.
Following a string of impressive displays for Arsene Wenger’s men, the 19-year-old scored a stunning hat-trick for Fabio Capello’s senior team in their World Cup qualifier in Croatia last month.
The pacy forward has again been included for the forthcoming clashes with Kazakhstan at Wembley and next week’s away game in Belarus.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for the former Southampton trainee, who arrived at Arsenal in a big-money move in January 2006 and was a controversial selection for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s ill-fated World Cup squad that year, when he had yet to make his debut for the Gunners.
However, Walcott has toughened up since, recently coming in for some close attention from Dynamo Kiev captain Andrei Nesmachniy during the Champions League opener in Ukraine.
It is, though, just that ability to cope with whatever the opposition throw at him which Almunia believes makes Walcott a special talent.
“Theo was too nice maybe in the last two years, but this season you can see that when he gets tackled he gets furious, and that shows you he has changed,” said Almunia.
“When he used to take a tackle he did not reply with anything, he did not say anything to the referee or the opposing player. He would get tackled and stay on the floor, and he would never say anything. Now I like him more on the field.
“I just spoke with him once. I told him he had to be a bit more aggressive, and not so nice on the pitch, because if people can kill you they will do so.”
The 31-year-old Spaniard feels Walcott can continue to make great strides under Wenger’s expert guidance. Almunia added: “I can only say that Theo is beautiful playing football. To me he is like a machine, it’s unbelievable.
“I enjoy it a lot when I see Theo playing in training, and also because he is a very nice guy.
“He is by far the most exciting young English player I have ever seen. His skills are incredible and I am sure that over 100 metres he would get a good time.
“He has a lot of discipline; he is a very complete player. Theo is growing up and I think it’s going to be great for England.” (telegraph)
Following a string of impressive displays for Arsene Wenger’s men, the 19-year-old scored a stunning hat-trick for Fabio Capello’s senior team in their World Cup qualifier in Croatia last month.
The pacy forward has again been included for the forthcoming clashes with Kazakhstan at Wembley and next week’s away game in Belarus.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for the former Southampton trainee, who arrived at Arsenal in a big-money move in January 2006 and was a controversial selection for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s ill-fated World Cup squad that year, when he had yet to make his debut for the Gunners.
However, Walcott has toughened up since, recently coming in for some close attention from Dynamo Kiev captain Andrei Nesmachniy during the Champions League opener in Ukraine.
It is, though, just that ability to cope with whatever the opposition throw at him which Almunia believes makes Walcott a special talent.
“Theo was too nice maybe in the last two years, but this season you can see that when he gets tackled he gets furious, and that shows you he has changed,” said Almunia.
“When he used to take a tackle he did not reply with anything, he did not say anything to the referee or the opposing player. He would get tackled and stay on the floor, and he would never say anything. Now I like him more on the field.
“I just spoke with him once. I told him he had to be a bit more aggressive, and not so nice on the pitch, because if people can kill you they will do so.”
The 31-year-old Spaniard feels Walcott can continue to make great strides under Wenger’s expert guidance. Almunia added: “I can only say that Theo is beautiful playing football. To me he is like a machine, it’s unbelievable.
“I enjoy it a lot when I see Theo playing in training, and also because he is a very nice guy.
“He is by far the most exciting young English player I have ever seen. His skills are incredible and I am sure that over 100 metres he would get a good time.
“He has a lot of discipline; he is a very complete player. Theo is growing up and I think it’s going to be great for England.” (telegraph)
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