Theo Walcott can be absolutely maddening even to his own fans.
He is a player who has achieved much in his career: earning his move from Southampton to Arsenal, winning trophies at the Emirates, playing for England at the highest level, etc. But there’s a lingering sense that he should be doing even better, that he has/had the potential to do even more.
It’s a decade since he entered the general public’s consciousness by being surprisingly named in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, after only 13 appearances in senior football. Since then he has done pretty well for both Arsenal and England, yet still he is criticised.
That is partly because he has always played under the huge spectre of Thierry Henry at Arsenal. He never was nor would be such a player. But on Monday night he scored his 100th goal for the club, which is some milestone and nothing to be sniffed at. That’s a mark of Walcott the player.
But Walcott the man deserves a lot of praise too. He’s always polite and humble, well-spoken and approachable. Within football, he is known to be one of the most articulate and genial players in the game, and is certainly never one to court controversy or embarrass his club/manager.
After the game against Sutton United, the Arsenal man shows that good nature when he made his way to the home changing room and spent some time chatting to the opposition players, signing autographs and generally being a lovely bloke. It’s not something that will earn him back page headlines, but he’s a credit to the game.
Classy from Theo Walcott 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/tnpb3xWyuM
— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) February 21, 2017
