<span class="titolo">Walcott: I'm Not The New Henry</span></p> <span class="sommario">After playing a key role in helping Arsenal to a record Champions League victory on Tuesday, Theo Walcott stressed that he is not the next Thierry Henry.</span></p> The 18-year-old, England’s youngest senior international, scored twice and set up another in Arsenal's impressive 7-0 vucrory over Slavia Prague at the Emirates.</p> However, the former Southampton youngster does not want to be compared to the Gunners' iconic all-time leading goalscorer Thierry Henry, now at Barcelona. Instead Walcott is determined to make his own mark on football.</p> He said: “It was brilliant to train with Thierry for a year-and-a-half and take bits out of his game but I want to be my own player.</p> “I suppose people are always going to compare us because of the way I run and the fact that I can play out wide or through the middle.</p> “Straight after Tuesday’s game I heard that my second goal was a Thierry-style finish, which was nice to hear. But it was my goal.</p> “Everyone was disappointed when Thierry left for Barcelona in the summer but in a way people have forgotten about that now because Arsenal are doing so well this season. I’ve not spoken to him since he left but he’s doing brilliantly for Barcelona and we all wish him the best.”</p> Walcott revealed that the best piece of advice he was ever given came when he was just a boy at Southampton.</p> He said: “Five or six years ago, I was told to pass the ball into the net with power. That advice has stayed with me ever since and it’s what I did on Tuesday.</p> “Those two goals are a weight off my shoulders because I’ve been working really hard in training and it was great to score for the first time at the Emirates.</p> “The boss signed me as a striker and I think that is where I will end up playing.</p> “I’ve been at Arsenal for almost two years now and I’ve had to be patient. I went to the World Cup at 17 when I hadn’t even played in the Premiership but that wasn’t my decision. I never expected that.</p> “It was a good experience to train with world-class players, watch the way they handled themselves and how they prepared for the big games.</p> “But then I came back to Arsenal and wasn’t that involved last season. Of course I wanted to play — everyone does.</p> “But I was only 17 and I wasn’t going to go knocking on the manager’s door demanding to know when I would get my chance.</p> “The boss has been brilliant for me. He’s handled everything so well and now I’m a bit stronger and wiser and ready to push on. Hopefully I’ll get a few more appearances up front.”</p> Manager Arsene Wenger said of Walcott after Tuesday's performance: “When you go from a young promising player into a world of men, you discover suddenly the world is not like everybody had described it to you.</p> “You have to cope with all kinds of difficulties and have to digest it.”</p> Walcott's immediate aim is to keep his place when the Premier League leaders go to Anfield to tackle Liverpool on Sunday.</p> He said: “This is the match which will show us how strong Arsenal are going to be. I think we’ll be OK.</p> “Tuesday’s result in Europe has given us even more confidence. It’s no wonder so many people love to watch Arsenal. The performance against Slavia Prague is the way we want to continue playing. And I still think we can do much better.”</p> </p>
