<div class="a"></div> <div class="b"></div> <div class="c"></div> <h4><font color="#ff0000">Sheffield UnitedvArsenal Carling Cup Round 4 Bramall Lane Wed, Oct 31, 2007, 7.45pm</font></h4> </p> <font color="#ff0000">[Wednesday, October 31, 2007]</font></p> <font color="#ff0000"> <font color="#000000">It's 18 months since Theo Walcott's world was turned upside down by his shock World Cup call-up. Now, according to Arsène Wenger, the 18-year-old is taking a more orthodox route to the top.</font></p> <font color="#000000">Walcott's journey from prodigious teenage talent to established first-teamer continues tonight when he lines up against Sheffield United in the Carling Cup at Bramall Lane. It's a far cry from last summer's trip to Germany and another sign that Walcott is now enjoying a 'balanced' development.</font></p> <font color="#000000">"What is normal for a footballer is to play well, get in the team and after four or five years at a good level he becomes an international," said Wenger.</font></p> <font color="#000000">"For Theo, before he starts to play he is in the World Cup and the process to find your balance back is much more difficult. I feel it is lucky that he has a good alignment and his feet are on the ground. That has helped him a lot.</font></p> <font color="#000000">"I never felt that he has struggled mentally [because of the World Cup call-up] but he must have been a bit puzzled that it is difficult to play football."</font></p> <font color="#000000">Wenger had yet to select Walcott for a top-flight game when he was famously named in Sven Goran Eriksson's squad for England's World Cup campaign. The Arsenal manager accepts that the call-up came too early but believes that it has helped, not hindered, Walcott's progress.</font></p> <font color="#000000">"It was a good learning process," said Wenger. "The younger you get a touch of a top-level job, the better it is. He learned under what kind of pressure it is to play for your country. </font></p> <font color="#000000">"Was he complete footballistically? Certainly not completely. But it has speeded up his maturity — one day you win the lottery, the next day you lose everything and you learn it’s not as easy as it looks. He’s gone through that and now I feel he is ready to start."</font></p> </font></p>
He took a real bad hit after people slagged him off or going to the world cup. Lets hope he can make the difference now he has his confidence back.</p>
