Expect highs and lows, but Fabio Capello must stick with Theo Walcott

I've met Chris Waddle a few times – like me, he played for Marseilles and was probably the most popular foreign player in French football. “Magic Chris” they called him in France. But Chris, there’s nothing magic about your suggestion in a newspaper column this week that Fabio Capello should drop Theo Walcott for tomorrow’s England game against Kazakhstan. I mean, what’s the thought process there? Where does that come from?

I know Luther Blissett was dropped to the bench after scoring a hat-trick for England in the 1980s, but there’s quite a difference between him and Walcott, you would think. What message would leaving out the star of the win over Croatia send to any young player who’s been given his chance and grasped it? It would be demoralising for the player and tactically questionable.

Shaun Wright-Phillips is more experienced and has been like a new player since returning to Manchester City, but he shouldn’t start ahead of Walcott. Wright-Phillips’s re-emergence makes him a great option to have in the squad, pressing the teenager to continue his form. Steven Gerrard on the right? Why bother tinkering, when England’s incredible performance in their last match was down to the right team selection and tactics?

I believe Capello picked Walcott against Croatia because he had a gut feeling that the winger could be a surprise package, that he could produce something different. It worked, so stay with it. We know he can produce in massive games, because in this qualifying campaign they don’t come any bigger. Unless he slumps in form over the next few games, there’s no reason to meddle with a winning formula. It’s essential, though, that a big centre forward, an Emile Heskey or a Peter Crouch, also plays: that’s a key reason why Walcott was effective in Zagreb.

Walcott is only 19, he will be inconsistent. But top teams can afford one player who they occasionally have to carry, but they know he can be a matchwinner. Oppositions will adapt to him and man-mark him. He’ll have to find the answers to that – all top players do. But for the next decade or so, there’ll be that devastating pace. While we can’t expect a hat-trick every game, there’s every reason to believe Walcott will chip in with goals and assists fairly regularly, and that justifies his place. And let’s remember how level-headed and mature he is for his age.

England as a team will have to deal with the high expectations of the Wembley crowd tomorrow, many of whom will be expecting an easy game. That comes with the territory when you pull on an England shirt. Kazakhstan will surely overload the midfield and defend for their lives, posing a different challenge to the Croats.

It’s down to Capello’s side to be bold, for the midfielders to push high up the pitch, always seeking to pass forward not sideways, and long if necessary, taking risks in the knowledge that Kazakhstan are unlikely to pose an attacking threat.

Set-pieces may be important, and sizing up their opponents in the first 20 minutes might be time well spent. It’s the kind of game, in fact, where Capello might have found it useful to have Michael Owen in the squad: a poacher likely to take the chances that come his way.

It could breed frustration at Wembley if all of England’s opportunities happen to fall to Heskey, who’s hardly got the best scoring record. But let’s hope the crowd doesn’t become irritated if Walcott fails to reproduce the form he showed against Croatia. There will be plenty more highs, and they will more than excuse the occasional low.

Comments

[Nick]

You are so right Casc. To be honest, though, these bizarre comments from Waddle are hardly a surprise, his commentary and 'insight' on Setanta is fairly woeful at the best of times. I've taken to nick-naming him Chrissy Twaddle because of the amount of nonsense he spouts during a live 90 minutes.