What happened to the youngster?

[NPMR]

I managed not to see one England Match but did they use the youngster they took with them?

If not why not? If yes, was he any good?

Woke up in the middle of the night worrying about it - why?

[jhr]

No, they didn't use Theo Walcott. I've no idea why, but the Guardian was suggesting that, having been talked into taking him by Arsene Wenger, Sven wasn't too impressed with him in practice matches, so didn't play him.

I saw him play at St Mary's a couple of times, when he was with Saints, and he was electrifying - the whole place came alive when he went on. However, Saints are (temporarily /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) playing Championship football, and whether he will look as good against Premiership and International players is a question I don't have an answer to. But he was pretty good; I reckon that if he'd remained with Saints last season, rather than moving to the Arsenal Subs' bench, we would have made it to the playoffs /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

[NPMR]

Thank you. Now I can sleep better.

[bbg]

I also reckon that, despite all the criticism, it was not a bad move to name him. If he is as good as he is supposed to be, he will be named again in the future, and teh experience of accompanying the squad this time, even if he didn't play, will be a huge bonus next time.