England Beats Croatia 4-1: Is This The Turning Point For Theo Walcott?

England was completely dominant in their win against Croatia. Though Croatia was without Eduardo da Silva, England was impressive in Zagreb. They dealt the Croatians their first loss in Croatia during World Cup qualifying. England looked like a different team and one of the reasons was the play of Theo Walcott.

Theo Walcott bagged the first hat-trick for England in seven years. Last time that happened it was when Michael Owen (amazing what he can do when he was healthy) bagged three goals against the Germans. Theo Walcott's pace and finishing ability helped England to jump out to an early and commanding lead.

This performance could make Theo a permanent fixture on the wing for England. His pace can set up great opportunities for him and England's strikers. In the future, he may be a striker for England, but now he is best suited at the wing. His performance is something that the English have been looking for from Walcott.

To me, it was the right move to put Walcott on the English side, but not start him as Sven did. He was completely star struck during the World Cup in 2006 and a bad performance could have been detrimental to his confidence and the faith the English people had in him. After some time acclimating to the climate of international play, Walcott did not disappoint.

I think that he should be a main fixture in the English side. What Walcott does is push the defense. His amazing pace creates pressure on defenders. England's play in international competition has been notoriously slow the past eight years. Though he doesn't have the amazing form on set pieces that Beckham had, he makes it up with his play. There are still problems with the English team, but Walcott will help them compete against the best of the best in the world.

However, I don't think that this will make Walcott a 90 minute player at Arsenal or maybe even a starter. Arsene has showed great faith in Denilson and he has performed well as long as Fabregas plays alongside him. Fabregas is the most important player on the team. Nasri has fit in so seamlessly that he will become a favorite at the Emirates. When Rosicky comes back from injury it will be interesting to see how Arsene deals with his surplus of attacking midfielders.

He can't take Eboue's spot because of a lack of strength in the defense. Arsenal shouldn't play five midfielders in that none of their strikers can handle being the lone striker. Adebayor, in theory could, but his best play comes when he is partnered with RVP.

Hopefully Walcott's performance could lead to a productive career for the English team and Arsenal. Also, Walcott's inclusion into the English team could change the dynamic of the English national team that could help them compete against the best teams in the world.