The UK has a weird way of treating young football players. Happily Arsenal has a proud history of embracing youth talent but some clubs seem to have a real problem with their idea in blooding in the youth. Certain fans have the same problem too. We like to know that the young prospects are having a chance to have a go to make it big in the national game but some of us seem suspicious about their presence.

In fact, tough love would not come close to how we behave towards the young football talent of this great sporting nation. The whole ‘you’ll win nothing with kids’ notion came from a famous BBC pundit before Wenger set foot in the red half of North London but the idea seems to have become engrained in our national culture. I am struggling to wonder how any young player can survive the intense pressure to perform at club level, let alone for his country. If they peak too early in the game with a wonder goal or eye watering pass, their lot seems to have been made even worse, as they try to match the intense expectations in the stands, in the papers, the TV studio and the internet forums.

It may have been where I was brought up. I might just enjoy the simple things in life but I enjoy that moment when I am at a game and seeing a young player either break into the team or show the innocence of youth to take on those players when an elder head would have stood aside. Maybe it is due to a bit of gentle envy. Only in my dreams do I play for England and a club side on a regular basis. My football career went to the stands at a very early age, but when I see a young and exciting player, I like to think about what might have been.

Maybe the nation was spoilt by Rooney during the last decade and his graceful ascent from the Everton youth team to a player who (frankly) is holding the hopes of his nation to do anything more than exit at the quarter final stage of the World Cup. It is easy to forget that the Wayne Rooney ‘journey’ has only been in progress for less than a decade. The Theo Walcott saga has only been going for around five years but everyone seems to have an opinion about Theo Walcott and most of it seems to be critical in nature. Why?

My thoughts on Walcott were formed after catching some action from one of his Southampton matches towards the back end of his stay at the St Mary’s Stadium. I would always be attracted to attacking wingers and Walcott’s willingness to attack a shockingly static defence (even by Championship standards) left a lasting impression on me. While the Saints were struggling to march anywhere, it was obvious that Walcott was destined for big things.

Did Theo ever feel that this ‘big thing’ was meant to be a place in the 2006 World Cup squad? I totally understand that the ultimate dream for any footballer is to represent his country in the World Cup, but did this trip to Germany come too early for Walcott? For reasons that will be never known, Walcott became a symbol for what people regarded as the England manager losing the plot at the most critical time before the national team went to Germany. He never played. It was widely assumed that he was holding up the space that could have been left for another striker.

Widely assumed that Walcott had been given his chance but fluffed his lines to such an extent that would beat the average Crossroads episode, Walcott has been generally under the radar throughout his Arsenal days. It seems that many people have been more concerned about the state of Rooney, and with England off the international football stage since those hot summer days of ‘06; Walcott has generally kept away from people’s minds. The opinion formers seem to have been more concerned about the celebrity circus of Beckham, the dreary debate about whether Lampard and Gerrard could play together, or jumping on the grave of Michael Owen’s England career.

Some lapsed football followers may have forgotten about Walcott when he came back into the national conscience with his majestic display against Croatia in September 2008. After years of umbrellas, torrential rain, underperforming ‘golden’ superstars, and a doomed Euro 2008 campaign, Walcott’s display was a shot in the arm for England fans who desperately wanted some hope that the national team would be going to South Africa in the summer of 2010. Then we expected Walcott to perform like this at every single game whether for club and country and when this does not happen, some people would suggest that Walcott was destined for the commentary booth or insurance adverts.

Theo Walcott has had his good and bad games during this season. There have been some moments of true genius. Arguably, he gave a lot of hope to the Arsenal faithful in the Barcelona first lef. The glass half full attitude would suggest that Walcott took this tie into a second leg with some meaning. Whoever is suggesting that Walcott is a lost cause is being a bit trigger-happy with their opinions. Maybe most of this white noise is coming away from Arsenal Football Club, but these critics need to remember that Theo Walcott is still young in footballing terms. He is showing promise and subsequently showing that he is some value to the team. He does not need to be thrown on the scrapheap.