LONDON: Theo Walcott admits a heart-to-heart chat with England coach Fabio Capello about his shock World Cup omission has played a key role in his fine form this season.
Walcott, who is expected to start today’s friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen, was stunned when he heard Capello had decided not to include him in England’s 23-man squad for last year’s World Cup.
But the Arsenal winger had to wait until he regained his place in the squad earlier this season before he could discover the reason why he was axed.
Walott is generally perceived as the shy, retiring type because he is so polite off the pitch, but the 21-year-old has a determined streak as well and he summoned up the courage to seek out the notoriously stern Capello for an explanation.
“I wanted to know why I didn’t go so I asked him after training on the pitch,” Walcott said.
“It was just about waiting for the right time. I kept my head down for a bit first. You don’t want to play bad and then ask the manager!
“I was happy with the answer. Those are the sort of things you want to keep between yourself and the manager but it has helped me so much.”
Capello has since confessed that he was wrong to leave out Walcott, so the Italian’s message to his winger may have been along similar lines.
Whatever he said has clearly helped Walcott move on from the World Cup snub and he is once again displaying the electric pace and cool finishing that persuaded Sven Goran Eriksson to take him to the 2006 World Cup as a raw teenager.
He added: “I didn’t dwell on it because that would kill me. I needed a mental break as well as a physical break. That has helped me this season.
“It’s nice to hear the manager say he was wrong but I didn’t point any fingers.
“I just want to prove people wrong and hopefully I am doing that. The psychological scar has gone. It is in the past and I just want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
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