If you follow English football, it is likely you've heard uttered the following phrase about the above-pictured Theo Walcott; "I just don't think he's got a football brain". That phrase was said by a reactionary former England international, Chris Waddle, after a dismal friendly wherein England narrowly scraped by an inferior Egypt side, and Walcott was thoroughly abject. That phrase, furthermore, stuck with Walcott for years; a haunting accusation recurrently mentioned following any sort of mediocre performance. 'He has the talent, he just doesn't have the mind for the game', his detractors claimed.
The above indictment was made by Waddle on the 3rd of March, 2010. Theo James Walcott was seventeen days shy of his 21st birthday. He'd already been written off by one of England's finest ever players, and moreover by much of the English media who viewed the young man from London as a luxury player who, frustratingly, would never fulfill his seemingly infinite potential. Three months on, he would (albeit surprisingly) be left out of Fabio Capello's 2010 World Cup roster, four years after traveling with the England squad to Germany for World Cup 2006.
Walcott was 21 years old, and already a forgotten man.
