Football Betting: Walcott in club v country tug-of-war

Internationals / Ralph Ellis / 28 May 2009 / Leave a Comment

Theo Walcott is likely to called upon by both Stuart Pearce and Fabio Capello this summer and Arsene Wenger is not happy. However, with Pearce likely to get his man, England's U21s are heading to the European Championships with a formidable squad, says Ralph Ellis.

Maybe Arsene Wenger should have given Gabriel Agbonlahor a call. Then again he probably wouldn't have answered the phone!

It's two years now since Aston Villa's striker was due to be in Stuart Pearce's squad for the European Under 21 championships but went missing. And nobody has ever given a satisfactory answer about what happened to this day. Somehow in the age of mobile phones, e-mails, internets, letters, telegrams and pidgeons nobody could locate Agbonlahor to let him know he was due to be playing. All a misunderstanding, of course, and nothing at all to do with the fact Martin O'Neill would have preferred him to get a good summer's rest to be fit for his club again.

This year it's Arsenal's Theo Walcott in the middle of the club and country tug-of-war, with Pearce determined that Walcott will be part of his squad for the competition when it starts in Sweden in the middle of June. Before that he will also most probably be in Fabio Capello's senior squad to face Kazakhstan and Andorra in the two qualifiers that should rubber stamp England's ticket to South Africa in a year's time.

Wenger has made phone calls to both Capello and Pearce asking for Walcott to be left at home, and both have ignored him. "I am against it," Arsenal's manager has told the papers. "I have let the FA know he shouldn't play in both national teams during the holiday period." Is it me, though, or is Wenger being a bit over protective? After all Walcott only once completed 90 minutes of a Premier League match in his 34 games in all competitions for his club in a season interrupted by injury. Compare that to Agbonlahor who has also been involved in both senior and Under 21 squads at various times and slogged his way through all but seven of Villa's 55-game campaign. O'Neill would have preferred his star striker to be let off the summer's duties too, but after the events of two summers ago there was no way he could go AWOL this time.

Pearce's determination to win his wars with club managers means he'll go to the tournament with a powerful squad. Having lost his last attempt after Anton Ferdinand missed at the end of an epic semi-final shoot-out, he's got a strong line-up which proves that England's clubs are bringing through their own talent in spite of the competition from foreign players in the Premier League.

Agbonlahor is joined by club mates James Milner and Craig Gardner in the squad which was named yesterday, and it also includes experienced top flight players such as Newcastle's Steven Taylor, Micah Richards and Nedum Onuoha of Manchester City, West Ham's Mark Noble and Lee Cattermole of Wigan.

It makes the price of [4.8] for an England win inviting, although [4.3] favourites Spain will inevitably be strong, as will [4.6] shots Italy.

Five things you might not know about Stuart Pearce

1. Born in West London in 1962, he was rejected by Queens Park Rangers as a young player, then turned down an offer to join Hull to play non-League football for Wealdstone

2. When he made his England debut against Brazil in 1987 he was the 999th player to appear for England

3. Punk band The Stranglers named their label after him - Psycho Records

4. In 1998 a lorry overturned, landed on the roof of his car and crushed it - but he walked away unharmed

5. Famous for his Italia 1990 semi-final penalty shoot-out miss, he also blasted a penalty over the bar for Manchester City against Portsmouth with the very last touch of his playing career. It meant he ended on 99 career goals instead of 100.