Who should replace Theo Walcott?

Walcott won't make it to Brazil

Arsenal and England attacker Theo Walcott has been ruled out for six months with a knee injury, meaning that he will miss the World Cup in Brazil this year. For a player who didn’t feature at the 2006 tournament despite being in the squad and who was omitted from Fabio Capello’s team that travelled to South Africa in 2010, this is a hugely devastating blow for the former Southampton player, and for England, too.

Of course, in 2006, Walcott was just 17 years old, lacking international and top flight experience, so it wasn’t exactly surprising to not see him play. However, that won’t ease the frustration he must be trying to contain at this present moment.

Whilst Theo Walcott isn’t England’s greatest asset, he did provide a lethal injection of pace to the side, allowing him to penetrate through defences at alarming speeds, which either created great opportunities for himself in front of goal or to assist other players.

England do have several potential replacements, though.

The Ox can't wait to be back

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, one of Walcott’s team-mates at Arsenal, has demonstrated sufficient ability in that position for both club and country. However, Chamberlain, also a former Southampton prodigy like Walcott, has been injured for the majority of the season so far. With little Premier League experience anyway, Chamberlain’s injury has severely impacted his progress as a professional footballer. Although he is expected to be fit well in time for the tournament, the winger will have to get back in to the Arsenal starting line-up, which won’t be an easy task considering their impressive form this season.

Liverpool's Raheem Sterling

Another candidate is Raheem Sterling. Although the Liverpool forward hasn’t made as many appearances this season as he would have liked to, Sterling has regularly shown the ability to score goals for Brendan Rodgers’ side and does offer similar levels of pace to Walcott. Again, the only problem is that, like Chamberlain, he doesn’t possess much international experience.




Andros Townsend greatly enhanced the England squad in their final two World Cup qualifiers, helping the side to beat Montenegro and Poland, and even scoring a goal on his international debut. The Spurs midfielder’s performances in both matches were very credible, with the England debutant looking like he had been playing in the side for a long time. Once more, experience is an issue but Townsend delivered in matches where great pressure was on the England side to seal qualification. To show the levels of composure and maturity that he did at a young age in games of such magnitude is a testament to Townsend’s character. Replication of those performances in Brazil, where the pressure will be even greater, would be extremely useful for the England side. Surely Townsend deserves a chance to prove himself at the World Cup. After all, he made a significant contribution to England securing qualification.

One man who does have experience on the international stage is Aaron Lennon. However, the Tottenham winger has not been enjoying regular football at Spurs having been plagued by injury for much of the season, which has subsequently affected his England involvement as well. It is, therefore, difficult to see him being the most suitable replacement.

Wilfried Zaha

Wilfried Zaha, the former Crystal Palace player, is another young star, but one with insufficient international experience. Having not featured on a regular basis under David Moyes at Manchester United this season, it’s difficult to see him being deemed an appropriate substitute for Walcott.

Other, less likely contenders include Blackpool’s Tom Ince and Norwich’s Nathan Redmond. Ince has been heavily linked with a Premier League transfer to Swansea City this January in a move that would undoubtedly improve his chances of receiving a call up, whilst Redmond will also need to have a consistent second half of the season to ensure that he is put up for consideration.


Altogether, the main problem is age and, consequently, experience. Playing for England is a huge responsibility, and intense pressure is placed on individual members of the squad to deliver success quickly. It does seem that Hodgson is going to have to select a younger player anyway and, personally, I would feel inclined to hand the position to Andros Townsend. Out of all of the players mentioned, he is the only one to have made a significantly strong impression on his England debut, displaying confidence and ability in a high pressure environment. Townsend deserves his chance having shown his capabilities on the international stage. Nothing seemed to faze the midfielder, and, if I was Roy Hodgson, I’d certainly choose him. At the moment, it’s very likely that Townsend will be selected anyway so there’s a chance that the other names mentioned will be seriously considered for the squad. Of course, club form needs to be consistent and of a high standard. With a number of games remaining in the Barclays Premier League this season, there’s plenty of opportunity for the potential candidates to earn their ticket to Brazil.

A friendly against Denmark early in March will give Hodgson one final opportunity to assess the different options and experiment with what he has available before preparation for the opening group game against Italy begins.