Theo Walcott has argued it’s better if Max Dowman doesn’t go to the World Cup with England this summer, in light of the current hype around the Arsenal youngster.
Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott knows something about being a young player called up for a World Cup tournament, having linked up with Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side for the 2006 World Cup aged just 17.
If Walcott had made an appearance at the tournament, he could have become the second-youngest player in World Cup history. But even just his attendance was enough to create plenty of noise around him.
For exactly that reason, Walcott has argued that Max Dowman shouldn’t go to the tournament this summer, with the 16-year-old currently a year younger than Walcott was for that 2006 call-up – and eligible to become the youngest World Cup player of all time.
“I hope he [Dowman] doesn’t go,” Walcott said. “I don’t mean it in a horrible way, [but] because if I could go back in time, I would change things. I would say to myself ‘no, no, don’t do it’, but then try telling that to a 17-year-old!
“I do still see him and me differently as he’s playing in the Premier League but he needs to grow at his own pace, especially on the emotional side because he’s a young adult.
“In time he will go, yes, but I don’t think this is the time and I think there are better players who arguably deserve to be there ahead of him.
“Whenever he’s been tested, he’s passed with flying colours. Still, we can’t get ahead of ourselves, we need to give him time.”
For the time being, Dowman remains with the England u19s, but Thomas Tuchel did suggest a World Cup call-up isn’t impossible, depending on how things go in the remainder of the club season.
Yet perhaps it’s for the best that Dowman misses out this time. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to play for England if he continues on his current trajectory, and the pressure a World Cup call-up would invite would certainly be immense.