Theo Walcott: No more excuses for Arsenal's lack of silverware
Getting places quickly; i's what Theo Walcott's always been good at. Both figuratively and literally, his life has been conducted at speed, whether it is getting into the England World Cup squad at 17 or getting to the end of a 100 metres race track in 10.5 secs.

Frustrating season: Arsenal's Theo Walcott has only showed glimpses of the explosive, exhilarating football that had Barcelona panicking

A curious feeling for him then, coming to the end of his fourth full season with Arsène Wenger’s team, and yet to win his first piece of silverware. His impatience is synonymous with that of the club — he arrived in January 2006, midway through the first of what have been five barren seasons – and he knows it is about time something was done about it.

“If we stay together it will come,” he said. “The fans have been patient and we want to do something for them. It’s been too long now. We have always used that excuse that we are still learning but now we need to go one step further. It has got to be silverware now. This team have got to be winning things.”

This is rhetoric that fits the mood of the club. From Wenger to the fans pitched up outside the pubs on the Holloway Road there is a sense of urgency: no more talk of the future, no more transitions.

Walcott, the pain of defeat in the North London derby still raw, is getting fed up with just flirting with success. He wants to go the whole way.

“The most important thing as a player is to win trophies. This team, if a lot of us could stay together, could get into the history books for winning trophies. I know what it feels like to lose. I got to the FA Youth Cup final with Saints. Lost that. Got to the Carling Cup final. Lost that. Got the European Under 21s final with England. Lost that. I want to win. Even if you don’t play well, no one cares. You just want to win. No one remembers how you played in a World Cup final, they only remember who won it.

“We have to do the dirty work and grind the results out. We’ve done that a lot this season, against the likes of Stoke and Bolton. There’s been a definite improvement and we’re a few points better off than last season as well. But you can have the best stats in the world, keep the ball for most of the game but the only stat is that one in the top left-hand corner of the TV screen.”

This has been a difficult season for Walcott. It started with an injury that just would not go away and is ending with the frustration of not getting the regular starts that, at 21, he craves. In between, there has been tantalising glimpses of the kind of explosive, exhilarating football that had Barcelona panicking and the whole of Emirates stadium on its feet.

One minute he is being told by Chris Waddle that he “does not have a football brain” the next he is the one player capable of scaring the best team in the world.

“It’s never anywhere in the middle — I’m always the best player in the world or the worst player in the world,” he said. “Look, I’m always learning. The number of injuries I’ve had this season has been very frustrating. I come back and expect to get straight back to my best and put too much pressure on myself and nothing happens right when you do that.

“That’s happened quite a bit to me this season. A lot of people have said stuff but I listen to the people around me, the boss the players and my family. They are the most important people in my career at the moment.

“The next thing for me is to get a consistent run of games. I have only started three games in a row this season. That’s not enough for me at all. Still, when I’ve been called off the bench, I’ve been getting assists and the odd goal and doing quite well. So now I just have to get into the starting line up. I did well against Wolves and Burnley when I started those games but you want to do it in the big games.

“I always analyse my game, all the time. I go back home and watch the games over, give my self a mark out of 10 for the things I could have done better and the things I’ve done very well. That’s how I try to improve.”

Walcott has been watching DVDs of Freddie Ljungberg in his pomp. It is the timing of the Swedish midfielder’s runs in behind the opposition defence that Walcott is seeking to emulate. “His runs are perfect for me,” he said. “When you get the ball, people expect me to just run past five or six players and cross it in or get a goal. It’s difficult to run at pace and pick someone out at times.

“Sometimes the best thing is to put the ball into space for someone to attack it. It’s happened quite a few times this season that I’ve put it into space and no one’s been there which has made me look a bit worse than I am.”

Wenger, you feel, has not yet worked out the best way to exploit Walcott’s phenomenal pace. It is an incredible weapon if used effectively, and one that is only getting more formidable: Walcott is getting quicker. “I broke Thierry Henry’s sprinting record,” Walcott said. “When I was 14 I used to do 11.5sec but now I’m down to 10.5sec. They say to me here that if I keep working on strengthening my core and my groin then I can get even faster.

“I’ve got the worst running style for sprinter, though, I really have. When I was running for Newbury district, my Dad filmed from behind the finish line. There’s these county runners whose style is immaculate and then there’s me all over the shop. You could tell I was never going to be sprinter.”

You sometimes wonder whether Arsenal, with their ornate and intricate style of play, might not actually restrict a player more suited to high-speed counter-attacking football. Walcott demurs.

“Here at Arsenal, I’ve learnt a lot about interchanging with players, playing in different positions. That’s important I think. I’ve learnt to use my pace at the right time — you don’t want to be head down, guns blazing all the time, running with the ball. People ask me, ‘you’re so quick, why don’t you run past people every time?’ It’s not as easy as that.” That was a lesson learnt at the World Cup four years ago in training session after training session at Baden Baden when the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and John Terry imperiously eased him off the ball.

This time he will be going to the World Cup as a match-winner, not as a gimmick. It was Walcott’s hat-trick in Croatia that gave this Fabio Capello side its feelgood factor and the Italian coach’s system needs unadulterated pace on the right flank.

“I’m just cracking on with games and if I work hard I’ll get there. That’s my attitude. If I’m thinking about the World Cup, I won’t be giving my best for Arsenal and Arsenal is definitely the most important thing at this moment in time. If I’m there I’ll be dedicated to that. I feel fresh and I want to get that confidence right up there before — hopefully — going into the World Cup.”

South Africa could be the perfect arena for Walcott to show he is of the elite class, to extinguish those doubts about his ability at the highest level. To return with an impressive World Cup behind him would be exactly what he needs to come in from the periphery and become a central player in Wenger’s team.

“These are exciting times to be an Arsenal player,” he said. “As to my long-term future, I haven’t given it all that much thought to be honest because I’m still just looking to the next training session. But it would be a lovely thing to stay here for. You look at Ryan Giggs: every time I speak to Giggsy I think he’s a great example for me. I hope I can finish my career here.”

Wigan v Arsenal. Sunday, kick-off: 1.30pm