Wenger: Theo is ready

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he feels Theo Walcott is now 'ready to start'. Injury to Robin van Persie has meant an opportunity for the youngster to play in the first team, and Walcott again impressed during the midweek Carling Cup game against Sheff Utd. Wenger now feels Walcott has adjusted to Premiership football.

The French tactician said on the club’s official website: "What is normal for a footballer is to play well, get in the team and after four or five years at a good level he becomes an international.

"For Theo, before he starts to play he is in the World Cup and the process to find your balance back is much more difficult. I feel it is lucky that he has a good alignment and his feet are on the ground. That has helped him a lot.

"I never felt that he has struggled mentally (because of the World Cup call-up) but he must have been a bit puzzled that it is difficult to play football."

Referring to then England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's selection of Walcott even before he had Gunners’ top-flight game, Wenger said: "It was a good learning process.

"The younger you get a touch of a top-level job, the better it is. He learned under what kind of pressure it is to play for your country.

"Was he complete footballistically? Certainly not completely. But it has speeded up his maturity — one day you win the lottery, the next day you lose everything and you learn it’s not as easy as it looks. He’s gone through that and now I feel he is ready to start."