Theo Walcott on England's striker shortage: ‘It's a sad, sad way we're going'

New York Times

14-06-2025

The future of the English No 9 has been on Theo Walcott's mind this summer. The former Arsenal and England forward believes that the shortage of strikers being produced in his home country could be detrimental in the long run, and has concerns about domestic football being too 'predictable'.
While Harry Kane extended his record as the men's top scorer with his 73rd international goal against Senegal, the under-21s have travelled to the European Championship in Slovakia without a recognised striker. Liam Delap was part of the preliminary squad but, after joining Chelsea from Ipswich Town for £30million ($41m), his attentions have turned to the Club World Cup instead — a move, as an Arsenal fan, Walcott admits 'worries' him.
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Asked for his thoughts on England's lack of centre-forwards, Walcott said: 'I don't like it. I always feel that it shows where we are as a country because we can't find a No 9 to play in a system.
'For instance, the other day when Morgan Rogers came on (in the seniors' 3-1 defeat against Senegal), he was non-existent in a position he is not used to, even though he's a very good player. He likes to drive with the ball, so why have players in positions where they are not used to playing?
'The perfect example who has really adapted themselves in that position as a false nine is Ousmane Dembele (of Paris Saint-Germain and France). Obviously, he's a lot more experienced, but we haven't got a player like Dembele. You could get away with it in this Under-21 Euros but in the long run, I'm not a big believer in not having No 9s.
'I'm not sure why we can't develop them anymore and it's a sad, sad way we're going. I'm a big believer in getting it out wide, dribbling one-v-one, crossing it and seeing some headed goals. When do we see that now? We barely do. You just know they'll go inside. It's starting to become too predictable.'
Walcott is mostly remembered as a winger despite having spells up front and says, 'You can get quite bored up front if you're playing as a false nine or as a 'No 10' (attacking midfielder).' He recognises 'everyone wants to be a No 10 because it's the glamour position' but says it is an out-and-out No 9 for whom fans tend to clamour.
'When people speculate, clubs look for a No 9 and the fans get upset or confused saying, 'Why can't we find a No 9?',' says Walcott, who will be part of Channel 4's coverage of England Under-21s' final group game against Germany on June 18. 'It's really hard to find them because everyone wants to be that really predictable player… those who like to come inside.
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'Strikers are selfish, they just want to score goals. But now, all of a sudden, the wingers are starting to get more selfish because they want to cut in and do their thing. They're not connecting like they once did.
'That's why Delap going to Chelsea worries me as an Arsenal fan. I know they have been going for that No 9, that Didier Drogba type, it's that curse of the No 9. Delap can break that curse because he's a really good striker. He's the next one after Harry Kane for England.'
Arsenal are pursuing strikers, including RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres, but Walcott, who played alongside Thierry Henry, Olivier Giroud, Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie at the Emirates, rates Delap very highly.
'(It) disappoints me as an Arsenal fan if you don't go after someone like that,' he says. 'You can see it in him as well, you can see his fight. He doesn't care who he plays against.'
Walcott is, however, encouraged by the experience in Lee Carsley's England Under-21 squad. Thirteen of the 23 players are aged 22 and have plenty of Premier League, Championship, Ligue 1 and Serie A games in their legs already. Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri is the youngest player, having turned 18 in March — and he made 37 first-team appearances last season.
Walcott was a shock call-up to the England senior squad for the 2006 World Cup, aged just 17. He did not get off the bench at the tournament but made his under-21 debut shortly afterwards.
'I was in the first team environment for England knowing that I didn't deserve to be there,' he admits. 'These guys (in 2025), quite a few deserve to have a chance with the senior team already. When I went to the under-21s, it was a bit of a relief because I knew that the first team was too much for me at that time.'
With many hopeful that they can make a good impression ahead of next summer's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Walcott knows the importance of not just impressing on the pitch in this environment.
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'It's the full package that they're looking at now,' he says.'You could be the best trainer but you might not really involved in the day-to-day things. I would shut myself in the room at times. It was very different. I couldn't really relate to the players I was with (in the senior squad) because of the age gap. So that's the side of it which I had to manage in my own way. At times, I'd lock myself away and get on with things.
'I was only 17, so I was still learning about myself at that age while being thrust into an environment that I'm not quite used to. These guys, they're going to have to tick a lot of boxes by doing the right things every minute when they're on show.'
By the time Walcott was part of the squad that went to the 2009 Under-21 European Championship, he was 20, had played three full seasons for Arsenal and been given Henry's old No 14 shirt.
He wanted to be part of the squad despite Arsene Wenger's wishes and scored in the semi-final penalty shootout against hosts Sweden, before starting up front for the first time in the final because Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor was suspended.
England were facing a Germany Under-21 side that included future senior World Cup winners Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Benedikt Howedes, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil. They lost 4-0 and Walcott came away with a strong lasting impression of a group that would go on to win the World Cup five years later in Brazil.
'These guys felt older than their age,' Walcott recalls. 'This is what I'm talking about with this England team. They seem older, and that's a good thing. They'll have more experience and it was the same with that German team. You could tell they fed off our energy. They treated it so professionally, which just showed, if you do all the right things, good things will happen — and of course, many of them won the World Cup.
'The Germans are so serious and sometimes we're not as serious. That's a shift we need to make and you could sense that against Senegal the other day. We didn't seem serious because it's a friendly and everyone wants to go on holiday. We need to start being more serious, particularly at international level.'
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That mentality showed as Carlsley's side opened their tournament with a 3-1 win against the Czech Republic, the first of all the England Under-21 games Channel 4 is showing live on UK television. Nwaneri came off the bench for the defending champions, nutmegged his opposite man and had a shot deflected behind. A flurry of corners then saw Charlie Cresswell add England's third goal of the night.
'If you go into it and win this tournament, who knows where it will take these guys?' says Walcott. 'You want winners in a team, no matter what level, and if this squad wins this, other players will feed off that and grow to become better players, people and leaders. It's so important.'