Max Dowman will be playing a key role for Arsenal in the title run-in but whether or not he makes the World Cup squad with England is another matter.
As it stands, it looks like Thomas Tuchel is set on his squad in the main, meaning Dowman will miss out.
Of course, one man who knows about going to a tournament as a teenager is Theo Walcott. He was famously selected for the 2006 tournament by Sven Goran Eriksson.
And speaking to Amazon Prime about Dowman, Walcott believes it would be a big leap for the Arsenal man.
Should Max Dowman follow in Theo Walcott’s footsteps and go to the World Cup with England?
Why Theo Walcott thinks Max Dowman should not go to the World Cup
There is no doubt in our minds at Arsenal Insider that Max Dowman is good enough to play for England right now. No doubt at all.
However, it is a big change and a difference to what he’s used to at Arsenal.
And for those reasons, former Gunners ace Walcott believes Dowman might be better staying at home.
“I mean it will be scary, trust me. But it will be interesting to see if he does get selected and he obviously wasn’t in the 30-odd man squad that Tuchel selected. However, there’s always that wild card that comes in,” Walcott said.
“I just feel for his development, it might not be the environment for him to be in right now but I’m telling you now, in years to come he will be in the England set up, no doubt. And I think to put so much pressure on this boy’s shoulders and look, I felt it, because I’ve been there and you have to kind of develop in plain sight of everyone.
“At that age, you make mistakes. You make decisions that affect what you do in life and I think it’s important he does that. He’s got a good man behind him in Mikel Arteta who can connect with the age gap, and the squad as well.
“He’s doing good things. I love how he plays with that freedom and that energy and I hope he stays like that until he finishes playing. I think it’s so important to just ‘be you’ and I think it’s refreshing to see.”
Max Dowman’s time will come under another England coach
Thomas Tuchel, at the moment anyway, is there for the short-term with England with the objective very much set in terms of winning a major tournament.
As of now, Dowman doesn’t appear to be in his plans and in fairness, he’s not even featured in the under-21s as yet.
For now, it would be in the best interests of the player to stay back this summer, unless Tuchel suddenly decided that Dowman is going to play a massive role. We’ve seen with Lamine Yamal in Spain how they aren’t frightened to play their players young.
However, England should have enough talent in the ranks to not pick Dowman. But going into 2028, Dowman is likely to be a shoo-in for the squad.
That might well be under another coach and whoever does succeed Tuchel will do so knowing that Dowman could be the man to build around.
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