Theo Walcott has just issued a warning to Arsenal youngster Max Dowman about a potential call-up to the England World Cup squad.
There is a small chance that the 16-year-old could get on the plane to North America, which is something the former Gunners number 14 experienced himself at a similar age.
Walcott, who knows the positives and negatives of going to a huge competition at a young age, has now urged Dowman to do the unthinkable and snub a call-up should it arrive from Thomas Tuchel.
How closely do you think Max Dowman will follow in Lamine Yamal’s footsteps?
Theo Walcott tells Max Dowman not to accept England call-up for the World Cup
Theo Walcott knows exactly what he is talking about because he was thrown straight into it when he was selected for England’s 2006 World Cup squad as a teenager.
The Englishman has now admitted that he should have turned that opportunity down, just as Dowman should do now.
The Arsenal youngster is just 16 years old and still at the very start of his development. Thomas Tuchel has not ruled out a call-up, but that possibility alone does not mean it should happen.
Walcott believes that even if Tuchel picks up the phone, calls Dowman and asks him to join the senior England squad, the teenager should turn down the opportunity.
Speaking to The Mirror, Walcott said: “I hope he doesn’t go. I don’t mean it in a horrible way 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. I had to grow up very fast, but this team is still young and not as experienced. He’s being protected, which is important, whereas I had to get thrown in to talk to you lot!
“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.
“He will eventually get there, but England have wide players doing really well, there’s Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes on the other side.”
Should Max Dowman go to the World Cup with England: Too soon, or just right?
Theo Walcott is right about Max Dowman because development matters more than opportunity
A World Cup is not a development environment; it is the highest-pressure setting in football. Throwing a 16-year-old like Dowman into that context risks distorting their progression rather than accelerating it.
That is why Walcott’s position is stronger than the opposing view, even if John Terry was disappointed not to see Dowman included in recent squads.
The Chelsea legend’s stance focuses on opportunity, but Walcott’s focuses on longevity. Those are not the same thing. An England call-up at this stage would be about the moment, whereas the former Arsenal man’s warning is about his career.
Dowman’s trajectory will not be defined by whether he goes to one tournament, but by how he develops over the next decade.
Walcott understands that better than most, and that is exactly why his advice should be taken seriously.
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