Theo Walcott's injury is sure to hurt Arsenal and England

Walcott is out for six months due to a knee injury

Arsenal‘s victory over Tottenham on the 4th was a day of mixed emotions. The Gunners silenced all their critics with a convincing 2-0 over their North London rivals but fans feared the worse when star player Theo Walcott was carried off on a stretcher following a tackle gone wrong.

Walcott did not appear to be in pain while being carried off and even made a 2-0 gesture to the away fans but later Arsenal officially confirmed that their player is set to miss the entire season including the World Cup with a serious knee injury which requires surgery. Theo’s injury could not have come at a worse time as Arsenal are currently reeling from injuries to their key players like Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud.

Walcott has been in phenomenally good form for Arsenal since he switched to a forward position last season, scoring 21 goals in all competitions for the London club. The 24-year-old continued his fine form this term with braces against Manchester City and West Ham United along with an excellent performance in the Champions League.

The former Southampton lad was superb in the FA Cup against Tottenham before the cruciate ligament injury stalled his season. Walcott successfully managed to lead the Arsenal charge against their rivals with his speedy pace giving Spurs defenders a headache. The forward could have been a big asset to Arsenal’s title hope this season but unfortunately they will have to do without him this term.

Arsenal had been hit with a sledge hammer when news of their winger’s injury was announced and it will be interesting to see how they bounce back from it. It is an open secret that the Gunners need a world class striker to work along with the current crop in order to win major titles. Olivier Giroud is talented but does not have the energy to play in every fixture.

The Frenchman was completely isolated in the match against Manchester City and struggled to get anywhere near the target. Walcott performed much better than his team mate, netting a brace against City, who struggled to cope up with his speed. The thing Arsenal really need is an RVP-type striker to partner Walcott, if and when such a transfer happens then Arsenal will be a major force to reckon with.

Now that Walcott is injured it will be extremely difficult, but not impossible, for Arsenal to win the Premier League. The only strikers available now are Nicklas Bendtner and Lukas Podolski who are showing promise but cannot be completely relied upon as of now. Any striker who comes in January will most likely be a back up striker and not a world class player as no club is willing to let their star player leave in the middle of the season eg: Borussia Dortmund will only let Lewandowski depart for Bayern at the end of the season.

The Three Lions will also be a bit short-handed without Walcott. The England international has scored 5 goals in 36 games for his country as a winger. Now that he is converted into a striker it is likely that he would have scored more but none of his goals will be coming in Brazil this year.

In spite of Walcott’s injury Roy Hodgson has some good forwards in the form of Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Rickie Lambert and Danny Welbeck. If these quartet of strikers manage to stay injury free then England won’t have a problem.

Walcott has reacted well to the news that he will miss the World Cup and can take an example from team mate Aaron Ramsey who bounced back extremely well from a horrific leg break injury. I’m sure Walcott can do a Ramsey and return as a stronger and better player.