THEO WALCOTT ISN'T THE ANSWER

THEO WALCOTT started like a bullet train last night but hit the buffers far too soon to convince Fabio Capello he is the man to fill David Beckham's faded golden boots.

Walcott could have made a significant statement about his international credentials against the leaden-footed plodders of Andorra.

STRUGGLE - Theo Walcott

Instead he raised more questions than he answered. Can Capello really rely on him to cope with the frenzied atmosphere England will face in Croatia on Wednesday?

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On the one hand Walcott showed he has the pace to take opponents apart. But after a good start he lacked poise and, worryingly, when his mettle was tested he did not seem to relish the physical side.

Click here to see all the pictures from England's win over Andorra

Maybe he did enough to deserve a start in Croatia but Capello will, no doubt, consider turning back to Beckham's experience for the crucial game in Zagreb.

Intriguingly, Beckham came on 10 minutes from time and played right in front of the back four, operating almost as a quarterback pinging passes forward.

In such a libero role he doesn't need to run about and maybe it is a new role Capello has in mind for the Croatia game - in perhaps a 4-5-1 formation.

The flimsy case for Becks though remains that, despite the fact his legs are going and he is essentially in semi-retirement, he can still offer more effective flashes than all the wannabe No.7s.

Serious

Unless, that is, Capello decides to deploy Steven Gerrard in a starting position on the right.

But with the Liverpool man injured here was the chance for Walcott, preferred to David Bentley, to at last stake a serious claim.

Maybe it's a bit harsh to say "at last" about a player who is still just 19. But it is more than two years since he broke into the England side and - ridiculously - was taken to the 2006 World Cup finals.

So having been gifted what in truth was a premature introduction to international football he should have started to show why he has been so blessed by now.

COTTCHA - Theo Walcott struggles to hold off Andorra midfielder Manolo Jiminez

But over the past two seasons he has done precious little to vindicate his reputation as the great young hope of the English game and this was only Walcott's third international appearance.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has indicated this is the season when Walcott must really start to show he is a player of genuine substance for club and country.

Bizarrely it was only a few weeks ago that Capello argued he was more a central striker than midfielder.

Wenger regards him more as a right winger and that is where he was used last night. He got off to a flier and against such limited opposition his undoubted pace ought to have shone through.

It is early doors but he also displayed some composure and awareness with his final ball that has too often been lacking.

Weakly

Just 30 seconds into the game Walcott glided past left-back Josep Garcia, reached the byline then cut the ball back straight into the path of Frank Lampard, who ought to have buried his shot instead of shooting weakly at the keeper.

Walcott's speed and energy offered a dimension England have too often lacked down the flanks.

A couple of minutes later Walcott bombed down the wing again but this time it was Wayne Rooney who wasted the opening created.

Then Rooney squandered another chance when Walcott displayed a lovely deft touch to set him up.

In the 15th minute Walcott showed great control again to pounce on a Rooney pass and drive towards goal but then, as too often is the case, he froze in front of goal and lobbed a volley on the run over the top from only eight yards.

That seemed to affect the early confidence he had shown. And it was further shaken when he suffered at the hands of a rough-house block by central defender Toni Lima, whose name suggested he should star in an episode of The Sopranos.

Indeed Andorra were on an ugly mission of mob rule, so negative and physical that their approach amounted to anti-football. But if Walcott wants to really make it then he has to be braver in the face of such intimidation.

Scruff

After that Walcott started to drift out of the game. Mind you Stewart Downing on the other flank hadn't even got into it while others such as Rooney and Lampard should have taken matters by the scruff of the neck.

But, in a familiar tale, the passing quickly started to go to pot.

It took sub Joe Cole just 10 minutes to put things into perspective by using his class to put Andorra in their place.

Now it should be remembered it took Cole a long time to mature from wonder boy into a proper star. But even in his erratic young days there were always flashes that he would be the real deal.