ARSENAL 3, BIRMINGHAM 1

THEO WALCOTT made England's passage to the World Cup finals a simple one. But whether to take him to South Africa is Fabio Capello's toughest decision.

Jet-heeled, fact. Great finisher, fact. Potential world-beater, most definitely. Will England fans ever forget his hat-trick in Croatia 12 months ago that virtually sealed qualification? Never.

But for that whammy of pluses, Capello has a player who shows the fragilities of a glass-jawed boxer.

The youngster who recently suffered serious shoulder and leg injuries, showed his brittle side once more at the Emirates yesterday in his first game of the season after a long-standing back problem.

Every time injury-prone Walcott gets tackled these days fans wonder whether it will mean another long spell in the treatment room.

Yesterday, the match was just six minutes old when he was on the receiving end of a bone-crunching tackle from Liam Ridgewell that damaged knee ligaments.

It was X-rated stuff, but there can be no doubt the defender played the ball before catching the trailing leg.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was unhappy with the challenge and must wait until today to find the full extent of the damage.

For a split-second, memories of Martin Taylor's challenge on Eduardo, when the teams last met in February 2007, came flooding back. On that occasion the Croat was left with a broken leg and dislocated ankle.

Walcott, 20, was on his back for a couple of minutes and limped off for more treatment. He returned - but never looked comfortable and hobbled off for good on 33 minutes.

Capello is not going to gamble on the 23 men he takes to football's greatest show and perhaps Walcott's invitation to watch Wednesday's win against Belarus was a gentle way of letting him down. It doesn't take Einstein to work out what went through Capello's mind when news of this latest setback filtered through.

When Walcott recovers he needs to start performing like red-hot Dutchman Robin van Persie to have any chance of making the squad.

Most of the nation get their Saturday kicks watching top-class karaoke singers and dodgy dancers, but just off the Holloway Road weekend entertainment is the Van Persie Factor.

The striker, who celebrated becoming a dad for the second time last week, is already a serious contender for Footballer of the Year.

Since joining Arsenal in May 2004 he has been in the shadow of Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and arguably his bitterest football rival, Emmanuel Adebayor.

But this Arsenal team is becoming HIS team and he is as important to Wenger as Fabregas. Nobody is irreplaceable, but those two so nearly are.

Van Persie was irresistible as Arsenal ran into a two-goal lead and Birmingham looked like being blown off the radar.

His fourth goal in as many games was from another planet as he took Alex Song's 16th-minute pass on his right foot before firing beyond Joe Hart.

Just two minutes later the match was over after more Arsenal brilliance.

Tomas Rosicky's right-wing cross missed Walcott, but was slammed home by Abou Diaby.

When Birmingham last won at Arsenal in 1957, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan declared Britons "never had it so good".

Birmingham fans might be muttering the same slogan after new owner Carson Yeung promised Alex McLeish a £40million transfer-window war chest.

Yeung looked at home in the directors' box yesterday and wasn't scared of showing his emotions.

He was leaping with delight when Lee Bowyer gave his side an unexpected 38th-minute lifeline after Gunners keeper Vito Mannone spilled Barry Ferguson's cross.

McLeish has made the right noises about Yeung, who was accused of tinkering with the team when he was chairman at Hong Kong Rangers, but the manager must secretly fear a big-name appointment replacing him.

DIABY: Fires home his goal

His players, though, are putting their bodies on the line for him and were desperately unlucky not to pull level in the second half.

Mannone made a brilliant stop to block Ridgewell's cross when Garry O'Connor and Gary McSheffrey were lurking at the near post.

But Arsenal saved their very best for last when Andrey Arshavin (left) sealed it six minutes from time with a sublime finish after a 50-yard run by Fabregas.

Few give Arsenal much chance of winning the title for the first time since 2004, but such an enormous task is not beyond them. They are four points from top spot with a game in hand.

Apart from blips against the Manchester clubs it has been plain sailing in the Premier League and they have won their last seven in all competitions.

There have been plenty of times since their last title glory that their football has brought high expectations, only for the dream to fall flat, quite spectacularly.

Arsenal might have to do without Walcott if he keeps getting crocked, but with Van Persie, Fabregas and other emerging stars like Diaby and Song the dream may become reality.

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