Wednesday Oct 24 2007 08:25
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praised teenage star Theo Walcott after his in-form side demolished Slavia Prague 7-0 in a one-sided Champions League clash at the Emirates Stadium.
The 18-year-old scored twice in the rout as the Czech side were humiliated by a rampant Gunners side.
Walcott has struggled to establish himself in the Arsenal side since his £5million move from Southampton almost two years ago but Wenger thinks he will be a star of the future.
The Arsenal boss told the club's official website: "I felt it took him a while to get into the game but, once he scored the goal, you saw him much more, especially when the space opened up behind them.
"His pace and the fact that he is clinical in front of goal - especially his second goal - showed.
"There was a touch of Thierry Henry about the second goal. He was calm, he didn't panic in front of goal and he is a real finisher.
"He has improved a lot because he works in training. The first quality is to be composed and not rush your decisions in front of goal. Some people have that and some people don't have that.
"I believe he has the talent because that is why he is at Arsenal Football Club. The problem is not to hurry him too much.
"I am convinced he has the talent and he has good ingredients in him. He is intelligent and has fantastic pace. His technique is improving but we must be patient.
"When you go from a young promising player into a world of men you discover suddenly that the world is not like everybody had described it to you.
"If you look across the country you say you don't have many strikers but he is one of them. You always accuse us of not producing enough English players but he is here. We bought him up from Division One."
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