Walcott still inspired by Henry

Theo Walcott hopes he can follow in the footsteps of Thierry Henry and cement his place as an Arsenal legend. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has tipped the 21-year-old to eventually finish up in a central role, mirroring the successful transition from winger to frontman of Henry, the club's all-time leading scorer with 226 goals.England forward Walcott has just returned from a six-week injury lay-off, and took his tally to seven from eight appearances for Arsenal with a fine breakaway goal in the 2-1 midweek Champions League defeat away to Shakhtar Donetsk.Walcott - a controversial omission from Fabio Capello's ill-fated World Cup squad - believes he could not have had a better mentor than Henry, who left Arsenal in the summer of 2007 for Barcelona and now plays in the United States with New York Red Bulls."I have watched videos in the past and I had the best thing - training with him and the opportunity to play with him," recalled Walcott."I have not kept in contact with him at all - he has more important things to cope with, but he will always be in my heart. I will always look up to him and you never know, one day he might return to Arsenal."I was lucky enough to learn from him. If he does come back, it would be great for the club."Walcott added: "Everyone has talked about us. If I do half it is a great achievement, but I want to be my own player and want to learn from the best."Walcott is pressing for a return to the starting XI in Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash against Newcastle at Emirates Stadium.However, the jet-heeled forward is not about to get hung up on exactly where he will be deployed by Wenger."I will continue to play on the right, but for Arsenal I might get the odd Carling Cup or FA Cup game up front. Only time will tell," he said."I just like playing for this club and whatever position I am happy."Walcott has, though, targeted "between 15 and 20" goals."If I stay fit, keep winning, I hope I can reach my target," he said. "That would be a great achievement for me."Walcott was criticised by BBC pundit and former Liverpool captain Alan Hansen for not having a "football brain" when analysing his hat-trick against Blackpool earlier in the season.Gunners boss Wenger, though, feels the England forward is receiving the benefit of his determination to become the finished article."I believe in his finishing he has improved a lot because the timing of his runs are much better," Wenger said."Overall Theo has improved everywhere - in his finishing, even much more because that's what he prefers to do. I think there is a lot more to come from him."

Source: Team_Talk