10 Theo Walcott Performances That Show Why Arsenal Must Keep Him

Despite being a semi-regular first teamer for three years, the 21 year old Walcott was still seen as maddeningly inconsistent and not nearly a regular enough goalscorer by the start of the 2010-11 season. In just the second game of the season, however, a thrashing of newly promoted Blackpool showed the youngster's potential as a striker.

The dominant performer in the first half of the game, Walcott gave Arsenal the lead after just 12 minutes with a precise, well placed strike into the corner of the net. It was a sign of things to come.

His skillful wing play created goalscoring opportunities for both Andrei Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh as well as coming close a couple of times himself. After Arshavin had added a second from the spot, Walcott turned and fired home another, racing through the defence to score a third in the second half.

It was a performance that recalled his brilliant hat-trick in a World Cup qualifier against Croatia, but he would not make the final England squad that summer, an exclusion every bit as baffling as his bizarre inclusion in the squad four years earlier.