European Championship U21 - Pearce: No bust-up with Walcott

Eurosport - Fri, 26 Jun 14:59:00 2009

England U21 coach Stuart Pearce has denied reports of a bust-up with Theo Walcott after he dropped the winger.

2009 Theo Walcott - 0

The Arsenal man was left on the bench for the group game against Spain, which England won 2-0 to book their place in the semi-finals.

Walcott described himself as "angry" that he had been dropped by Pearce brushed off claims of friction between him and Walcott, calling them "a nuisance".

"It's what you expect at major tournaments when things are going well, people try to stoke up silly stories," he said.

"Theo is a very professional man, so am I, I have to cater for 23 players in this squad, which I have done, and they know where they stand with me and they know there is an even playing field for when they are in and out of the team.

"There have been no problems with me and Theo. I have to work with Theo for hopefully the next 15 years so I have got to make it my business for me to get on with my players."

Pearce lobbied hard to bring Walcott to the European Under-21 Championship against the wishes of his club manager Arsene Wenger.

The 20-year-old is a regular for Fabio Capello's senior team and said he was unhappy at being axed from the U21 side.

"People probably saw me around and about and I wasn't too happy obviously because I came here to play," he said

"If you are not disappointed there is something wrong, you're just here for the social.

"You've got to be angry coming on the pitch."

The former Southampton man also hinted at a lack of support from the England management team at the tournament in Sweden.

"That was one of the messages I did get across," Walcott said. "I just wanted to be shown a little bit of support for being here.

"But it was the manager's decision and it worked out to be the right one because we won the game in the end."

England face the hosts in their semi-final on Friday, when they bid to face either Italy or Germany in the final.

PA Sport

Comment 1 - 14 of 14

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  1. the genius of pearce what a joke a overrated left back­ walcott on the left says it all

    From JOHNLAWRENCE, on Fri 26 Jun 6:50PM

  2. Quote:

    "Pearce: No bust-up with­ Walcott"

    What kind of no news is that? It like­ saying "Rooney is not going to have his leg­ amputated"

    From slivatree, on Thu 25 Jun 3:12PM

  3. Aaahh didums, the little one wanted some support just­ for being there. Ahhh, baba. Shame poor little thing.­ He just wanted an arm around his shoulder and a little­ love. That's all Uncle Pearcie. It's so easy to­ forget that under 21 year olds are still children. But­ you would think that playing football at the highest­ level, and the huge amount of money they get paid, that­ they would at least be something approaching real men.­ But no, Walcott is a little snivelling baba. It's­ his words that he wanted support just for being there, ­ not mine. Precious, grow up soon Theo, after all you­ even have a girl friend, hope you know what to do with­ her or do you want Uncle Stewie to teach you?

    From trouble, on Thu 25 Jun 2:50PM

  4. PRESENCE OF A GENIUS....WHAT DID HE WIN AT­ INTERNATIONAL LEVEL ONLY WINNERS DESERVE THAT TAG WHERE­ EVER PEARCE HAS BEEN THERE HAS BEEN TROUBLE THIS IS­ PEARCE SAYING NOBODY IS MORE IMPORTANT THEN ME IF I­ REMENBER BENTLEY HAD PROBLEMS WITH PEARCE AS WELL HE­ CULTIVATES THIS HARD MAN IMAGE AND HE NEEDS TO BE PUT­ IN HIS PLACE BY CAPPELO, WALCOTT SHOULD BE PLAYING NOT­ BEING TREATED LIKE THIS AND IM A HAMMER

    From JOHNLAWRENCE, on Thu 25 Jun 2:40PM

  5. there are some proper idiot5 on the comments

    From Justin, on Thu 25 Jun 2:23PM

  6. Rodwell will win this for England.... A class player in­ the making

    From richardflahertyuk, on Thu 25 Jun 1:49PM

  7. Its sad that people believe all the stories they read,­ sure walcott is unhappy at being dropped, Pearce would­ be worried if a player wasn't upset, but it's­ the media trying to make a story out of nothing.

    From alankshort, on Thu 25 Jun 1:47PM

  8. Stephen you nutcase we all know Walcott isnt this type­ of a player Media are just creating rubbish stories.And­ do you really think Walcott could learn more with­ pearce rather then Wenger?

    From skyhigh876, on Thu 25 Jun 12:06PM

  9. How could Mr. Pearce not find a place or system to work­ around Theo's talent when obviously it is good­ enough to be in the senior squad. Is Mr. Pearce hinting­ that England should send the U21 team to the World Cup­ next year instead or that the U21 squad is seperate and­ not a continuum to the senior squad. I would suggest­ that the senior Technical Director have an input in the­ U21 squad so that the transition to the senior squad be­ as easy as the system England is playing to.

    ­ ­ Tim

    From Alton, on Thu 25 Jun 11:47AM

  10. stephen you make me laugh since when has pearce been a­ genius lol lol lol

    From Alex F, on Thu 25 Jun 11:20AM

  11. Stephen - Read between the lines mate. How does this­ make Walcott a petulant child? It is good that Walcott­ is unhappy at being dropped, it shows his hunger to­ play and win. What player wouldn't be angry at­ being dropped? Walcott seems to be a very well grounded­ lad despite the media circus surrounding him. The media­ have taken his admittion about being angry at being­ dropped and tried to make a story out of it - nothng­ more nothing less.

    From davidman, on Thu 25 Jun 11:10AM

  12. so what, because Theo walcott is in the team every­ other U21 player shouldnt be given a try out, wateva­ his problem is, pearce is coach and decides whats best­ for the team,walcott should learn to deal with it. hes­ bloody too young to start developing an attitude.

    From kcinuts, on Thu 25 Jun 11:04AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    2nd

    From tapiwa8, on Thu 25 Jun 10:59AM

  14. Walcott would do well to remember he is just a petulant­ child while Stuart Pearce has done so much in football­ and has probably forgotten more than Walcott will ever­ know. If Walcott knows what's good for him­ he'd should shut up and just be grateful he is in­ the prescence of a genius like Stuart Pearce. He could­ learn a lot during his time with Pearce and should­ concentrate on what he can learn and take away from­ being at the U 21's finals.

    From Stephen, on Thu 25 Jun 10:58AM
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