Cesc Fabregas might not be the only player having second thoughts about Arsenal after this World Cup. Theo Walcott could, too, look at the way his career is going and wish to take stock.
The intelligence from the England camp is that Walcott was axed from Fabio Capello's squad for ignoring orders. After the game with Mexico, the England manager warned him about cutting inside towards goal. One presumes with Steven Gerrard coming in from the left, and Wayne Rooney plus another striker occupying the middle, Capello feared this area would become congested.
He wanted Walcott to go outside his man. Walcott listened, watched the evidence on DVD and then, against Japan, did exactly the same. Capello dropped him.
Some will take this as the sign of a limited player. Indeed, even at Arsenal, there remain those who think Walcott's incredible speed has masked a significant deficiency. "He was so fast as a teenager, he didn't have to think like a footballer," I was told by one of the coaches.
Yet if this criticism is correct then Walcott needs to learn his trade; and that means playing matches.
More matches than he gets at Arsenal, certainly. Injury is no excuse. Walcott was fit enough to play games, plural, in every month from October onwards last season. He was just not blessed with too many starts; or too many finishes, for that matter.
Walcott featured on 30 occasions for Arsenal across all competitions, but only as a member of the starting line-up 15 times. Of those, he played a full 90 minutes on five occasions. Once, in a dead rubber with Olympiakos, three times against weak Premier League opposition – Burnley, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers – and finally away to Barcelona in a game that was as good as over by half-time.
Joe Cole was lightly used by Chelsea, too: but Cole is 28. He has enjoyed more than a decade as a first team footballer, he knows what is expected. Walcott, at 21, is still a relative novice. If he fell below Capello's expectations, it may be that he is not experienced enough to deliver to order. He needs matches, what hockey players call 'stick time', to improve specific techniques. He did not get enough of that at Arsenal this season, and there is no reason to presume this will change.
Arsenal is a fantastic finishing school for young players, but it is also a club that wishes to be defined by success. Arsene Wenger, the manager, can only indulge Walcott so far. He needs players that will perform consistently at the highest level, not learners, brilliant one week, anonymous the next.
Walcott's omission has been described as a wake-up call for Capello's England squad – nobody is indispensable – but it should sound an alarm for the player, too. Arsenal is a fine club, but is it what he needs at this stage in his career? With more matches, more experience, would he have better responded to Capello's wishes? Walcott is no longer moving forward and for a winger that is no way to go. He must learn his trade.