image: stateofthegame.co.uk

One young man who won't be overjoyed at Theo Walcott's inclusion in the England squad is a certain freddy Adu. Born on June 2nd 1989, Adu is only two and a half months younger than Walcott (born March 16th 1989) but missed out on the USA's World Cup squad by quite a distance.

Similarly left footed, and capable of playing either up front, in the hole or wide left, Adu seemed to have the much better chance of going to Germany. Not only has he been playing regularly (and well) for D.C. United, while Walcott has been turning out for Arsenal's reserves, but with the comparative weakness of the US squad next to England's he looked the much safer bet.

Walcott's inclusion and Adu's exclusion say a lot about their respective coaches. Walcott is a gamble taken by Sven, in a desperate (but exciting) bid to fill a Rooney-shaped hole, while Adu is a talented young player not deemed ready to fit into Bruce Arena's well established game plan.