The Independent on Wlacott/Arsenal
Despite dropping two points, Arsenal fans were reasonably satisfied too, the game representing the beginning of an era for them as well. Not only is the new stadium a wonder to behold, but on the pitch Theo Walcott's half-hour cameo was so eye-catching it made one think Sven Goran Eriksson's error was not in taking him to Germany, but in failing to play him when he got there.
"I don't normally notice opposition players but he was brilliant," said O'Neill. "He's the kind of player who can bring something to any team when he comes on," said Wenger. "He came back from the World Cup happy at being there but frustrated at not having played. I'm surprised he got criticism for being there. You can understand criticism when you don't play well, but if you don't play at all..."
Wenger added that he intended to use Walcott sparingly as he was "still only 17", but conceded his impact against Villa "will speed up my desire to put him in." The player himself said the nerves which sent him to the toilet minutes before coming on disappeared with the ovation he received and his first touch. "I need to have a few more games, but I'm on a high," he said. Fortunately, given that he was one of the players randomly selected for drug testing, it seemed a natural one.
It was Walcott who made Arsenal's equaliser, lashed in at the far post by Gilberto Silva as the clock ticked towards an opening home defeat at the Emirates Stadium. Villa, impressively organised given O'Neill's brief time at the helm, had doggedly defended a lead given them when Olof Mellberg beat Jens Lehmann to a corner shortly after the break. O'Neill's 4-3-3 had become 4-5-1, then 4-6-0 with even Juan Pablo Angel defending, by the time Arsenal broke through. It was hard to envisage the same commitment had David O'Leary remained manager.
