SOCCER: The World Cup is always an adventure, but Sven-Goran Eriksson has also transformed England's summer campaign into a mystery tour. In naming the squad yesterday, he at last destroyed his reputation for predictability and plodding loyalty.

With the inclusion of the 17-year-old Theo Walcott, the Swede turned himself into a maverick manager and the excitement he caused was equalled by bewilderment. England was left to decide for itself whether to embrace this impulsiveness or dread the consequences.

Eriksson all but chuckled over the limited evidence there is for turning to Walcott. He reckons a trip to London Colney on Saturday was the third time he has watched the attacker train. "They played 11 v 11 on a half pitch," Eriksson reported. "It's very good. You can see the technique in a small space."

Apart from that, he has contented himself with watching videos of Walcott at Southampton and with the England Under-19 team. The assistant manager, Tord Grip, took in a closed-door match yesterday that was apparently just his third outing with Arsenal's reserves.

There have been many conversations with the managers and coaches who have worked with Walcott, including Arsenal's Arsene Wenger. "He thinks he's ready," Eriksson reported.

That begs the question of why the club have never given the player a single minute of first-team action since buying him in January for a fee of £5 million that could rise to £12 million. He will fly out with England to a training camp in Portugal next week because he is surplus to Arsenal's requirements for the European Cup final on May 17th.

Nonetheless, Eriksson's confidence in this selection is indestructible. "If you take a 17-year-old boy to the World Cup, of course it's a gamble," he said, "but I think he's ready and I don't think he will be nervous or feel the pressure. He's a very steady boy."

It is the speed of Walcott, who is likely to become England's youngest ever player in the friendly with Hungary on May 30th, that the manager prizes. That quality also fast-tracked Stewart Downing and Aaron Lennon into the party. That pair and Walcott make up a quintet, with Rob Green and Michael Carrick, who have never started a competitive match for England.

It was all so unfamiliar that the press conference with Eriksson was like being introduced to a stranger. What had become of the creature of habit? He ditched Shaun Wright-Phillips and Darren Bent without even putting them on stand-by, and declined to trust that Ledley King could recover in time from a broken metatarsal.

This, suddenly, is a manager of hunches and impulses. He would prefer to state that we have misunderstood him all along. Wasn't he the man who picked Rooney, at 17, to face Turkey in a Euro 2004 qualifier? In his view the apparent conservatism was foisted upon him.

"If you take players like Walcott and Lennon," he said, "where were they four years ago? I always like players with pace, but you can't buy them. You have to wait for them to come through."

Eriksson insisted credibly that this was no publicity stunt. There is an obligation in England affairs to take the dismal view for at least a little while, and the unavailability of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney would create a void that Walcott cannot begin to fill. For the time being, though, a spectacular squad announcement has stopped England from brooding on the Manchester United forward.

Guardian Service