"I don't think the gaffer is crazy, Walcott could be the ace in the pack," said Gerrard. "Nobody knows anything about him, but we all know he is a fantastic player with tremendous speed.
"If he gets thrown in at the deep end during the World Cup he may just surprise a few people and come up with a couple of winning goals, you never know."
"I am not going to say I was not surprised at some of the names in the squad, because we have not seen much of them.
"But they are very exciting players, and if we can get Wayne fit and Michael fit it is a very exciting squad, but if you look at the squad as a whole then the 23 are really strong.
"Being England's manager you are paid to take risks and have a gamble now and again, he has accepted it is a gamble but hopefully it pays off."