Kevin Whitcher
I caught the first half of Sunday’s Slovenia v England game on the radio, but was in front of the box for the second. Unlike many England matches, it proved 45 minutes well spent.
There is little doubt that Jack Wilshere registered one of his finest performances in an England shirt. A first half midfield trio of Henderson – Delph – Wilshere was replaced by Wilshere – Delph – Lallana in the second half. I imagine Wilshere played further forward in the opening period, a role that Lallana covered after his entrance.
In the Arsenal matches that Wilshere played in his final appearances last season, he was generally deployed at a wide attacker.
There is no question he is a talented footballer, although perhaps not so talented that he can produce his best in any position. There is an intelligence required to do that, and in fairness, not too many English players possess it. It was interesting to see Louis Van Gaal’s frustrations trying to get Manchester United’s players to adapt to a system that he gave up on in the earlier part of the season. Some of them just didn’t get it.
Perhaps, in England, it is more a case of instinct. Wilshere, coming from deeper, scored two cracking goals. He later namechecked Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard as players he wanted to be compared with in terms of his goalscoring prowess. Although that pair rarely played well together for England, there is no question they served their clubs very well in terms of goal return from a midfield berth.
There is generally a view that Wilshere plays better for country rather than club. I’d argue that this is probably true since the bad injury that kept him out for over a year, just as he was beginning to develop into the real deal after so much outstanding early promise.
The question for Arsenal is how they get the best out of the player. Some fans would not be too disappointed if he did depart for the pure and simple fact that he has been injured more often than not over the course of his Arsenal career. Can the club afford to carry such players if they are serious about challenging for the bigger honours? Is Wilshere’s injury record about to improve dramatically?
The player seems to pick up knocks habitually, although one hopes he has learned to go in for less 40/60 and 30/70 balls. In one sense, his tenacity in the challenge can be compared to the former England and Man Utd captain Bryan Robson. However, Robson missed plenty of games injured himself due to his commitment on the field. He travelled to three World Cups, but withdrew from two of them with injuries. Wilshere has already missed one World Cup entirely due to his time on the treatment table. Yet, he is also targeted for fouls by the opposition, I suspect because he gets himself in tight situations where he will look to play himself out of trouble. If he were to develop his game so that he found space more, and was able to give and go rather than dwell on the ball, he might fall victim to less fouls.
The established Arsenal midfield at present is Coquelin – Cazorla – Ozil. Wilshere is going to find it hard to get a look in if these players remain at the club and remain fit. One imagines that, as long as Arsene Wenger remains optimistic about the development of Wilshere, Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain, he will not be buying more competition in this area in the current transfer window. At the time of writing, Arteta and Flamini are still on the books, Rosicky can play in the Cazorla role if required and Arsene Wenger believes Calum Chambers may have a future as a holding midfielder. The only possible purchase I can envisage is an upgrade on Coquelin, but given how well the Frenchman has been playing, this seems very unlikely.
When everyone is fit, the Arsenal boss has a nice headache, but it is a headache that may prove frustrating for Wilshere. Granted, he played very well against Slovenia in the second half, a sign of what might have been were it not for his injuries. However, at Arsenal, his enforced absences have gradually made him a more peripheral, rather than an integral player. I will watch with interest what happens next season. Santi Cazorla is getting older, and won’t play every game. Whether Wilshere or Ramsey come in for the Spaniard when he does not start may tell us whether we can expect the Englishman to be around for the long term at Arsenal.
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