da bet nacional： Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has caused quite a stir in the English footballing world. An English midfielder, from Arsenal, who’s comfortable on the ball? Surely they must be joking. But having produced so many technically brilliant foreign players in the past decade, Arsenal have finally produced a gem that could be the jewel in the English crown at international level.
da winzada777： However, comments made by Fabio Capello seem to suggest that Wilshere should adapt his style of play to fit in with the England team;
“The style he plays with Arsenal involves a lot of touches… Here is not the same. Arsenal’s style is their school style, from the Academy. He has to understand what he has to do here.”
Aside from being more than slightly derogatory to Arsenal’s ‘school style’, The Telegraph’s Henry Winter notes Capello has essentially asked the 18 year-old to ‘dumb down for a couple of days’ and I must say, I agree.
The England side is always going to be made up of conflicting styles; it is very rare to find a handful of players plying their trade with the same team, let alone also heralding from the same academy, so it is imperative to utilise players’ strengths, and in this case, Wilshere’s comfort on the ball and technical ability.
Joe Cole was another whose technical ability was somewhat overlooked or misused by the national team, and although his career has been hampered by injury, England did not utilise his talent when he was fit and in form. We must assure this does not also happen to Wilshere.
England are not Spain, who, in their World Cup winning side had seven Barcelona players in their starting eleven for the World Cup final in Johannesburg, six of which had been produced by the Catlan club’s famed youth academy. But this does not mean that ball retention is not important for our national side, as was amply displayed during England’s dismal display against Germany. Here is where Wilshere can come into his own, acting as a channel for England’s play to go through. Possessing a natural talent when on the ball, and a determined tenacity when off it, Wilshere is perfect for a central role in England’s future plans.
Although 18, Wilshere has enough talent to seriously consider placing him in a pivotal role within the national side. He is a silver lining around a rather dark cloud in the shape of this summer’s debacle in South Africa and must be utilised accordingly, both now, and in the future.
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