The Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has always been thought of more for his ability to burst past players and create goals, with the attacking side of his game always drawing more praise and attention than the defensive side. But a good central midfielder has to be able to do both things well.
And Wilshere has now played three or four games for England in his new role as the deepest lying midfielder, with Roy Hodgson using a midfield diamond as well as the old favourite of 4-4-2. Arsene Wenger does not think it his best position and I tend to agree with the Arsenal boss, but Wilshere is certainly growing into the role.
The 22-year old has got better with each game in his new England role and he was even named as the Man of the Match today for the way he controlled the game from the centre. Jack was disciplined as well as sharp in the tackle, winning the ball back on numerous occasions.
He also has the ability to turn defence into attack in a split second, either with one of his trademark dribbles or a burst of speed or with a pinpoint pass. In fact, since dropping deeper for England, Wilshere’s long range passing has come on a treat and he regularly drops a ball at the feet of a team mate with Beckham like skill.
Not only is this new position helping Jack to develop other aspects of his game, I really believe it gives Arsenal and Wenger another good option. With defensive midfield a long term issue for the Gunners and with Mikel Arteta possibly injured for the next game against Man United, Jack’s new skills could be just what the doctor ordered. But will the professor agree?
Nope, water boy for me.
Good thing you don’t matter, otherwise our team would probably be in a lot more trouble.
We lost the last game cause Jack was too close, he must leave the city Arsenal play in and we will win.
Jack would not even be in the bench for the Spain,Italy,French,Portugal,Germany,Netherland etc teams,he plays for England because he plays for arsenal.
Before his big injury he would remind me of Maradona,yes Maradona,with his his dribble and control of the ball.Unfortunately,something happened when he came back,he had lost speed and he was eager to do well(as Ramsey now) and he never got back the level or style he had.The fact that Wenger always play him stops him to question himself and try to change things.
I believe Wish is forced on Arsenal and England ,that he is not good enough to be titular,that Arsenal and England gonna win nada with him in the middle and it would be better for him to be a sub and to have to work harder to get his place not just as a favourite.
My men,your England team is rubbish,you play players on names and the team they play for,you are fast deluded hypers for nothing when beating team of amateurs but you end up always winning nothing in big tournament.
Thumb me down but think well about my comment.
You guys played a weak team. Everyone should have had a good game.
Wait till you meet in the Euros and don’t get past group, then you will wonder why. We played so good in qualifying.
Then I will remind you who you played.
Jack has the ability to go on and do great things for arsenal, but he needs to focus more on holding on to the ball more and stop losing it, and stop giving away needless fouls!
C’mon Jack !!!
Wilshere has every quality a CM should have: good vision, good passer, not afraid to go into a tackle. The problem is he is also a pretty good dribbler and Wenger believes his dribbling and passing abilities makes him dangerous in the final third. Whereas Wenger has a point I think dribbling too often has negatively affected Wilshere’s game for two reasons. One, by dribbling more often he attracts more challenges and hence has a chance of getting injured. Secondly, by dribbling more often he is more likely to lose the ball and get both himself and everyone else frustrated.
You can tell he prefers the CM role. He has come out at different times to say he studies tapes from Alonso, Gerard and Pirlo and that Fabregas is the guy that he learnt the most from coming as a young player. All the players he mentioned are CMs.
Now it has become like a little battle between Hogson and Wenger as to where Wilshere should play. It’s clear Wilshere himself prefers the CM role but for now it’s up to Wenger where he plays at Arsenal.
“Now it has become like a little battle between Hogson and Wenger as to where Wilshere should play.” Yes, and Wenger will never admit that Hodgson might be right.
Whatever Jack’s best position may be, even with Ozil out injured we have plenty of midfielders who can play in advanced roles. Wenger should deploy Jack in a deep lying role out of necessity if nothing else.
Lot of wilshere haters on here! C’mon and stop being so negative lets support him into being a better player,and get behind the team! Coyg!
Off topic: feeling very sad for “little mozart” said in a statement that he is frustrated by lack of playing time by wenger! C’mon what has thomas done? The guy deserves some starting time as well does joel campbell! Coyg!
With England, Wilshere has to follow the Manager’s instructions or he will be dropped for somebody else. If only the same were true at Arsenal.
Arsenal should go back to the 4-2-3-1 formation. Use Wilshere and Ramsey deep (or Arteta and 1 of the other 2). It is not an ideal situation as there is no true CDM but we have been playing without a true CDM for years. For it to work, the Manager has to teach the players discipline (don’t plow forward too often). We have plenty of player who can play in advanced midfield positions, time to start using Ramsey and Wilshere in deep roles. And once Ozil comes back we can stop the nonsense of playing him on the wing where he is useless.
But Wenger won’t do this because it would mean Hobson saw something he didn’t. So expect to see more of Jack the mad dribbler plowing forward like a chicken with his head cut off and, most of the time, losing the ball.
Arteta was never a deep lying midfielder. Wenger played him there out of necessity because he had nobody else. Until we acquire a genuine CDM (probably never as long as Wenger is Manager), I would like to see a 4-2-3-1 with Wilshere and Ramsey as the two deep midfielders. Teach them to play deep the same way Arteta was forced to learn. Both Wilshere and Ramsey are younger, faster and more athletic than Arteta and both can tackle just as well as Arteta can. They just need to be taught discipline.
So now people are suggesting that Jack should be our holding midfielder, WTF is going on? When are we getting a new manager?. Am tired of fans who are specialists in failure. I didnt know we had fans who specialize in failing!!!!!!!
I personally would like to see all our players withdrawn from the Scotland game as they are always very fiery and the last thing we need rite now is more injuries