Martin Keown has used Arsenal’s use of Jack Wilshere previously to defend Gareth Southgate’s decision to overlook certain players for England’s upcoming fixtures.
The Three Lions are set to take on Andorra and Hungary inside the next fortnight as they look to close in on qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
We currently sit four points clear of Albania at the top of the table, and could well cement our place as group winners depending on other results, with Albania having two tough matches to win in this set of fixtures.
Our opponents may not be considered the toughest opposition, which may have allowed the manager to be a little lenient in his squad selections, and Gareth has left out two of our youngest and brightest prospects in Jude Bellingham and Mason Greenwood.
The reason for that is due to fatigue supposedly, and Keown has backed that decision in order to protect players, using Wilshere’s painful injury record as an example.
“The manager is telling you they are fatigued, so we just have to take that on board,” Keown told TalkSPORT listeners.
“Professionally, the players do need it. I mean, look at Jack Wilshere.
“He’s probably one of the best talents we have seen come out of English football for many years.
“He’s 29 years of age now and he is not playing football. He played too much football.
“You have Arsene Wenger telling us every day he regrets the amount of football he made him play as a young man.
“You have to listen to that.”
I don’t think anybody would wish the struggles that Wilshere has endured on anyone, a player who should now be in his prime, and I think players fitness is still struggling since the Coronavirus pandemic hit, with the European Championships also meaning there was very little break from football for the majority of players this summer.
I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that our key players make it through the international break with minimal issue, an occurrence that happens almost never for our players, but thankfully we have almost our entire squad fit at present at least.
Patrick
Why white
😂😂😂😂
@NY_Gunner.
How dare you laugh at the Arsena Messi. 🙂 🙂 🙂
It is my considered perspective that our Jack Wilshere would have wom the Ballon d’Or 5 years out of the last ten years but for Injury.
The other 5 years Ballon d’Or winner would have been won by Daniel Nii Tackie Mensah Welbeck but for injury 🙂 🙂 🙂
fairfan, your posts are immeasurably better when you make serious points, instead of lead balloon type “humour”.
I think we both agree that Wilshere was kept here far too long and hopelessly!
Some non thinking folk have not, even now, given up hope of a fantasy return.
But then some folk, even as adults, seem to believe in the tooth fairy. Sigh!
Southgate should protect Saka as well, the guy is overused for a 20 year old, it would have been nice if he could get a two week rest.
I thought the thing that ruined Jack’s career was not playing enough competitive football rather than playing too much. Pro football requires professional athletes these days, and not every body can handle that physically.
I just think Wilshere’s combative style of play, body structure and amount of games all contributed to his breakdown.
Bow legged, very combative, small heavy body stature.
Some players bodies are not as strong.
So if everyone knows that Arsenal contributed to his unfortunate plight, why aren’t we giving the young man a second chance with us??
@Eddie SA
What is this, “Sympathy FC”? Dude is a busted flush. Are you going to pay his wages?
We have paid many a useless player before, including Willain, so taking responsibility for what we caused is simply rehabilitating our own.
I should have thought that was obvious Eddie.
BECAUSE WE VALUE THE CLUB AND ITS PROGRESS ABOVE THE HAPPINESS OF ANY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL.
AND CORRECTLY SO TOO!
This. It was actually quite frustrating watching him play. He played like Grealish, egging on the tackle and receiving it, but unlike Grealish, he was made of glass. Doesn’t take a genius to realise you should avoid injury situations when you are injury prone, but 5 years in and he was still playing the same way, out got 75% of the season as a result and now no one want to risk it.
I always thought CM was the wrong position for him. His first games in the 1st team were at right mid in a 4-4-2 formation and I always thought that suited him better for a number of reasons, but it might also have been better early in his career to keep him out of the busier central areas. Saw him as something like Ray Parlour, with a bit extra in attack.
Shame how it turned out for him, but he’s had some experiences in football that many good pros could only dream of.