Gareth Southgate has claimed that Jack Wilshere was left out of his England squad due to his Arsenal role at present.
The England boss insisted that he wanted to pick the Gunners midfielder, but with him playing in a number 10 role at present, he doesn’t fit the system he is currently adopting.
Wilshere has been playing in an advanced midfield role in the past season-and-a-half, and is even tipped to challenge Mesut Ozil for his role as creator, but Southgate is of the belief that he should be in a deeper role.
‘Jack played as a number 10 all of last season on loan at Bournemouth,’ he said.
‘That is not the way we are playing. When we have played with a 10, we have had Dele [Alli] and [Adam] Lallana. But we are not playing with a 10 tomorrow [against Germany on Friday].
‘I don’t think Jack is a 10. I think he is a deeper player, but he is not playing deeper. You’d have to ask Arsene [Wenger] why that was.”
He added: ‘I want to be clear: I really like Jack Wilshere as a player. I think he is a talent and I really respect him as an individual. And I’m hoping that we are in a position in March where we can pick him.’
You would think that Wilshere would struggle to break into our central midfield roles at present, with Aaron Ramsey currently ranked amongst our best players. Ramsey and Wilshere would likely struggle with the discipline of the defensive duties should they be paired together, but he is certainly impressing in the advanced role this term.
Is Wilshere better centrally or more advanced? Could he challenge Rambo for his role? Could the pair play together?
Pat J