I was at Wembley yesterday, and despite Ronaldinho and Neymar playing the player I was most excited to see was Wilshere. He's got it all, and can go on to be the best central midfielder in the world I reckon. His driving runs are stunning.
Nope, they should be the 3 hyenas. They've always been a decent team, but nothing more, nothing less. No chance of winning anything until we produce a few more world class players. We've produced 1 Wilshere and the news outlets are creaming their pants, whereas the German's are producing multiple Wilshere's. We are so far off it's a F-ing joke. The facts never get in the way of the media. Wilshere will develop into a world class player over the next couple of years and everything England does, will hinge on him. He will drag England up to the quarters or even Semi's in the future, but their is so much one player can do.
It looked like he could have played on, but with Lee Cattermole in the opposition, it was probably wise to take him off.
Cattermole had already been subbed when Wilshere went off, but there were more than enough other thugs on the pitch trying to kick Jack and co
His substitute, Larsson, should have been sent off within 5 minutes for two challenges he made. One was a stamp on Ramsey's foot if I remember.
I fear for Jack a bit. The guy is absolutely fearless when he runs with the ball and he is being fouled all the time. It is now difficult to tell whether he is delibertely targeted by the opposition, or his forward direct drives provoke a lot of tackles and are too fast and powerful for them to handle without resorting to blatant fouls. I think it is both. Managers know too wel now that they need to stop Jack to disrupt our game, but whatever the instructions, to fould jhim often is the only option if you want to stop him. Problem is - referees ignore most of these fouls, I suspect they just think - I can not give the yellow for any tackle on Jack, I just given one a minute ago.. so I will close my eyes on this one.. otherwice there will be a ridiculous number of yellow cards. They seem to have not yet realised that the guy often can not be stopped without a foul. We are not talking about "protection", we are talking, as Wenger rightly said, about recognising the fouls - and all the fouls, not every third one. Otherwice I am afraid it all will end up with another long term injury. Or he will be wisely advised to change his style and become more "careful" - i.e. avoid direct drives with the ball and instead pass the ball sideway. Just like many players do. I think this position must be clearly explained and understood otherwise there will be a lot of misunderstanding with the press doing its best just like Sky Spot today: The headline: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wants more protection for Jack Wilshere The first paragraph: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has pleaded for referees to give Jack Wilshere the protection he deserves after the midfielder limped out of the 1-0 win at Sunderland. And then - surprise surprise - the quote trom the boss: "I just want the referee to give a foul when it's a foul. I don't want any special protection. "The referee is not a bodyguard, he is just a referee and you want him just to give a foul when it's a foul". This is in the same article!!!! I am speechless.
We're not talking about Gareth Bale here Wilshere has said that he wants to stay at Arsenal 'his club' for his entire career, whereas Bale has already said that he may have to move to a bigger club that can match his ambitions.
I know the comparisons have been made between Wilshere and Gazza, but are they right ? There is something similar in the way they play, total dedication, willingness to take players on and make something happen and all with a mixture of skill, commitment and never say die attitude. Gazza was a great player for England, but I don't agree that there haven't been any better players since, Gerrard for me is the England standard bearer and he said recently that Wilshere could go on to become one of the best England players ever. It's early days for Wilshere, but I think he could eclipse Gazza and even Gerrard eventually.
Personally I would say Paul Scholes is better than Gazza or Gerrard. The guy is a truly exceptional talent and 10 league trophies pretty much proves it. (Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane both claim he's the best player they ever played against.) I also think the Scholes comparison is the most accurate one for Wilshere.
