The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsAt 23-years-old, Jack Wilshere still has a lot to prove for both club and country. The Arsenal midfielder has now managed to rack up his fifth man of the match award in seven games and the recent months have only proven what Jack Wilshere has to offer.
Two goals on Sunday afternoon against Slovenia in a crucial qualifying game saw England cruise to their sixth victory in the tournament – creating a comfortable gap between themselves and the rest of the teams.
The excellence of Jack Wilshere’s game is an example of the individual qualities that he possesses. He is a dynamic and diverse footballer with the ability to maneuver the ball around the field and exploit spaces and create gaps in the opposition’s defence with his first-rate vision and technique – however, not a player with many goals under his belt his defensive and creative abilities truly reflect how much of an exceptional footballing talent he actually is. Wilshere is an exemplary footballing model who has displayed pride and passion whilst playing for England.
Wilshere’s eagerness to retain possession and run from deep with the ball creates goal-scoring opportunities for his other team-mates. Wilshere boasts a passing accuracy of 84% and has created an average of 1.98 chances in just 14 games. Injuries have almost certainly plagued the midfielder’s career so many would argue that he has failed to fulfill his true potential but his performances in the past year have shown glimpses of the Jack Wilshere we all saw when he was 19-years-old. A series of majestic performances for England and Arsenal have demonstrated his importance for club and country.
Wilshere may have fallen out down the pecking order at Arsenal due to injuries and Francis Coquelin’s breakthrough into the first-team. However, England performances give Arsene Wenger a valid reason to put his trust into the 23-year-old who can reignite his Arsenal career once again. Wilshere is a true leader on and off the field and he can have great influence on any rising talents in the Arsenal academy who can study Wilshere’s game and progress as footballers.
Wilshere was always heralded as the future of English football and belligerent and controversial individual has had his ups and downs on and off the field. But we are talking about the Jack Wilshere that controlled the midfield for Arsenal in an important Champions League game against Barcelona when he was 20-years-old, the same Jack Wilshere that is on the radar of Manchester City – one of the most powerful clubs in Europe right now.
His cocksure attitude is what seems to anger a lot of people and the occasional spouts with professionals have put Jack Wilshere in the headlines for the wrong reasons. With age, comes maturity – usually – and that seems to be the case with Wilshere as now he’s concentrating on his football. A man of the match performance most recently against Slovenia validates this. His blinding display was a true reflection of his ability, the midfielder constantly made daring runs which paid off as he scored two goals from long-range, he was always wanting to be in possession of the ball and when he was he didn’t disappoint as he consistently made numerously great long-passes and through balls.
Without Wilshere, there’s no doubt that England would have struggled in recent games. He has been pulling all the strings in midfield and in the final third has been creating a lot of chances for his team-mates. England have needed somebody to fill the void for both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard since both have retired from their national-team duties and Wilshere has stepped up to the plate instantaneously. And right now, he is arguably the best player England have got with other players failing to perform.
