Arsenal star needs to be put on the right path and quick
The news that Jack Wilshere will escape FA censure for his latest Twitter outburst will have come as a great relief to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but with the prodigious young midfielder currently occupying column inches (this one included, I understand the irony, believe me) for all the wrong reasons, Wenger should look to stamp down on Wilshere’s behaviour at the club before the young player gets in any more hot water over anything.
Wilshere is currently the country’s brightest young talent. While Andy Carroll may have hogged the headlines with a barely believable £35m transfer deadline day move to Liverpool from his boyhood club Newcastle, it’s in Wilshere where England’s future predominantly lies.
Capable of dictating play from the middle and with a level of maturity that belies his tender years, Wilshere is a phenomenal talent. Capable of playing on the wing too, he’s been earmarked to play the holding midfield role in England’s upcoming friendly against Denmark on February 9th by current manager Fabio Capello.
His rise to fame has coincided with an extended run in the first-team at Arsenal, dispelling any myths that manager Arsene Wenger may have once had a preference for foreign born talent as opposed to English talent along the way.
Wenger always strongly maintained a principle that I happen to agree with him on, that if you’re good enough, you will play, no matter what your nationality. The ones guilty of xenophobia in this instance were the ones that lambasted the Arsenal manager for his failure to bring through English talent, not Wenger himself.
Wilshere heads a bright young generation of English talent for both club and country at the moment, but it’s in his penchant for getting into trouble both on and off the pitch that the 19 year-old needs to completely cut out of his career.
His latest misdemeanour was a rant aimed at referee Phil Dowd after Saturday’s unbelievable 4-4 draw against Newcastle. Wilshere stated on his Twitter feed that: “Inconsistent refereeing needs to stop. It’s killing the game. If Diaby goes, what’s the difference between that and Nolan on our keeper?.” The comments were subsequently deleted a short time later.
The difference between this and Ryan Babel’s fine from the FA for bringing the game into disrepute after he posted a picture of referee Howard Webb in a mocked up Manchester United shirt in jest on Twitter are hard to differentiate between. It would appear that in this instance then, it pays to be English. Inconsistent refereeing may have irked Wilshere initially, but it’s the inconsistent disciplinary procedures at the FA that have saved him from any further action being taken against him. Wilshere’s other scrapes with the authorities, both on and off the pitch, have seen him sent off for a terrible lunge on Nikola Zigic in Arsenal’s 2-1 against Birmingham back in October and arrested twice after being caught up in a fracas at a nightclub in August and after an incident involving a cab driver in January. Of course, with being such a young and high profile footballer, Wilshere is obviously going to attract some unwanted attention on nights out. He’s most certainly not the first Premier League footballer to have been caught out so often when so young, but it’s the fact that he keeps putting himself in these situations at all that’s most troubling. I’m not advocating that he live like a monk. He’s 19 years of age and we should allow a degree of leeway for what is essentially a teenager finding his way, but Wenger needs to seriously get hold of him, sit him down and cut out this unsavoury side of his character before it starts affecting his performances on the pitch. Wilshere has formed a key part of an impressive triumvirate in midfield this season with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. The fact that he doesn’t look out of place in this company speaks volumes about his potential. He has the ability to be a world-class footballer, especially if he cuts out any trouble off the pitch. Wilshere would be best served displaying some of the maturity he shows regularly around the Emirates on such on a Saturday afternoon and displaying it more in his life choices away from the pitch on a Saturday evening. His decision-making with the ball is fantastic, but in life, so far it’s been more than questionable and he needs to put a stop to these ‘incidents’ before it gets too far out of hand.
[divider]
[divider]
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.