Tag Archives: Jack Wilshere

England a glimpse of Arsenal’s future?

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Tonight at 8pm, England play at home against Montenegro. Whilst International football rarely gets me excited, I am actually looking forward to this game – although I am likely to miss the first half as I am taking advantage of the International break by getting away for the weekend – and the reason for this is we will potentially get a glimpse of Arsenal’s future.

Now I am not talking about the amount of Arsenal in and around the England side. Wilshere, Walcott, Gibbs & Oxlade-Chamberlain could all be on the plane to Brazil (if England make it). I am actually talking about the future make up of Arsenal’s central midfield.

“But only Wilshere will play and he will be next to Gerrard, who is Scouse” I hear you all say. And that is true. It might sound odd that by watching Gerrard & Wilshere together is a glimpse of Arsenal’s midfield of the next 10 years.

Wilshere has often played most of his career in the number 10 role. Further up in the pitch involved around the edge of the area. But I have long believed that his future would be deeper. His technique and long and short passing is exceptional. But so is his aggression, and by playing him too far forward, you lose the aggression. Add in Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere’s future at Arsenal is deeper.

For England, he will play deeper alongside Gerrard with Wayne Rooney ahead, in behind Daniel Sturridge. It will be interesting to see how he gets on and if he can still dominate and influence the game. I am sure he can. Now where does Gerrard fit in?

Well Aaron Ramsey shares a lot of similar traits to Gerrard. Stamina, running, able to drive forward, but a solid individual. I have long felt Gerrard would have been a better player had he performed deeper and dictate play, however his own ego dictated where he played. He was, for a time, bigger then any Liverpool manager, and basically played where he want.

I can see Ramsey playing in a similar role to that of Gerrard in the near future for Arsenal. A little bit deeper, a little bit more disciplined. He would provide a midfield two alongside Jack Wilshere, where their intelligence would mean that they could both defend and attack at will. The would be able to build a relationship and become the best central midfield partnership in world football. And with Mesut Ozil ahead, well the world would be our oyster.

For once, watching an England game might not be worthless.

Keenos

 

The overrating of young players by press and fans alike

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At the weekend, 18 year old Belgium winger scored a brace Manchester United. What has followed is the usual hyperbole in the press when a young kid has a good performance.

He is labelled the next superstar. The future of Manchester United. A bright young light. Whilst he is no doubtingly talented, there is a tendency when a youngster has a good performance for him to then be vastly operated.

We have seen it with our own Serge Gnabry over the last couple of weeks. Some average performances alongside some decent performances capped off with a goal against Swansea have led to a lot of Arsenal fans to talk about him having a bright future. Luckily the press do not yet seem to of caught on yet, but within our own ranks, there has been some who have got a little bit over excited.

And it is not a recent phenomenon. Look at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He has never really put in the consistent performances to justify his hype, yet some still rate him higher than Theo Walcott, even though Theo has put in a lot of top performances.

Jack Wilshere has also suffered from it. Labelled the future of England, many put him down as one of the first names on the England team sheet. Yet at 21, due to injuries, he sits on just 10 caps. He made his 1st team competitive debut at 16 years and 256 days, but has not yet fulfilled the promise he showed as a teenager.

Gedion Zelalem is also entering this bracket. Already rated highly. Plenty of excitement about him. Yet he has not yet made his debut for the club. 16 year old Swedish striker Jamal Raage is another one being tipped for a bright future, despite only having scored a couple of goals for the under 18s. People are saying he will play for the under 21’s this year and be in the League Cup squad next year. A lot of hype about a kid who no one has really seen.

And it is not just Arsenal who tend to over hype their youngster. Look at Manchester United and the excitement over Adnan Januzaj. Reports are there is currently an International war breaking out between England and Belgium over who he will play for. This a kid who has played just 3 times for Manchester United.

He is not even Manchester United’s youngest ever goal scorer. That accolade falls to Federico Macheda who scored against Aston Villa in 2008-09. The back end of that season, he had played 4 league games, scoring twice, and big things were expected of him the next year.

Five years later, Federico Macheda is still a Manchester United player, but is now on loan at Doncaster Rovers, via VfB Stuttgart, Queens Park Rangers & Sampdoria. And example if needed over the hyperbole of teenage players based on 1 or 2 performances.

I could name many more who fall under this category. Jack Rodwell was supposed to be the future of England’s midfield. James Vaughan is the Premier League’s youngest ever goal scorer. Joe Cole has had a good career, but nothing compared to the hype he had as a youngster. The list of highly rated youngsters who never quite fulfilled their potential go’s on.

So the moral of the story is, before you get too excited over a Gnabry, Zelalem, or Januzaj, there have been better youngsters who have come through who have failed to make the grade.

Do not put players on a pedestal of greatness until they have earned it.

Keenos

I don’t care about Tottenham, lets care about Arsenal

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During the West Bromwich Albion game, news filtered through about the Tottenham results. Firstly it was 0-1. Then 0-2. Then finally 0-3. People were getting excited. Some were even signing songs about it. But I stood there motionless. I did not care. Because here is the thing, when Arsenal are playing, there is only 1 result I care about, and that is Arsenal’s.

I was actually getting angry during the game, as fans sang about Spurs losing, laughed at their score and were happy about the way things were. At the time, Arsenal were drawing 1-1, we did not have 3 points in the bag, yet rather the support our side, cheer them to victory, we were too concerned with the Tottenham result. And that is not right.

For me, as much as I hate Tottenham, I do not care for their results. We are not trying to catch them, we are not trying to pull away, we are ahead. We are in the title race, they are looking at top 4. Yes, if it was 10 games to go and we were close, I would care, but that is not the case. For now, I am more concerned about the results of Manchester City and Liverpool, our competitors for the league title.

So what I ask all fans, whilst Arsenal are playing, lets ignore that lot up the Road. When Arsenal are playing, lets concentrate on the boys in red and white. If Tottenham lose, that is a bonus, but the most important result is Arsenal winning. That is all we should care about.

We cheer us to victory, nothing else maters. Let’s forget about Spurs and concentrate on The Arsenal.

ps:

How does it feel to be Tottenham
How does it feel to be small
You sold Bale
We signed Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil, Mesut Ozil

Keenos