The 18-year-old was fortunate to escape punishment for another rash tackle but hinted at a dazzling partnership with the captain.
Cesc Fábregas and Jack Wilshere could form a radiant Arsenal midfield duo. But only if Fábregas stays in London and Wilshere can stay on the pitch. At 18, a player needs a little devil in him to survive but he could do without headline writers calling him "Jack the Bad".
Wilshere jabbed his studs into the standing ankle of Shakhtar's Tomas Hubschman and was lucky to escape punishment. On Saturday he was shown a straight red card for flying into Birmingham City's Nikola Zigic. As Hubschman crumpled the stadium inhaled in expectation of another losing brush with the law.
Svein Oddvar Moen, the Norwegian referee, displayed his liberal side, using his arms in a cutting motion to say: cease and desist. Sometimes the young football mind is slow to see the pointlessness of violent challenges in non-threatening parts of the field.
Wilshere, though, sees plenty else. Deployed as a deep midfielder he allows Arsène Wenger to push Fábregas further upfield, closer to Marouane Chamakh. Fábregas was wearing the Arsenal shirt for the first time since 18 September and scored his team's third from the penalty spot before departing on 63 minutes. Already there is synchronicity between the captain and the leader of the club's new wave of English youth.
Another small concern for Wilshere, aside from his tackling, is the preponderance of attacking midfielders in Wenger's squad. Surrounded by artistes, he may find himself in an anchoring role where his creative passing will be inhibited. When Fábregas went off, Wilshere surged forward and helped himself to a goal, Arsenal's fourth, which served as a memo to his manager.
"I still believe he [Wilshere] can play high up the pitch too, but he has good stamina, good strength in the duels," Wenger says. "He's not the quickest, but he has good bursts and he has good vision to play through the lines. He's intelligent in his positioning and reading the game so this position suits him well. Basically he can play anywhere – when he was young he played wide – good players can do that."
Wenger also said: "He is someone who doesn't hide from challenges, and that's very important in the centre of the park." He can serve them up too, as Zigic and Hubschmann have found. Either he will come to understand that there is no need to parade his toughness with pointless lunges or his talent arrives with a temperament flaw that will cost him plenty in suspensions.
Sermon over. The main point is that he and Fábregas could be a dazzling combination. Plus, there seems no sensible reason not to use Wilshere in the England team now.
Paul Hayward, The Guardian on 20 Oct 10
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