Jack Wilshere

Since the England game on Saturday there has been a lot of attention on Jack and his eligibility for the Euro U21 Championships in Denmark. It would appear Fabio Capello is not prepared to learn from mistakes made in previous tournaments and allow the buffoon that is Stuart Pearce make the decision on whether or not to select him. Arsene Wenger will no doubt have his say on this but the fact remains that if selected there is nothing he can do to stop Wilshere attending.

Deja Vu

Now I've heard a lot of valid points about why Wilshire should go,, most being that he wants to go to Denmark, he's young so this will have little impact on his fitness and ability to recover from playing in a highly competitive tournament and that it will be invaluable experience. Jack only needs to look at his centre midfield partner Cesc Fabregas. Cesc has been through what awaits Jack in the next 2 seasons. In 2009 Cesc had to go to the much overhyped and irrelevant Confederations Cup, the following season he played 36 games for Arsenal. Needless to say Spain picked him for the World Cup and so far this season he's been involved in 31 games but 6 have been as a sub. That's not a good return for someone aged 23. Then we move onto his fellow England colleague Theo Walcott. Stuart Pearce decided he would take Theo to Sweden in 2009 to gain crucial experience and England got spanked by Germany 4-0 in the final and in truth Theo never lived up to the hype surrounding him. The following season Theo started 15 games for Arsenal and missed out on the World Cup. This is not a case of Arsenal paranoia but merely learning from past experiences. If England get to the Final of the U21's that means Jacks first full season will have lasted over 10 months. He'll then have 4 weeks off and probably start the new season as a sub due to other players being sharper. He'll then go through it all again and head to EURO 2012 ending July 1st (hopefully) and the possibility of The Olympics starting 25th July. It's just riduclous. We wonder why can't develop talent in this country, it's not a case of development but drilling them into the ground. I work it out that from August 2009 to May 2012 that Jack will have 8 weeks rest away from football and that's rounding it up. Other successful nations like Germany (holders) have a winter break, play 34 league games and have 1 domestic cup. A far more senisbile approach and it's no surprise that many of whom have gone onto represent their country and some even got transferred to Real Madrid.

The Problem

Then we get to the real matter, Stuart Pearce. I have a lot of time for Pearce the footballer but the manager is an incompetent fool. He is a very poor manager who was rewarded with a job far beyond his capabilities. Let's not forget he has played David James upfront in an attempt to secure European Qualification and used to think his daughters cuddly toy as a lucky omen as it sat in the technical area. Pearce knows he's sub standard, as Germany showed in 2009 when we got humiliated. I don't blame him for wanting Wilshere, Carroll and co but truthfully he wants them for the wrong reasons. He will say that it's for experience, which in Carroll's case maybe so but Wilshere has played in several Champions League games including Barcelona away. The truth is that Pearce wants them to boost his CV and by securing the services of Carroll, Wilshere and possibly Walcott he may just have the players to achieve his main goal of becoming European Champions. Whilst I have no problem with the desire to win a tournament the fact remains that this is only a stepping stone to becoming a full international. There is nothing else to it than that and if you look at the side we fielded in the last 2 championships you will see that he obviously hasn't done a very good job.

2007 Carson - Hoyte, Rosenior, S. Taylor, Ferdinand - Reo-Coker, Noble, Milner, Young - Lita, Nugent.
2009 Loach (Hart)- Cranie, Richards, Onuoha, Gibbs - Muamba, Cattermole, Noble, Milner, Johnson - Walcott.

Now Hart is England's number one and rightly so but in truth it was largely down to the inability of the competition to handle the pressure that comes with being England's number 1. As for the rest Milner has played 17 times for England but he has failed to hold down a place mainly due to his lack of ability which is reflected in his staggering 46 U21 caps. Adam Johnson has already shown he has the ability to to be a full international but it remains to be seen whether he can sustain that. Theo obviously was axed prior to the World Cup but reinstated due to a disastrous 4 games in South Africa and prior to Saturday Ashley Young can hardly be considered a success yet. So what about that experience? Where has it got Cattermole, Noble, Muamba and co? 6 of that starting lineup In 2009 haven't received a full international cap, whilst the the same amount of Germans have gone on to gain recognition at senior level. What will Jack gain from this that he didn't experience in Barcelona or Cardiff? The truth is the u21 championships is the best it will ever get for some players but the better players spend little time in this set up. Wayne Rooney is a classic example, he never represented England at u21 level but there was no clamour for him to playreproach tournaments but then Stuart Pearce was manager back then. The fact Capello is allowing Pearce to make this call may prove to be naive if he has to use players such as the hapless Gareth Barry. The fact is this probably just a story in progress and one of those many excuses to be used when England fail but surely Jack having a good few months rest before a very hectic 2011/2012 season is best for all parties? The fact is we know who will suffer and it won't be England. We've seen it all before but it would appear that it isn't just Wenger who doesn't learn from mistakes.