'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Restricted by injury to just 15 international caps, England midfielder Jack Wilshere has suffered more international frustration than most players in the past few seasons. Eager to make up for lost time this summer, the Arsenal midfielder knows that a good World Cup can help him to shake off the lingering frustrations that his career has yet to take the trajectory expected when he burst onto the scene at club level.
“Everyone knows the World Cup is the top level,” he told reporters this week. “Everyone watches every game shown on TV. Don’t get me wrong, everyone is going to have their opinions of what you can improve on and what you’ve got to work on but I think a good World Cup can erase a lot of doubts.”
One man without doubts in Wilshere’s ability is his international coach. Roy Hodgson has repeatedly stood by his injury-hit midfield man and has handed him the number seven shirt in England’s World Cup squad. It’s easy to read into squad numbers too much, with much of it a marketing exercise. After all, Frank Lampard was always going to get the number eight shirt but is unlikely to start.
However, that said, the choice of Wilshere for number seven could give some insight into his thinking in the competition between Wilshere and Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson for the central midfield role alongside captain Steven Gerrard.
On the face of it, the decision to start Wilshere over Henderson seems to be an example of the age-old England problem of picking players on reputation rather than form, given the season that Henderson has just had at club level.
A near ever-present for Liverpool, Henderson heads into the World Cup on the back of the season of his life, while the fact that his end of season absence came in tandem with a lack of cover and Liverpool’s title challenge collapsing saw his stock rise even further.
Wilshere, on the other hand, last played four full games in a row in the period straddling the new year and has not started more than five league games on the spin all season; particularly galling for Wilshere in light of his excellent form the previous season.
When he has played this year, Wilshere’s form has been inevitably patchy. Defensively, the more robust Henderson has wiped the floor with him. The Liverpool man has made more interceptions, clearances and tackles per 90 minutes played than Wilshere, although this can be slightly mitigated by Liverpool’s overworked defence and the two team’s respective styles of play. Arsenal monopolise possession while Liverpool press and get in their opponent’s faces with an intensity that makes it no surprise that Henderson has made more tackles and interceptions, while their gung-ho approach has seen the team as a whole make more clearances than any other top side.
However, Henderson has also proven adept attacking as well this year. Feeding strikers of the ilk of Luis Suarez may be a midfielder’s dream and it has helped Henderson create marginally more chances per 90 than Wilshere this season, although, again, Liverpool have created far more chances per 90 than Arsenal this season and as a percentage of their team’s total Wilshere edges back in front.
This is where the logic behind Wilshere for England starts to take hold. Similar on chance creation in what has been a poor season for him but a brilliant one for Henderson, he has also made more passes per 90 than his rival. If he can recapture the form of 20112/13 – a big if – then he would be producing over two chances per 90 minutes; considerably higher than Henderson.
He has also scored more goals per 90 minutes this season, while he has a game that could be more suitable to international football.
A starring role against Brazil last year gave glimpses of this, with Wilshere’s ability in possession key to England’s performance that day. More able in keeping possession with a short ball, he performs the central role in the 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by England at club level, while Henderson performs a very specific role at club level in Liverpool’s diamond.
Featuring further forward on the right-hand side, Henderson’s engine is key to the dynamism of Liverpool’s bull in a china shop approach to the Premier League this season, but Wilshere is more used to the calmness and patience that international football requires, having played in a side with a similar style and at Champions League level. In tight spaces he is also excellent, demonstrable by the fact that he completes almost two more take ons per 90 than Henderson.
Wilshere’s stop start career has seen various patches of form, almost always curtailed by injury. The latest of these came in his last run of four full games in a row, over the turn of the year. During that time he created more chances than any other Arsenal player and was arguably one of the best performers in central midfield areas.
If he can recapture that form and the form of last season, then Wilshere should be a starter at international level. For the Arsenal man, the warm up fixtures are perhaps more important than for any other player in the squad. If he can show enough form to suggest that he is both fully fit and near his best, then he is likely to start over Henderson, fitting the system better and having previously shown that on his day he is one of the side’s best players.
However if he fails to do that, then the form of Henderson this season means that Wilshere can no longer dine out on potential or prior form. Hodgson has a big choice to make in central midfield, that currently boils down to form versus experience and potential form, making his selection against Peru tonight an intriguing one.
