Euro 2012 qual. - Capello: Wilshere now first-choice

Sun, 20 Mar 11:22:00 2011

England head coach Fabio Capello admits Jack Wilshere is now one of his first-choice midfielders after just two appearances for his country.

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Capello claims Wilshere demonstrated he has "arrived" as one of the best young players in the world after his performances for Arsenal against Barcelona in the Champions League.

On that basis, the 19-year-old looks a prime candidate for next Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier with Wales in the Millennium Stadium and the friendly with Ghana on March 29 at Wembley.

Wilshere made his debut for his country as a late substitute against Hungary at Wembley in August. He was handed his first start in last month's 2-1 win over Denmark in Copenhagen.

Capello said: "Wilshere, after the game against Barcelona, he has arrived. He has arrived. You can understand the value of that sort of performance. As a young player, I think he is at the top, not only in England but Europe and the world."

When asked if Wilshere was now a first-choice midfielder, Capello said: "Yes, yes, because he is good, because he plays without fear, and with confidence. Also for someone so young, he is a leader. It is incredible. I never saw someone so young be a leader on the pitch. It is incredible."

PA Sport

Comment 19 - 38 of 38

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  1. As a Spurs supporter I think that Wilshire has great­ potential and deserves the chance to show his skills at­ the top level

    From gerald, on Mon 21 Mar 19:15
  2. that's right. Wilshire to save the day. Wilshire to­ save england. Wilshire is superman!

    IT'S A TEAM­ GAME AND WILSHIRE IS ONLY ONE PLAYER! (admitedly with­ some promise)

    all the attention on jack just­ highlights how poor the rest of the squad is.

    From jaan, on Mon 21 Mar 14:09
  3. I do not understand all this talk about the hyping of­ JACK WILSHERE. So if he puts up a good performance, it­ should not be talked about because "we want him to­ develop"? Fact is it is impossible for fans not to­ talk about the rise and rise of Wilshere. In majority­ of all the big games Arsenal has played this season, he­ has been the outright best player on the pitch or he is­ top 3. No midfielder thus far this season has held­ their own against the world class barcelona midfield as­ Wilshere did in the first leg. In the second leg he was­ still fun of industry and was one of the very few­ Arsenal players that believed a win was­ position.

    Wilshere is fearless, Tactically good­ positionioning, can pass short or long and can run with­ ball. he is got score goals thouh.,

    The responsibility­ to eansure he remains graceful and continuously seek­ more thinks

    From Robert, on Mon 21 Mar 7:52
  4. wilshire's already shown that he can do many things­ on the football pitch!!hes got skill,amazing­ technique,vision and lots more!!and its all thanks to­ arsenal and the way they teach kids to play­ football..footballs the easiest game in the world!!we­ are years behind foriegn players and coaches in england­ with our pitches and ancient training and tactical­ methods!!thats why we aint won a euro or world cup­ because we aint had good enough players and we've­ had sam alladyce tactics!!we are a joke!!!!!!!!well­ thast until the majority of the england team will be­ arsenal players!!!

    From d b, on Mon 21 Mar 7:08
  5. strange how capello never commented after the 2nd game­ against barca????
    he's a player but should be left­ in the u21s for a few years like the french did with­ ribery and then brought into the team as an experienced­ tournament player

    From Stuart, on Mon 21 Mar 6:47
  6. Gerrard and Wilshire in midfield a good combination

    From Rajan, on Mon 21 Mar 2:00
  7. Darhughes82 I agree with your comments. These English­ folk should put a lid on all the hype and give this lad­ a chance to develope himself and actually win somthing.­ I like Jack Wilshere and he has the potential to be one­ of the best. However he doesnt need to be put under any­ undue pressure (which is bound to happen) with all­ the tags and comparisons y'all are already­ subjecting him to.....

    From jonfubs, on Mon 21 Mar 1:49
  8. Just don't ruin the young lad, like they done with­ Walcott, at least use him if you are gonna be including­ him in your team. Time for you English to get rid of­ Cole, Gerrard, Terry, Carrick, Lamps and Rio, all past­ it, use the likes of Wilshere, Walcott, Young,­ Smalling, Gibbs, Johnson, the older players will never­ ever win you anything.

    From Matthew McInerney, on Mon 21 Mar 1:36
  9. Lots of interesting thoughts here. Wilshere is­ obviously a very very talented boy. However, he still­ has a lot to learn at international level.Fancy Capello­ highlighting him to the whole world.The kid needs to be­ able to develop further without now having to carry­ that "millstone" around his neck. Still, it­ coild be worse, he could be part of the "Golden­ Generation"---remind me, apart from duffing up a­ pretty poor German team and getting Heskey on­ scoresheet, what happened to them. So now, we've­ got 3 poss 4 WClass players---still along way to go,­ Capello should have been kicked into touch after SA.­ How can you play for a guy who sounds as though­ he's coming straight from re-recording­ "Shaddup Ya Face" ? Problem with only 4 poss­ WC players, none of them's a goalie!!

    From Patrick, on Mon 21 Mar 1:21
  10. Just Get Rid of that socalled Player think is is Good­ GBH GERRARD what a
    a Pratt the weak Link in the team­ he should be in the nick for 2 years

    Edward &­ Colin

    From Colin, on Mon 21 Mar 0:43
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Spain where they actually know how to play football

    From darhughes82, on Sun 20 Mar 23:51
  12. Good player = Future best player in the world.

    From exileonsufiyan, on Sun 20 Mar 23:50
  13. Darhughes, which planet are you on and what country do­ you support??

    From JASON, on Sun 20 Mar 23:43
  14. no i mean all you english who hype up there players who­ think they are going to win every world cup and the­ fact of the matter is your national team are @#$% and­ have been for a long time Oh yeah you hyped up your­ rugby team too look what happened to them too much­ pressure and they got whipped

    From darhughes82, on Sun 20 Mar 23:27
  15. STU COMMENT 10..PARTLY AGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAY, BUT­ JACK THE LAD WILL HAVE HIS NAME IN LIGHTS BEFORE­ HE'S IN HIS 20.S COS HE IS NO ANGEL. BUT YOU'RE­ RIGHT, GIVE THE LAD A CHANCE TO SHOW HE CAN KEEP IT­ IN HIS SHORTS....

    From DOLPHIN, on Sun 20 Mar 23:25
  16. right, make wilshire capt of arsenal, leaves­ fabrigas to concentrate on what he does best before he­ swans off to barca...get rid of the following players­ almunia..­ fabianski..scillacci..konchelny..bentner..arshavin..ros­ iksy.. chamakh..none of these players deserve to wear­ the arsenal shirt..that leaves room for wenger to spend­ money on replacements..i'm not so sure jens lehmann­ is the solution, but any port in a storm at the­ moment...these players should be proven and not prone­ to sick notes in every other game..i want the arsenal­ players to emmulate the desire and skill of other teams­ man utd lpl spurs etc..arsenal don't seem to have­ the guts to play to win. right now they won't­ finish 2nd or 3rd. these are the worst arsenal­ performances for years.

    From DOLPHIN, on Sun 20 Mar 23:21
  17. Well darhughes82, I think you may be a bit confused.­ Capello may manage the national team but he is in fact­ Italian, so maybe 'JESUS CHRIST you Italians will­ never learn' instead?

    From merciless_ming, on Sun 20 Mar 23:17
  18. JESUS CHRIST you english will never learn, what has he­ done ? how long has he played for? What has he won ?­ the best young midfielder in the world ? GET A GRIP­ yous will be saying walcott is better than messi next­ can you lot not just shut up and let him play instead­ of putting all the pressure and hype on him

    From darhughes82, on Sun 20 Mar 23:04
  19. this is wat always happen to english young Player.­ people put Pressure On them alot,

    From Anh, on Sun 20 Mar 22:02
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    and this is Englands future? god help us he is scum!

    From delazzuro, on Sun 20 Mar 22:00
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