This week, Aaron Ramsey expressed his slight envy at the burgeoning rise of Jack Wilshere, the player who has effectively jumped ahead of him and taken his place at Arsenal and the Welsh midfielder had his chance to earn some bragging rights at least, when the pair faced each other in the recent international. Ramsey, though, has been elevated as national team captain, a role Wilshere has been tipped for by manager Fabio Capello and the Englishman quickly showed that the position may have effectively been acquired by technicality despite Ramsey's obvious talent. Ramsey was unable to find any meaningful possession in an rapidly intense first 20 minutes for England as they pressed the Wales midfield and scored two goals in quick succession. Wilshere was at the heartbeat of any England move that harboured a semblance of attacking intent and was almost unplayable with his combination of glide and direct passing.
Wilshere has continued where he left off with Arsenal although here, Capello deployed him in a more advanced role. Wilshere doesn't mind however because, as Owen Coyle says, Wilshere is a "total footballer" and his vast array of skills make him fit in any number of positions without significant change to his performance. Many people harboured doubts about his role before the friendly against Denmark, which England won 2-1 because they felt it restrained him of his innate qualities and in some respects they were correct because Wilshere had to spend more time off the ball than on it. But here is a player of such natural ability that his impact is not necessarily neutralised or indeed heightened by playing in different position; he merely delivers consistently good performances.
"It was a normal performance from him," said Capello after the 2-0 win over Wales. "Not "normal" as in the insult, but "normal" as is the compliment, as in "it is this sort of quality display we expect from Jack. The performance of this player during this season has been incredible," added a salivating Capello. "I talked to Arsene about him and he said the same - incredible. He is playing like a 28-, 29-year-old with 40 caps. But a good player is already improving."
At Arsenal, Wilshere has been the mainstay of the side and has become the "stabiliser" that Wenger last season referred to Denilson of. The Brazilian was impressive although perhaps not in the conventional sense; the calm and sensibility he exuded on the ball perhaps represented an Arsenal that need some saneness and still rediscovering their identity after the move to the Emirates and break up of the "Invincibles." Wilshere's rapid "change-of-direction" and glide on the ball represents the new Arsenal, one that is all about dynamism with possession.
This season, Arsene Wenger has chosen not to play with any holding midfielders but to entrust the intellectual qualities between Wilshere and his most often partner, Alex Song, to dictate the nuances of their position. Through the process of natural assimilation they have been able to alternate positions on the pitch in relative to the ball and have spent as much time up the pitch, helping out in attacks as they have protecting their defence. Alex Song has gone from a holding midfielder of much destruction to one capable of making Frank Lampard style runs into the box while Jack Wilshere has shown a tactical acumen that belies his formative years.
It's this understanding and integration that will take Arsenal to the next level. As Barcelona have shown, although it is sounding more clichéd to keep saying it, it is about keeping players, as Arsenal are trying to do and imbuing a shared sense of belonging and loyalty which will allow success to be sustained and create a footballing culture which evokes the same sense of collective improvisation as the Dutch "Total Football" sides. Or as Johan Cruyff says: "If you have a good youth development system then it is obvious first team will one day be good too. It's not hard to get things right; all that is required is a lot of hard work."
Arsene Wenger may not want to be like Barcelona; Arsenal have their own style but he realises now the tentative steps required to become the image his envisages. Players like Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, who offer an all-rounded game is the aim and who can play the "Arsenal way." The pair can work together, as they showed in a brief cameo in the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United this season and it remains an option. Wenger used both Wilshere and Samir Nasri in the central midfield role in the second-half against West Brom and both delivered a technically accurate performance to provide the basis for a comeback. In 2008, Wenger was excited about a partnership between Ramsey and Mark Randall in the centre against Wigan Athletic and with the improvements made by Wilshere in particular, it's not hard to envisage his name as the latter in the midfield. As part-time Arsenal psychologist Jacques Crevoisier says, "to play for Arsenal you have to be intelligent, technical and fast," and both Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere fit into that criteria.
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