Wilshere is England's Future

So Mr.Capello thinks Wilshere is an amazing player with super-human amazingness. I think he's absolutely right in what he thinks. But that's a fairly obvious thought to think. Obviously Mr. Capello thinks that because everyone else does.

What everyone might not agree with him on, though, is where he wants to put Wilshere in his England side. He wants Wilshere to play "the Makelele role" which is a role in which the player plays just ahead of the defenders. A defensive midfielder. Or a holding midfielder. But yeah, that's where Capello wants to put Wilshere.

Now people might think he's totally wasting young Wilshere back there near the defenders, when he should be playing just behind the striker and wreaking all sorts of havoc in the opponents defensive line. Which is a good point, but I think he can be an even more immense player for England if he plays in a deeper midfield role. Two reasons.

One, that's where England need him. As Capello rightly said, there are no English players at the top level who play this role. England need him there. On the other hand England have players like Lampard and Gerrard who can play that attacking role well.

But does Wilshere really play this role for Arsenal? He does, sort of. At Arsenal we play with two holding midfielders. They are both given license to go forward, but they are certainly tactically aware and defensively responsible players and are good at winning the ball.

If he replicates his Arsenal performances for England, Wilshere would be filling a gaping hole in the England squad.

Two, his technical abilities are needed deep in midfield as much as they are higher up in the final third. He may not be as influential in the final third but playing deep he can help England keep possession and build attacks from the back, which is crucial. It is better if all players, even the defensive ones, are able to play the ball and be effective in any part of the pitch. Mr.Capello and previous England coaches tried doing that by putting Lampard and Gerrard in the holding midfield roles but it didn't quite work, because while they are technically good, they aren't used to playing that role. Wilshere is.

So will he play exactly the Makelele role? Mr.Capello said that Wilshere can defend but he is more dangerous than Makelele when he has the ball. So Wilshere's better than Makelele. I think Mr.Capello is absolutely right, again!

Since Wilshere is better on the ball, we can expect him to make some forward runs and be more involved in the attacking moves. I can see him buzzing around the pitch, making a short passes and touching the ball everywhere on the pitch.

But here's the thing, today the best teams no longer play with just one holding midfielder ahead of the back four. The trend today is playing with two staggered central midfielders. Even Arsene Wenger decided to change the 4-1-4-1 of last season to a 4-2-3-1 in which Wilshere has excelled. So Mr. Capello is right again, Wilshere may be too lonely playing as the only holding midfielder, but that wouldn't be as much because of his age, as much as because one holding player has become a little too easy to beat. So the Makelele role may very well be dead.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops.