Sunday 24 April 2016 18:08, UK
Jack Wilshere made his first Arsenal appearance of the season in coming off the bench in their goalless draw at Sunderland on Sunday. Adam Bate looks at why there might still be time for Wilshere to star for England in the summer…
There's a tendency for some to regard Jack Wilshere as a mere punchline. Someone for whom appearances on the pitch are interruptions in a career spent in the treatment room rather than the other way around. Not a man to rely on. So the sight of him back in Premier League action at Sunderland at the weekend was a welcome one. Jack's back.
His run out at the Stadium of Light lasted only 10 minutes, 13 touches, eight sprints and one lovely drop of the shoulder to elude the attentions of Lee Cattermole. It will need more than that to convince Roy Hodgson that Wilshere is worthy of a place in England's European Championship squad. But maybe not much more.
It's important to note that Hodgson's apparent willingness to wait on the midfielder is not as a result of unjustified favouritism but an entirely natural response. For while it might feel like an age since Wilshere last played, Hodgson's memories of those England matches are likely to be fresher than those of the average fan. When Wilshere did play, he was special.
Indeed, his previous appearance of any kind prior to Sunday saw him score two spectacular goals in England's 3-2 win away to Slovenia in June. That earned him his sixth man-of-the-match award in seven international matches. His last Arsenal appearance? The FA Cup win at Wembley. His last Premier League appearance? A goalscoring one against West Brom.
It's tempting to think that Wilshere was cut down just as he was ready to kick on. That's certainly how the player himself sees it, injured on the final day of pre-season having cut short his holidays in order to focus on what he knew could be such an important year. But with Wilshere still only 24, there's still time to have the career so many envisaged.
He's the man Arsene Wenger refers to as having "Spanish technique" fused with an "English heart" and there's one legendary Spanish midfielder who is a confirmed admirer. Former Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez called Wilshere the "future of English football" as recently as October.
That might feel odd given that it's almost six years since his England debut. However, to put his age into some sort of context, Wilshere was eligible for last summer's European Under-21 Championship. He's a couple of years younger than Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson, his midfield partners during qualifying, while Danny Drinkwater and Adam Lallana hadn't even played in the Premier League when they where celebrating their 24th birthdays.
In contrast, Wilshere's brief appearance at Sunderland was his 115th at this level. If he can take that tally to 119 by the end of the season then it's likely that Hodgson will want the player who he last saw "taking over the midfield" in Ljubljana to be in action for England this summer too. Wilshere might be a punchline. But he could yet have the last laugh.
