Paul Scholes has declared Jack Wilshere as England’s best player at the moment, following back to back man of the match performances for England.
Scholes wrote in his Independent column: “I thought Jack Wilshere had two very good games for England over the last week. I would go one step further than that and say that at the moment he is England’s best player.
“I think the penny has dropped and he has added another dimension to his game. He has always been capable of intricate passing. Now he can play the ball long, too. The quality of some of those passes into Wayne Rooney in Estonia was high.
“You cannot underestimate the importance of eye contact between a midfielder and a striker in those situations. Wilshere mentioned it in one of the interviews that he gave and I would agree that it is critical.
Jack Wilshere has impressed many this season, and former Man Utd midfielder Paul Scholes is one of many being made to eat his words.
39 year old Scholes was one of many Wilshere critics last season, just seven months ago he was particularly critical of the midfielder.
“Jack Wilshere, he came on the scene and what a top player he looked, but he’s never really gone on. He needs people like [Patrick] Vieira to take him to the next level. His development, he doesn’t look any better now than he did at 17.”
Wilshere took the criticism on board though, and admitted he would try and learn from it. The Englishman managed to get hold of Scholes’ phone number and called him.
“If it had come from a rubbish player I could say: ‘What are you talking about?’ But it came from Paul Scholes. For me he was the best English midfielder of all time.
“For the next few days after he said that I sat down and talked to my dad and a few of the coaches here. I respect him so much and I think he can make a great coach for any young player.
“I’m a young player and he’s been there and done it so I wanted to hear what he had to say.”
It’s great to see Wilshere being backed from such high calibre players. It will give him a huge confidence boost, and his form this season has been exciting. Let’s hope he can keep up his form for club and country as we enter the busy festive period.
Most importantly, cross everything that he stays fit.
With Mesut Ozil out, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are likely to continue at the heart of Arsenal’s 4-1-4-1 formation. There is plenty of creativity within that duo, and if both can find their top form at the same time – Arsenal will be extremely hard to stop.