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Why the glum faces? The usual hubris and hyperbole from English media and fans surrounding the performance of the national team seems to have been replaced in recent months with a tipid tone of resignation, of acceptance that this team will not succeed at Euro 2012.

But wait a minute; let’s take a look at the facts. A victory over the World and European champions, Spain, followed up by the first success over arch-nemesis Sweden for 43 years (ending a 12 game winless streak), albeit both in friendlies, preceded by an assured and unbeaten qualifying campaign, which saw England comfortably through to the Euro 2012 Finals, with just 5 goals conceded in 8 games. So why have we all jumped off the bandwagon of bloated expectations just when things are actually starting to look quite good?

In fairness to those who fail to be inspired by England’s professional displays in the last week, the side has become something of a national emblem of disappointment, even embarrassment over the last 15 years; a period in which wearing the three lions on one’s chest seems to have invoked fear in its bearer, rather than in the opponent. Despite a ‘golden’ generation of players, fans have come to expect failure, so much so that even now, when England actually look to have a promising team once again, no one dare to describe them as a polished outfit, let alone as contenders for a major championships.

But let’s take heads out of hands and embrace the future, because things are looking good, no really. Consider the best side (in this writer’s opinion) that Fabio Capello, could put out: Joe Hart in goal; Kyle Walker, John Terry, Phil Jones and Ashley Cole at the back; Walcott and Young on the wings; a central midfield of Scott Parker, Jack Wilshere and Steven Gerrard, with Wayne Rooney up front. Now that is an excellent side. And it’s not just excellent on paper, like Sven’s talented but disjointed teams; this one should actually work on the pitch.

The positives of such a side are plentiful. Gerrard and Rooney link up well, Wilshere is the key player that England have been missing for years – the one who can get the team moving without bypassing the midfield; meanwhile Walcott and Young look consistently dangerous on the wings, with both able to come inside as well as deliver dangerous crosses. Walcott’s improvement this season must be a big boost for Fabio Capello.

But perhaps the greatest asset of this team is its defence. Kyle Walker, man of the match against Sweden, looks like he has the potential to match Ashley Cole’s consistently excellent performances for England, both in providing a potent attacking option whilst remaining assured at the back, meanwhile at the centre-back position, England are spoilt, as much as any international side. Indeed, various incarnations of the back line confidently kept out Spain and Sweden, with Joe Hart, finally the excellent keeper England have looked for since the retirement of David Seaman, rarely troubled.     

This team, at full-strength, really could trouble any other side. In particular it has the pace and potential for swift counter-attack necessary to shake the stability and structure which has helped to make Spain look invincible in competitive matches in recent years. Indeed it could be relatively similar in style and substance to the outstanding German side which blew England away in a 4-1 demolition at the last world cup. At least Capello has now learned what many before him failed to do so, that 4-4-2 is out-dated.

But, and of course there is a but, this line-up has not played together regularly, with injuries, particularly to Gerrard and Wilshere – its beating heart – preventing the development of a team, or at least of a team capable of going places in Poland and Ukraine in 2012. And with Rooney suspended for the first three games of the tournament (pending an appeal by the FA), Capello will in any case be unable to play such an eleven in the group stages of the tournament.

However, if all of England’s stars are fit going into the group stages, there’s no reason why Capello can’t forge a team unity and purpose that could be brought to bear in the knockout rounds, should the Rooney-less England make it that far. And what’s really important, yes, that old nugget, this team has a blend of youth and experience, the kind that can lead to both young and old inspiring each other to go further.

Morale-boosting speech over, this writer is ducking back down under the safety blanket of low expectations, but not so far that the bright light of hope is completely vanquished.

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Jack Wilshere has emerged as a long-term target for Real Madrid.

The Arsenal and England midfielder is on a five-man short-list of players the Spanish giants want in their colours by 2014.

Spanish paper Marca, which is seen as a mouthpiece for Real, has run a story that the Bernabeu side want to sign Europe’s best young players for fees around the £25million mark rather than go for proven mega-stars.

SOURCE: Daily Mirror

In case your wondering, the other players among the five that this source states that Real Madrid are looking to secure in the next couple of years are Bayern Munich defender Rafinha, Athletic Bilbao winger Iker Muniain, Lille’s Belgian starlet Eden Hazard and Borussia Dortmund’sMario Gotze.

Given that Jack Wilshere is contracted to Arsenal until 2015 and that the youngster has stated his intention to stay at the North London club for life, it seems that a move to the Bernabeu is hugely unlikely.

Arsene Wenger may have concerns over some members of his squad, not least those who have less than 18 months to run on their contracts, such as Robin Van Persie, Theo Walcott, Alex Song and Andrei Arshavin, but 19 year old midfielder Wilshere seems very settled at his local club and does not strike me as the type of player to ditch the Gunners if silverware is not forthcoming.

Jose Mourinho has gone about the process of bringing in some of the best young talent around over the past year and a half, snapping up the likes of Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria, Nuri Sahin, Fabio Coentrao and Sami Khedira to name just five, and it seems that The Marca believes another tranche of talents is on the way to the La Liga giants.

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Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has promised he will never leave the club.

The 19-year-old aims to play a central role in bringing success to the north London club and end the six-year trophy drought.

Manager Arsene Wenger is attempting to mould a team of young talents and the England international is central to those plans.

“Can I promise I will be at Arsenal for ever? I can promise that, yes,” Wilshere told iFilmLondon.com. ”I’ve been at the club since I was nine and I’ve learned to love it.

“From the (Patrick) Vieira days, to (Dennis) Bergkamp, (Cesc) Fabregas, I’ve watched them come through and move on.

“But now there’s a crop of new players, (Aaron) Ramsey, myself, Kieran Gibbs, hopefully we can really create something special.

“I love the club and I want to be part of its future.”

Wilshere has yet to play for the club this season due to a stress fracture to his right ankle but is set to step up his training, six weeks after undergoing an operation on the injury.

“As I said had 6 week X-ray earlier and all going well,” he wrote yesterday on his Twitter page.

“I can start to work a bit harder now.”

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Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has revealed who he wants his club to sign next summer – Manchester City’s David Silva.

The Gunners playmaker is a huge fan of the Spaniard and dreams of playing alongside him at the Emirates one day.

Silva, 25, has been getting rave reviews for his performances this season that have rocketed City to the top of the table.

He has bagged three goals and six assists so far but his fine form is not even good enough to guarantee him a starting place for his country.

But Wilshere, 19, can see his true quality and hopes Arsenal drop their financially stringent self-sustaining business model to sign Silva.

On a question and answer session on Twitter, one fan asked Wilshere which ‘realistic signing’ he would bring to the Emirates, to which he replied: “Does David Silva count?”

The England international also urged Fabio Capello to take Wayne Rooney to Euro 2012, despite a three-match ban that will rule him out of all England’s group games.

Wilshere also declared he would never let his new-born son Archie play for north London rivals Tottenham.

Away from football matters, he revealed to his fans that Sponge Bob Square Pants used to be his favourite cartoon, and Gossip Girl is his preferred TV show.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed “half the dressing room wanted to leave” Arsenal this summer and has blamed the poor start to the season on that.

The Gunners currently lie in 10th and 12 points off league leaders Manchester City. They face a huge battle to make the top four and suffered humilating losses to Manchester United and Tottenham.

The worst start in Wenger’s career in north London came off the back of big-money departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri despite the boss’ reluctance for them to leave.

“It was a very difficult summer because half the dressing room wanted to leave,” Wenger told French radio station RTL.

“You’re preparing for a season where you don’t know who’s going to come in, the players who are staying are asking themselves what’s going on at the club, you’ve got a pre-season tour of Asia.

“It was extraordinarily difficult. What saved us is that we’re a club that are extremely solid and united. Other clubs would surely have gone to pieces in those circumstances.

“What people forget is that we lost three key players because we’ve also lost [Jack] Wilshere. Three who were important in our midfield. Nasri, Fabregas and Wilshere have all been lost and they were the basis of our midfield last season.

“We’ve had to reconstruct our midfield entirely because Wilshere won’t be back until January.

Still, we’ve disappointed this season so far, given what’s expected of us, but I think we’re on the up again.

The problem is you can only climb the table slowly. We’re not too far away in terms of points from fourth place. We’re too far away from the top two.”

Wenger admitted simple economics meant players wanted to leave Arsenal because there was more money on offer elsewhere.

“It’s not that (players have to leave to win titles),” he said. “The problem isn’t that. Frankly, if you compare what Manchester City have won in the past and what Arsenal have won, then you don’t go to Manchester City to win titles.

“Players go to Manchester City because they pay much better than Arsenal. They are a force clearly, because they have exceptional financial clout, so it’s not surprising what they’ve done.”

Now the Frenchman is facing questions over the long-term future of Fabregas’ replacement as captain, Robin Van Persie, who insists he is committed to the club but is yet to agree a new deal with 18 months left on his existing contract.

“For me being professional means that right up until the last day you are at a club you give 100% to that club,” added Wenger.

“I’m not asking myself whether Van Persie is going to extend his contract in 18 months’ time. For me what is important is that he plays well for us (against Marseille) on Wednesday. After that the next match. That’s how I think.

“He’s scored 28 goals in 34 games, so they’re exceptional statistics. He’s got a contract for another 18 months and he’s a man who is attached to our club. I’m not especially thinking about losing him.”

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Jack Wilshere has told Arsenal he will not be the next star player to walk out of the club.
In a week when Arsenal were beaten by north London rivals Tottenham, slumped to 15th in the Premier League and lost Bacary Sagna to long-term injury, Wilshere’s vow will come as blessed relief to manager Arsene Wenger.
Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri quit the Emirates in the summer and there are already fears that Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Thomas Vermaelen could go at the end of the season because their contracts expire in 2013. But Wilshere, 19, who is out until March after ankle surgery and has not played this season, would not even be tempted by mega-rich Manchester City.
Wilshere said: “No disrespect to Manchester City, but Arsenal is the perfect home for me. Some players have got their price, but that’s not the way I look at the game.
“All I think about is playing at the highest level and in the top competitions, so I can measure myself against the best in the world. I am happy at Arsenal, I want to win things and want to do it with Arsenal. I have been here since I was nine and have grown to love this club.
“I want to play in the Champions League and that is the aim for everyone at the club.”

SOURCE: Express

This is good news for Arsenal fans. At a time when the North London club is struggling and after the loss of first team players such as Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy it seems that Jack Wilshere is more than happy to commit to the Gunners.

The young midfielder is out until Christmas at least and Arsene Wenger will have to hope that his loss will not further hamper plans to push back up the table after losing four out of their first seven Premier League encounters.

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Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has successfully undergone surgery on his ankle but has been ruled out until December.

The 19-year-old suffered the injury during the summer and aggravated the problem in the 1-1 pre-season draw with the New York Red Bulls.

The England international has not featured all season for club or country after picking up the knock in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland in June.

Arsenal hoped Wilshere might be able to avoid surgery, but after the injury failed to respond to treatment they decided to send him under the knife.

The news means the playmaker will miss all the Champions League group stage matches as well as important Premier League games, including Tottenham and Chelsea.

Despite the blow, Wilshere is happy with how the operation went.

Writing on Twitter, Wilshere posted: “Had my operation and all went well!

“I am feeling good will spend the night in hospital to monitor me but apart from that I am happy!”

Meanwhile, defender Per Mertesacker revealed the reason behind the Gunner’s clean sheet in the 3-0 win against Bolton was that they worked harder in training.

“We had a little bit more time (during the week) because of the Carling Cup match,” the German told the club’s website.

“Some players had a little more rest and we trained a little harder, especially on the way we want to defend.

“It worked and on Saturday you saw we had a better defence. We were closer together.

“After the four goals against Blackburn we lost a little bit of confidence but we were very proud of our performance. We want to go on with this way of defending.

“I want to do a good job, especially in the defence. That is my role.

“If the coach praises me then that is a great thing but I have to go on and keep on working. My performances can improve.”

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Arsenal have described the knee injury to forward Theo Walcott as “minor” and hope to have him back for the Champions League game against Olympiakos.

The 22-year-old pulled up in the dying stages of Arsenal’s 3-0 win on Saturday, with initial fears the winger had pulled a hamstring.

But manager Arsene Wenger has downplayed the seriousness of the problem and hopes the England international will face the Greek side and rivals Tottenham next Sunday.

“I don’t really know (what is wrong),” Wenger said. “I thought it was a classic hamstring but it is not.

“He felt a sharp pain in his knee and at the moment he is with the doctor.

“I don’t know what the diagnosis will be but it is completely surprising. There was no one near him.

“I don’t know what they will do, whether they will have a scan tonight, I will have to speak to the medical people.”

The worrying aspect for the Arsenal fans is this is not the first ‘minor’ injury the Gunners squad has faced that has turned into a long-term problem.

Midfielder Jack Wilshere was supposed to be out for only a couple of days after injuring his ankle in a pre-season game in August.

The 19-year-old will now undergo surgery and will not be back until after Christmas as the problem has failed to heal.

The Arsenal medical staff knew about his weakness and advised England not to pick Wilshere for the Euro U21 Championships because of it.

But instead of putting the player under the knife in the summer, the Gunners tried to let the injury heal itself but will now lose a star player for a long time.

The same issue happened last season with defender Thomas Vermaelen, with the Emirates staff hoping his achilles would naturally heal instead of needing an operation.

The result: Vermaelen underwent surgery and pretty much missed the whole campaign.

Another example is Abou Diaby, who the club instead of operating on his ankle at the start of the summer waited until August.

The Frenchman was supposed to back in September but is still recovering.

Cesc Fabregas, since moving to Barcelona, has shown no sign of the hamstring problems that dogged his Arsenal career over the last two years.

Maybe there is something they put in the Catalan water…

These issues need to be fixed, with big question marks hanging over the Arsenal medical staff and their efforts to keep their stars on the pitch.

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