The Arsenal midfielder has graduated to the senior England squad and should not be selected for Stuart Pearce's Under-21s, writes Paul Hayward in the Observer
Europe's major powers will be shaping every move around the need to deliver the best starting XI in the best possible shape to Poland and Ukraine next summer for Euro 2012. Here in England, the country's finest young creative midfielder since Paul Scholes or Paul Gascoigne, Jack Wilshere, is being pitch-forked back to a developmental level he has already passed through, purely so Stuart Pearce's Under-21s can look good at the junior European Championship which starts in Denmark on 11 June.
Pearce has yet to be properly pressed on where his priorities lie: helping England win Euro 2012 or improving his own CV, as candidates jostle to replace Fabio Capello next year. Maybe that's unfair. The decision should not be Pearce's to make. By allowing England's Under-21 coach the final say, Capello has abrogated his responsibility to take proper care of a 19-year-old who needs a summer break, then a managed pre-season programme with Arsenal, to protect his body and perhaps even his mind.
Using a petrol metaphor, Arsène Wenger, his club manager, said last week: "Jack is in the red for a while now and this can be a risk for his health. He knows he is nearly at the end of his energy level but he is keen to do well. To go to a tournament is a massive risk." Capello and Pearce are not the only managers with questions to answer. If Wenger thinks Wilshere is overstretched, why has Jack the lad accumulated more playing time than any other Arsenal player: a total of 4,585 minutes? The breakdown is: 34 Premier League games, two FA Cup, five League Cup, seven Champions League and nine internationals.
In other words, if Wenger was so worried about burnout why did he play Wilshere in League Cup matches or not allow him a mid-season break? Because Cesc Fábregas was injured and/or Arsenal were desperate to win a trophy. New figures show Wilshere has spent more time on the pitch this season than all bar one of his senior England colleagues – Ashley Cole. Even before the Under-21s kick off, Arsenal play Fulham in Sunday's Premier League denouement and England face Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley on Saturday week.
Back in February an opportunity arose to chat one on one with Capello about Wilshere and the England coach talked about his rapid development in the Arsenal starting XI before expressing a major reservation. "The Switzerland game is on 4 June – and it's a long season for him," Capello said, loosening his arms and shoulders to denote exhaustion. Even then he was worried about the strain on Wilshere's body. Four months later, he declines to intervene in Pearce's squad selection.
To call this the frontline in club v country is misleading – however fierce the campaign. Pearce was meant to announce his squad on Friday but postponed it until Monday as wrangling over Wilshere and Andy Carroll intensified. This is really England seniors v England juniors. The laudable aim of improving performances at youth tournaments has the potential side effect of damaging the country's prospects at full representative level, where England have won one tournament (the 1966 World Cup) in 61 years of trying.
Carroll is a more nuanced case, because injuries have restricted his appearances for Newcastle and Liverpool. Yet he, too, could be classified as a senior graduate who should not be sent back to undergraduate level. Other countries use the Under-21s as a staging post to the senior team, and although Spain or Germany may expect their best young talent to show up for an Under-21 tournament, no continental coach in his right mind would summon a teenager who had played 54 times (or 56, by 4 June) when he was already an automatic starter in a team 12 months from a senior European Championship.
This is not just about a nice summer holiday in the Algarve for Wilshere. The life of the Champions League footballer is carefully calibrated to achieve peaks at the right points in a campaign. By playing in Denmark, Wilshere would miss his pre-season at Arsenal, have to play catch-up, probably push himself to be ready and generally be out of sync with the rest of the squad.
A major concern of Arsenal's medical staff is that the combination of a gruelling 11-month workload, no proper break and an accelerated return could make a mess of his 2011-12 season. This may be a risk worth taking if Wilshere were an Under-21 level player, but he is not. He is one of the first names on Capello's team-sheet. From the press conference rooms of South Africa, I keep hearing Capello's World Cup mantra about England's players. Tired, tired, tired, flat, flat, flat. Too many games of too much intensity, no winter break. The solution: send Jack Wilshere to Denmark to play through June.
Paul Hayward is chief sports writer of the Observer
