The Gunners boss envisages the midfielder becoming a natural leader for his country.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insists Jack Wilshere “has the capacity” to emulate 1966 World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore and become England’s new leader.
Wilshere was heralded as the saviour of English football when breaking into the side, but was the subject of intense criticism following a below-par display in Tuesday’s goalless draw in Ukraine, leading to Wenger launching a committed defence of his midfield linchpin.
Wenger insists the 21-year-old is the player to lead the Three Lions in the World Cup next summer and views him in the same light as Moore – the most revered figure in English football history – and France legend Zinedine Zidane.
“National teams need a guy who absorbs this type of pressure and takes it,” Wenger the Mirror. “We had Zidane. When the France team didn’t play well it was all Zidane’s fault.
“Before we had Platini, in the history of the French national team, it stops when Platini stops, the results. They stopped when Zidane stopped. You need a good generation but you also need one player.
“Jack can take that, he is young, only 21. He has the characteristics to do that (take the Moore mantle on). He is not fazed by the importance of the game. He is not inhibited. But he needs to play six months without any problem.”
COMMENTS