What Is Jack Wilshere's Best Position for Arsenal and England?

From the moment Jack Wilshere made his senior debut, it was clear he was destined to become a great player.

It was immediately apparent that this little lad from Hertfordshire had something special about him. For starters, there was the fact he never allowed his youth to be an excuse: At 16, he was already competing against players a decade or more older than him.

However, it was his exceptional technique that really stood out. Wilshere was blessed with a wonderful first-touch, inch-perfect passing and a superb ability to drop his shoulder and dribble outside his man. There was something distinctly “un-English” about the flair which characterised his style.

He is truly a unique talent. 

Fitness permitting, it’s always seemed certain that Wilshere that would make the grade. However, there has never been any real consensus on his best position.

Another of Wilshere’s “un-English” attributes is his versatility. He is capable of fulfilling a variety of different roles on the field, and subsequently, doubt lingers over which position suits him most.

Wilshere has hit the headlines this week for his match-winning performance against Marseille in the Champions League. The Englishman grabbed both goals in a 2-0 victory, and he was announced as the official man of the match. It was comfortably Wilshere’s best display of the 2013/14 season. 

However, it came in a relatively unfamiliar role. Wilshere, usually thought of as a central player, was deployed on the right-wing.

Although he was allowed to drift infield and swap positions with Mesut Ozil and Tomas Rosicky, he did play predominantly from the right. The opening goal was a great example of how he exploited his positioning, cutting in from the flank to shoot on his stronger left foot.

His performance was so strong that it even led The Times’ Matt Dickinson to wonder if it might be an option in the long-term: 

Arsene Wenger seems to concur that Wilshere is currently flourishing in the role. At his pre-match press conference for the Premier League match with Cardiff City, he told reporters:

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It does [bring the best out of him]. It depends always on the collective performance because Jack is an intelligent player who finds little holes on the pitch where he can use his ability to turn the ball forwards. What is good for him now is that he also starts to find goals. Then he will be naturally attracted to play in a more advanced position. 

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However, Wenger is on record as saying he considers Jack a central player. This right-wing spot is surely only a temporary measure.

As well as Wilshere is doing on the right, he is only playing there out of necessity. Both Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the usual incumbents of that particular position, are still recovering from injury.

It’s beneficial for Wilshere too. When he first made his debut in the team as a teenager, Wenger played him on the right. It afforded the youthful Wilshere protection from the crunching tackles in the middle of the park.

The fact is that, five years on, Wilshere’s body is just as vulnerable now as it was then. Fielding him on the flank allows him to escape the mire of the middle and enjoy a degree of space and freedom.

The long-term plan surely remains for him to become a central midfielder.

However, in modern football, the term “central midfielder” is increasingly too broad. There is debate over what sort of central midfielder Wilshere will eventually become: Will he be an attacking goalscorer, or a defensive destroyer?

Initially, Wilshere seemed set to be an offensive player. When he first emerged, his play in and around the final third was perhaps what impressed most. Audacious dribbling was twinned with incisive passing. At U-18 and Reserve level, Wilshere was renowned for his eye for goal.

That early promise seemed to bear fruit in January of this year, when Wilshere was picked to play in the position that matches the number he bears on his back: No. 10. The match was a FA Cup tie with Swansea City, and Wilshere was superb, scoring an excellent goal from outside the box and dominating proceedings on the pitch.

Afterward, Wenger told the Daily Star:

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Jack was outstanding. He played in a different position tonight, a bit higher up. It suits him well.

I think he is a complete midfielder. He can defend and attack. He is a guy who can dribble and give a final ball, so the closer they are to the goal, the better it is from there.

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At that time, it seemed Wenger saw Wilshere’s future as an advanced midfielder, playing just off a centre-forward.

However, something has evidently altered since then. Perhaps Wenger has seen an improvement in Wilshere’s defensive abilities, or perhaps the signing of Mesut Ozil has enforced a change of plan. Whatever the case, Wenger has gone back on his estimation that Wilshere would benefit from being closer to the goal. 

Speaking in November 2013, just 11 months after Wilshere’s starring display against Swansea, Wenger told a Twitter Q&A:

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Wilshere’s best position is as a deep-lying midfielder, where he can be a distributor. He has a good burst and vision.

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It seems Wenger’s view has finally come in to line with that of the man who gave Wilshere his England debut: Fabio Capello.

Capello has long trumpeted Wilshere as the future of England’s midfield and had a very specific role in mind for the youngster prior to his ankle problems. Speaking to The Telegraph in January 2011, Capello said:

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I want to put him in this position in front of the back four. I have to decide because he's so young, he would stay alone in midfield and that can be dangerous.

I think he's mature enough to play this role. He's a really interesting player. When he started, in some moments he played without big confidence. He was timid, shy. Now every game he improves a lot, he plays with confidence, without fear and he tackles to win.

Wilshere is better technically than Makelele. He's slower than Makelele but when he receives the ball he is more dangerous than Makelele.

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It’s clear that Capello viewed Wilshere as a player who could combine two jobs: ball-winner and deep-lying maker.

It’s an astute piece of analysis from Capello, and it tallies with Wenger’s excitement about Wilshere’s “little burst” being more effective from deep.

That deep role may be Wilshere’s ultimate destiny with both Arsenal and England. However, for now, he is doing perfectly well on the flank. There is no rush to hurry him back in to a central role. Aaron Ramsey provides a great example of how a spell on the wing can benefit a player’s development.

With England, things are different. With Wilshere wide, Arsenal can afford to call on the likes of Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and Mesut Ozil in the central roles. Roy Hodgson’s side are not so blessed. If fit, Wilshere will surely be asked to play centrally under Hodgson at next year’s World Cup.

His future, for both club and country, is in the middle.