Jack Wilshere Can Be Arsenal's Next Holding Midfielder

Arsene Wenger can solve the Jack Wilshere enigma by making him Arsenal's next holding midfielder. The pint-sized schemer is growing into that role on the international stage and has the right attributes to make the same transition at club level.

Wilshere is a player who often rightly divides opinion. That he's talented is beyond question. The 22-year-old is as technically adept as any young midfielder in the game.

Wilshere's also energetic and tenacious. However, simply listing his attributes doesn't answer the burning question surrounding Arsenal's home-grown prodigy: What's his best position?

The answer in this Gunners squad is the same role Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson is putting Wilshere in for England. A holding role best suits a player more comfortable keeping things ticking over by recycling possession, rather than attempting to unlock defences as an attacking threat.

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The difficulty is getting Wenger on board with that idea. The Frenchman is loath to restrict Wilshere to a deeper position in the same way Hodgson has, per Daily Mail writer Henry Swarbrick:

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I personally prefer Jack Wilshere in a more advanced position than in a deep-lying role as a midfielder.

If it works [playing deeper], it works and I am very happy for him but I think he is a guy capable of creating danger in the final third. He is provocative in his dribbling and I would like to use this quality.

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Wenger has a point in the sense that Wilshere's now-trademark slalom runs do pose a threat to defenders. But rarely does that threat ever lead to a punishing end product.

Usually when Wilshere accelerates on a buccaneering, but admittedly highly impressive, burst forward, it comes at the expense of Arsenal's collective passing game. Most often Wilshere takes off on the run because he has trouble spotting an appropriate pass forward.

That's because he's not adept at splitting lines the way eagle-eyed ex-Arsenal playmaker and current Chelsea turncoat Cesc Fabregas is. Few players in the modern game can match the cerebral Spaniard's vision and instincts for defence-splitting passes.

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But Wilshere's limitation in this area can be solved simply by dropping him a little deeper. That's something ex-Gunners striker Alan Smith has pinpointed, per Sky Sports:

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Having spoken to some of the England coaching staff, they’re trying to get him to look beyond that 10 yards that he quite often plays in for Arsenal, where he’s playing little one-twos and going past people.

But he’s raising his head now and looking for those runs of Wayne Rooney, and they’re on the same wavelength so it’s great for Rooney. For Wilshere, fitness helps and he’s had a run of games for club of country, he’s looking really sharp.

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This is an important potential development in Wilshere's game. It's certainly one that would benefit Arsenal's style of play this season.

Wilshere can spread the ball via long passes from deep, courtesy of his left foot. That would be a great way for the Gunners to release the pace they have in wide areas in the form of forwards such as Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott.

It would also be a way for Wilshere to conduct the play from deep and become a launching point for attacks. That's the type of player Wenger wants at the base of his midfield.

Gone are the days of physical maulers such as Emmanuel Petit, Gilberto Silva and Edu patrolling the gap between the Gunners defence and midfield. With his recruitment shift from athletic powerhouses to diminutive, flair-based players, Wenger has been willing to accommodate a different kind of holding player.

That explains the transformation of Mikel Arteta from advanced schemer during his Everton days to first-choice defensive midfield anchor man for Arsenal. It also explains why Wenger has coveted a player like 19-year-old Paris Saint-Germain stroller Adrien Rabiot to eventually replace Arteta, per Daily Mirror reporter John Cross.

Personally, I would rather see Wenger target two new powerful and pacy runners for the heart of Arsenal's midfield. But he appears intent on sticking with more technical players to operate less as destroyers and more as deep-lying quarterbacks.

That's something Wilshere can certainly do, and it's in keeping with the changing face of the holding midfield position. Ex-Arsenal defensive stalwart Martin Keown recently noted that change when endorsing Wilshere's suitability for a deeper role, per the Daily Mail:

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There was a lot of rotation in the midfield diamond, but Jack Wilshere needs to become the main man in the holding role.

It used to be a defensive position but players like Andrea Pirlo have made it so technical. Jack is our most technically gifted player so it makes sense for him to play there.

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Juventus' pass-king Pirlo is a good template for Wilshere to follow. The classy Italian playmaker superbly transitioned from attacking midfielder to holding-possession general.

Wilshere must follow that same path and is already studying how Pirlo did it. He's also been left impressed by ex-Liverpool and -Real Madrid and now-Bayern Munich deep schemer Xabi Alonso, according to Jason Burt of The Telegraph:

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He had a record number of passes in one game, 200 in one match, which is ridiculous. Watching him and Pirlo, you learn how clever they are, how intelligent they are on the ball. In that role it’s important you understand that if you lose the ball the opposition are in a dangerous position to counter-attack – whereas if I was playing a little bit higher, on the edge of the box, you can lose it and you have players around who can get the ball back. But I enjoy playing that role. I enjoy getting on the ball and starting attacks.

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Like Pirlo, Alonso is another player who survived in defensive areas based less on any overt physicality and more on his knack for linking play together and starting the transition from defence to attack.

Of course, the caveat to Wilshere's recent international success doing the same is the meagre opposition he's faced. Playing against San Marino and Estonia has afforded him enough time to leisurely pick his passes.

That's time Wilshere certainly won't get back in the Premier League, where he'll also encounter situations that demand a more robust approach. That might be a problem for Arsenal's tiny tot, but regardless of his size, Wilshere has never been shy about charging into a challenge.

Yet some are still skeptical about Wilshere as a withdrawn playmaker. That's a view held by ex-Arsenal midfield workhorse Ray Parlour, who echoed Wenger's sentiments about Wilshere, per Press Association Sport (h/t Simon Peach of The Independent):

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I really believe his best position is more of an advanced midfielder. His game is best when he is doing those little one-twos around the penalty box.

He knows exactly when to give it, he holds onto it enough and he does those driving runs forwards - I think that is Jack Wilshere at his best. ...

Certainly I believe Jack Wilshere's position is more advanced and Roy will have to look into the further we get into the group and obviously in two years' time in the European Championships.

Who plays there, I don't know. It is a situation where there is a big decision as to who play there, but at the moment I'd like Jack further forwards, around that penalty box, creating chances.

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Part of the problem with Parlour's argument is the logjam of players suited to advanced roles in Wenger's dangerously unbalanced squad. When everybody's fit, many of those players will offer more in forward areas than Wilshere.

Put him next to Aaron Ramsey, and Wilshere makes the same box-to-box runs the Welshman makes. The difference is Ramsey will score more goals and provide more assists.

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So will Santi Cazorla, who certainly has more talent for playing defence-splitting through passes. The same is true of languid club-record signing Mesut Ozil.

Wilshere doesn't do enough to merit getting in the way of these players. But what he does do extremely well is keep the ball moving quickly and efficiently.

His steady pass-and-move game is ideal for a team that's best form of defence is to keep the ball away from the opposition. Wenger's group isn't stout and physically dynamic enough to absorb pressure and break on the counter.

Wilshere, who rarely wastes a pass at close quarters, can help this team get better at keeping the ball for longer. He can also get the ball to the forward-thinking maestros quicker.

Those qualities make Wilshere a natural for the holding role. Wenger, who has been keen to play Wilshere as often as possible this season, must begin transitioning him to his best position.

Can Wilshere play further forward and still impress? Sure he can. But his good performances will be sporadic as an attacking threat.

Wilshere will develop into a better all-round player as part of a more structured squad if Wenger lets him play as Arsenal's holding midfielder.