Should Arsenal's Jack Wilshere Be Chosen for England's Senior and Under-21 Team?

The international break is well and truly in swing as the Arsenal news is about as thin as Kiera Knightly on a diet. I will, however, attempt to find any Arsenal news of interest that I can and give you my own slant on it here.

International Injuries?

I'm not a religious person, but any of you that are might like to spare a thought, or say a prayer, for the Arsenal players that are playing for their countries in the coming week. We have 11 players on international duty this week and all but two of them are vital parts of the first team squad. I wonder what odds you would get on Arsenal getting 11 players back fit and well next Wednesday morning.

The boss spoke last month about his resignation to losing players to injury after these international breaks as we lost Vermaelen for what we thought would be one game. However, he hasn't played a minute's football for Arsenal since then, as his Achilles injury persists to the bemusement of the Arsenal medical staff.

The boss is also convinced that Cesc's current injury woes are a result of his participation in the World Cup, followed by an international trip to Argentina last month when he should have been given a chance to rest. Thankfully he won't be playing with Spain this week as he wasn't picked in their squad, due to his current injury.

I follow Cesc on Twitter and on Tuesday he said that he had fully recovered and it was a pity that the match against Chelsea had come two days too early for him. By the time we play Birmingham in nine days time he should be raring to go and Arsenal should see the benefit of that.

Jack Wilshere:

We have had our problems in the past with England under-21 manager Stuart Pearce selecting players for the under-21 squad after they have already played for the senior team. Theo Walcott suffered an injury after such an instance last season and now Pearce has decided to do things in reverse with Jack Wilshere.

After being promoted to the senior England squad for next Tuesday's game, I expected Wilshere to be released from the under-21 squad, but Pearce has decided, in his infinite wisdom, that he wants to keep him for the under-21 match tomorrow night. 

As Arsenal fans we need have no fear though, as he said he will treat him with kid gloves. I would like to know exactly what that means as I'm sure he'll play the game and he'll probably play almost all of the 90 minutes too.

Pearce is just paying lip service to the concerns of Arsenal as he proves yet again that the under-21 team is all about results and preparing players for the bigger stage of senior international football. If a player is good enough to be included in his country's senior side, he cannot also  be allowed to play for the under 21 team in the same week.

Diaby's Dream:

Abu Diaby gave an interview where he says that he dreams of winning the ballon d'or one day but surely he should concentrate on trying to win the ball for Arsenal when he is playing. Is the man deluding himself with these thoughts or dreams as he has never played two or three good games in a row for Arsenal before putting in an absolutely abject performance.

I've never been overly critical of him in the past, as I  always thought he was hampered by that terrible injury he suffered, at Sunderland over four years ago,but if he really thinks he's that good, it's about time he showed it.

He also said that he nearly joined Chelsea before signing for Arsenal in 2005 but that Chelsea couldn't guarantee him a regular place in the first team squad. He said that Arsenal guaranteed him a first team squad place and the boss said he saw him as a replacement for Patrick Vieira.

The comparison between the two of them has been made many times before but I think they are only similar in physique. They are completely different types of player and it's a pity Diaby couldn't play a bit more like Vieira. 

That's the lot for today.

See You Tomorrow.