Jack Wilshere: Destined For Failure

I live in England, generally portrayed universally as harmless, of bad weather, posh accents and afternoon tea. However, what lies beneath this innocent surface is the darkest and deadliest force in the celebrity world: The British media, and it's about to take its latest victim.

Tonight, England takes on Denmark in a seemingly meaningless friendly in Scandinavia. However, because every insignificant moment has to be turned into the most important event since the "Big Bang", what we’ll really determine from tonight's action is how England’s latest teenage superstar’s career will inevitably implode in the future.

In the build up to this most meaningless of games, Fabio Capello has also felt the need to derail the future of one of his brightest young prospects, Jack Wilshere. Capello has compared the Arsenal midfielder to Paulo Maldini and Raul, iconic footballing legends the likes of which are rarely found in history.

What Capello’s effectively done is join the media scribes in condemning Wilshere by giving him the burden of carrying the footballing dreams of a nation desperate to return to former glories on his back.

As I mentioned before, tonight may well determine how Wilshere’s career will crumble. Firstly there is the "Tiger Woods method": Wilshere will reach the pinnacle of the footballing bliss, but the inevitable arrogance and sense of self-importance that stems from being the centre of footballing attention leads Wilshere an ego fueled spree of debauchery, giving the media its annual "footballing pigs" story the likes of which we’ve become accustomed to with Wayne Rooney and John Terry most recently.

The second possibility is the "Freddy Adu theory". The two-ton weight newspaper columns explaining how Wilshere is slightly more talented than God will crush the helpless youngster to the point where he’ll undoubtedly fall short of the unobtainable heights it’s been made out that he’s destined for, culminating in a mental breakdown and punching an arduous photographer in the mouth.

Adu has a first-hand experience of these crippling expectations. The American was once compared to Pele, and the moment the line escaped from the lips of whatever idiot uttered it, Adu was doomed. He’s now trying to rebuild his career on loan in Turkey.

I can see why the media would want to build up Wilshere to unprecedented levels. In the short term it can get publicity, and when it all goes wrong, it can destroy him. But why would the England manager, whose job it is to deflect pressure from his players, put such a curse on Wilshere before he’s even made his full debut?

You may see these comments as a compliment for the midfielder, flattering compliments to boost his confidence, but why can’t we just leave him to do his job and see what happens?

Why do we have to declare a relatively unproven player the equal of footballing immortals, unique players who have no comparable peers. Let’s sit back, and watch a talented young player’s career unfold naturally, instead of setting him up for an inevitable downfall.