Jack Wilshere to the Euro Under-21 Tournament: Are There Any Benefits?

This weekend, Arsene Wenger will make a personal plea to Fabio Capello to rethink Jack Wilshere’s participation in the European U-21 tournament.

It seems as though Stuart Pearce is more than willing to include Wilshere in his final 23-man squad in order to further his own career without much thought for the consequences for a teenager who has played around 50 games in his first full season.

Many will say that Wilshere’s involvement in the tournament will be an aid to both him and Arsenal, as it will be of invaluable experience for the youngster who will gain a winning mentality.

This, of course, is based around England actually winning the tournament. You only have to look as far as the current world champions, Spain, to see that there will no doubt be a strong team representing their country.

Players like Sergio Canales, who has failed to make an impact under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, but with unquestionable talent, will look to make up playing time at the tournament.

Or what about the countless number of Barcelona youth players who will fill the Spain squad?

Again, there is every chance we could see England fail to live up to the hype like the senior side have done for so many years.

Will that be a positive lesson for a player who could be mentally burnt out?

There have also been comparisons to the likes of Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller, who participated in the U-21 tournament and went on to have successful World Cups.

There difference is, though, that neither of those players were used as heavily as Wilshere has this season. Players on the continent do not play three games in a week on a regular basis and have the benefit of a winter break.

Stuart Pearce has clearly not thought about the repercussions for not only Wilshere, but for the England National Team as well.

If he participates in the tournament this summer and has a stop-start season, much like Theo Walcott two seasons ago, then it will no doubt affect his participation in the 2012 European Championship.

Wilshere’s football education is in good hands at Arsenal. He doesn’t need to carry the burden of a youth tournament sandwiched between two very busy Premier League schedules.

Stuart Pearce needs to understand that there is a wealth of England players who could fill Wilshere’s role, not least Jordan Henderson and Henri Lansbury.

The worry from Wenger comes in the long term. The Arsenal manager has seen Cesc Fabregas go through a difficult 18 months due to injury. No doubt the cause of a heavy domestic schedule coupled with call-ups to the national squad.

With Wilshere playing regularly at such a young age the likelihood of those injury worries repeating themselves are very likely.

Its time the FA put to rest this “club vs. country” row and firmly establish whether a player is considered a regular for the senior side or the youth sides.  Not only to quash this ongoing row, but to aid the development of young players.