Jack Wilshere IS The Future Of English Football

Now the whole Wayne Rooney transfer saga has been put to bed, and has been dealt with, I’d like to turn my attention to another player, one who in my opinion is the brightest young talent in English Football and the most exciting player to come through the ranks, since Wayne Rooney himself.

At just 18 years of age, Jack Wilshere has already established himself as a key player for Arsenal, as well as forcing his way into Fabio Capello’s England, notching up his first cap for his country in August’s friendly against Hungary, making his England’s 10 Youngest player of all time.

Having first seen Wilshere play, during Arsenal’s pre season preparations ahead of the 2008/9 season, I realised that we were dealing with a special player, I just didn’t realise at first just how special.

First team chances were limited at Arsenal and after impressing for the Youth and Reserve sides, as well as during Carling Cup outings, he was farmed out to Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers where he could cut his teeth and get some real Premier League experience.

Despite being the young hand amongst older heads at the Reebok, Wilshere continued to flourish, with performances reminiscent of somebody who was passing on his knowledge to others, and giving the impression this was a league he had be acquainted to for some time.

His impact at Bolton was so big that Owen Coyle tried to keep him for another year, a move that was blocked by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who had his own plans for the Stevenage-born teenager.

Wenger, who has a keen eye for youngsters, (no pun intended) is often criticised for the lack of home-grown talent coming through the ranks at The Emirates Stadium, but of late has started to push through some hugely talented British youngsters alongside Wilshere, particularly the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Kieron Gibbs, both also tipped to star in years to come.

Despite impressing in recent years, it is the beginning of this season 2010/11 which has seen Wilshere really start to grab the headlines and attention. Injuries to Cesc Fabregas and with Aaron Ramsey still recovering from his horrific broken leg, Wilshere perhaps was lucky to earn his chance a little sooner than expected.
His performances so far this season so far however have made him a mainstay in the Arsenal lineup, meaning that once the team is back to full strength, Wenger will have a huge selection headache, with Wilshere really staking his claim to be a central figure in Arsenal’s season.

The one blip so far in the youngster’s early career was his red card last weekend for a challenge on Birmingham City’s Nicola Zigic. Despite this, the situation was dealt with by Wilshere with maturity way ahead of his age, by immediately expressing is sorrow and regret for the challenge.

The timing of this was unfortunate for the teenager, given that the main talking point in the Premier League especially at the moment is tackling, and how the standards in that respect seems to be slipping. Wilshere’s challenge however was merely mistimed and it is clear to see from both the replays, and from both his and his manager’s reactions to this, that there was no intent in the tackle, other than to claim the ball.

He followed this up just day’s later by pulling all the strings for Arsenal in their 5-1 demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk, even scoring himself to prove that not even Europe’s biggest competition is enough to faze him at this point.
Wilshere’s sudden emergence and jump to prominence could be the solution to a great deal of problem’s in this country.

First of Arsenal fans have been left drooling at the wizardry and intelligence of their new boy wonder, who looks set to have a long and promising career ahead of him at The Emirates Stadium.

The same however cannot be said for Arsenal team-mate and current Gunner Captain, Cesc Fabregas, who seems destined to be heading back to his boyhood club Barcelona in the summer.

Although Arsenal fans would love to see the pair playing together for years to come in a midfield partnership that could potentially be as devastating and penetrating of that of Xavi and Iniesta at Barcelona, Wilshere’s recent performances will go along way to easing the minds of fans who were worried about how the club would replace their talismanic captain.

Secondly, and perhaps on a note that will appeal to more fans in this country, we could perhaps be looking at the man who can finally throw some life into Fabio Capello’s England.
For years, fans have been forced to see Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, both terrific players, spoiling themselves to supporters around the country as they continue to prove they simply cannot play alongside each other in England’s midfield.
Wilshere who can play comfortably anywhere across the middle, could be to England’s future and could break up the frustrating Gerrard/Lampard partnership and be the creative spark or whippet in the centre that we have been looking for.

His passing and moving is phenomenal, and while youth is still on his side, has the energy to get himself all over the park, with vision and precision good enough to penetrate the world’s top sides.

There’s no denying that when International weekend comes, it is something that not many Premier League fans look forward to, as it breaks up the league fixtures at what always seems to be a crucial or exciting time, and we are forced to watch a usually fairly dull and lifeless England side, try as they might.

However, it England were to play more attractive style, perhaps a similar style to Arsenal, playing nice attractive, fancy, free flowing football, then it would without a doubt be something fans up and down the country would look forward to. Maybe introducing one player in Wilshere may not be enough to do this and work miracles, but would certainly liven up and inject a bit of creativity and finesse into England.

Personally, I’d love to see Jack playing both for Arsenal and England in an old school Number 10 style role. Being the kind of player who can drop deep to pick up the ball and really run with the ball through the middle, whilst also being the main playmaker and focal point of the team, similarly to that we used to see from Diego Maradona or Michel Platini.

At just 18 years of age, Wilshere still has years ahead of him, and as with any up and coming prodigy, we can expect to see him being rested frequently, particularly this season to avoid burn out or injury, but rest assured, Jack the Lad has a long and prosperous career ahead of him, and could be, scratch that, will be one of Arsenal and England’s key players for years to come.

Fergie Taking Bebe Steps

Manchester United fans will tonight get a chance to catch their first glimpse of summer signing, Bebe.

United travel to Championship side Scunthorpe in the Carling Cup, looking to defend the crown they won by defeating Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley earlier this year.

Sir Alex has hinted that as usual in this competition, the youth will get their chance at Glanford Park, and the 20 year old Portugese youngster will be looking forward to making his first competitive appearance for the current holders.

Speaking to the club’s website, Ferguson said:

“A lot of my young players will play. Bebe is training very well. He’ll be involved tomorrow night.”

Bebe has received a lot of media attention since his surprise summer switch to Old Trafford after his new manager admitted that for the first time he had splashed out on a relative unknown who he had never seen play before.

After being highly recommended by former Assistant Manager, Carlos Queiroz, and reported interested from Real Madrid, United splashed out for the attacker, paying £7.4million to Vitória de Guimarães for his services before he had even made a competitive appearance for the club.

Despite his apparent talent and skill which attracted Sir Alex to sign the former Portugese Homeless World Cup star, recent reports have suggested that he has failed to live up to his heavy price tag.

In games for Portugal Under 21’s and Manchester United Reserves, Bebe’s performances have been heavily scrutinised and now judging eyes will be cast over him tonight, with the pressure on to repay the United faithful in his first game.

With Michael Owen already assured of a start up front, and Federico Macheda and Javier Hernandez also vying for striking places, it remains to be seen whether Bebe will be deployed from a wide position, or whether he will make a late arrival from the bench.

Either way, the youngster is fully capable in his own ability and is looking forward to having a successful career at Old Trafford.

“I am going to be a brilliant player for Manchester United. Sir Alex has told me he is very happy with me and he wants me to train more and get into the first team.”

Gary Ablett Interview

Ahead of already relegated Stockport County's match against Huddersfield Town, I spoke to Hatters boss and former Liverpool defender Gary Ablett about the game itself, his thoughts on a difficult season and the future of the cash strapped club.

Matthew Tait Interview

This week I caught up with Sale Sharks and England Centre Matthew Tait ahead of the Sharks huge relegation clash with Newcastle.

Matthew told us about the game itself, how he feels about playing against his brother Alex, and where his only future lies....

Rooney's loss is Berba's gain

As Manchester United stumped to a largely unimpressive 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, they left the stadium not only knowing that they would have to overturn the scoreline at home next week, but knowing they would have to do so without their 34 goal talisman, Wayne Rooney.

The in-form United and England striker signalled to the bench that there was a problem in the final minute of the game, and scans have revealed that Rooney has suffered ankle ligament damage, which will leave Rooney out of action for around three weeks.

While fans are praying that their converted scouser will be back in time to face Manchester City at Eastlands on 17th April, they have already come to terms with the face that he will be missed for the return leg with Bayern, as well as Saturday's crunch league tie at home to Chelsea.

Step forward... Dimitar Berbatov

United's record signing, although in good form as of late, tends to be overlooked by Sir Alex in many of the Reds' big games, with Wayne Rooney normally preferred as a lone striker.

As with many key clashes this season, many will expect to see Ferguson deploy the 4-5-1 formation again, and opt for more strength in the midfield and aiming to control the game from there.

With injuries to the likes of Rooney and Owen, Berbatov will be seen as United's only real viable striking option, particularly for their next two fixtures, with the inexperienced Diouf and Macheda only expected to feature late on if needed.

Despite having been in good form this season, many United fans will still feel that they have perhaps not yet seen the Bulgarian at his best, and recapturing the sintillating style of play, seen in his Tottenham days.



In fact, Berbatov has split opinions amongst United fans, with often his laxidasical approach at times criticised for not working hard enough for the team.

What must be remembered is that Berbatov's touch and control is second to none, and he is as intelligent a footballer seen at Old Trafford since the likes of Eric Cantona and Teddy Sheringham.

Berbatov, although may not always be seen busting a gut to reach the ball, or breaking much of a sweat, his input should not be under-rated. Berbatov came 2nd in last season's Premier League assist table, and despite not scoring quite as many as Rooney this season, or Ronaldo last, his input into the teams style of play and fluidity should not be taken lightly.

Injuries to Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, will mean that Berbatov will have to adapt again, with more expected of him in the mean time. The games will give him the chance to prove that he can not only play second fiddle to Wayne Rooney, but he also be there to drive the team forward in a similar fashion.

The upcoming games against Chelsea and Bayern could make or break The Reds' season, and there will be alot of pressure on the Bulgarian captain. United are by no means a one man team, as many ABU's will seem to suggest, but nonetheless, United fans would be much more confident going into the game with a fully fit and in form Wayne Rooney, but for now they will have to put their trust in Berbatov, and he is going to have to show he is ready to repay the £30.75million transfer fee paid for him.

Garry's Cooking Up A Recipe For Disaster

Despite being by far the world's richest football club, Manchester City have managed to do what they do best, and again make things hard for themselves.

City's problems lie much deeper than just who they can spend £50m plus on in the forthcoming transfer window, or whether they will be playing Champions League football next season, but more the fact that just when they seemed to have found something that vaguely resembled stability at the club in Mark Hughes, he was shown the door.

The reason behind the recent problems at the club? Hughes? Robinho? More money than sense? No, the main reason behind the circus that is Manchester City is none other than its own bumbling ring-leader, Garry Cook.

The man trusted with the everyday running of the football club seems to have been intent on putting himself in the spotlight since his arrival at the club in 2008.

For the record, this is the same man who recently was booed by his own fans after welcoming Uwe Rosler into the Manchester UNITED Hall of Fame... Shall I go on?

As the richest club in the world, Manchester City have every right to expect fame, fortune and most importantly of all, success.

However, this is not something which would take place overnight. And after going through various managers over the last few years, City seemed like they may have finally found the stability they craved in Mark Hughes.

Granted, they may not have been winning as many games as they would have liked this season, however they have only as far lost 2 games this season in the Premiership, 3 less than their Manchester rivals.

But with Garry Cook at the helm, he would never let potential success get in the way of making a name for himself. Since arriving from Nike in 2008, the man has been content on putting his name in the spotlight, with the only obvious reason, being that he can soak up all the plaudits when something finally does go right.

However, as the old saying goes, 'With great power, comes great responsibility.' Something he has yet to come to terms with. After failing to land Kaka as promised last January, Cook was quick to blame anybody else but himself.

However, more amazingly for the man can normally be seen hugging his latest signings, or paying thousands of pounds on advertising campaigns to try to wind up Man Utd fans, was his final treatment of Mark Hughes.

It is still unclear as to whether Hughes had learned his fate before his final game, a 4-3 victory over Sunderland, but one thing that is clear is that Cook was not the one who was man enough to lay the cards on the table.

Later that night, City announced that Roberto Mancini would take over from Hughes, meaning a press conference, and for Cook, a new opportunity to take centre stage, and that he would do on this occassion.

Cook announced at the unveiling that Mancini had not been contacted until after the 3-0 loss against Tottenham just days before, a notion which Mancini later contradicted, stating that he had spoken with City executives two and a half weeks before.

Since then, Cook has received large amounts of criticism for the treatment of Mark Hughes, so much so that he tried to take pressure off himself, first by attempting to ban certain questions from the press conference, and next, by banning the media from City's Carrington training ground.

The appointment of Mancini brings about question marks in itself. Does he posess the managerial quality City are looking for? Will he be able to improve on Mark Hughes' Eastlands tenure? Or was Cook just intent on bringing in a well known, European name?

I would suggest the latter.



Cook has later admitted that the club were looking for potential successors to Hughes in the summer, with many big European names thrown into the mix as potential replacements, including the fan's number one choice, Jose Mourinho.

Instead, Cook could not wait until the summer to put his name in the spotlight again, and appoint another big name at the club.

The club moved to appoint Mancini, who tasted success in Serie A with Inter, clinching three consecutive Scudetto titles.

However, this may not be as attractive as it may seem for City fans. Not only was he gifted a team that was clearly stronger than the other teams in the league, but he was given one title due to the Italian match fixing scandal, after Juventus were stripped, and another title was made much easier given the fact that Juve had been relegated and other teams docked points for their involvement.

It remains to be seen whether Cook's latest signing will be a success or not, but one thing that is for certain is that Hughes' tenure came to an unfair and abrupt end, and while Cook is given the power to have control at Eastlands, Manchester City Football Club will be in danger.

The bottom line: The wrong man was shown the door at Man City.

Boxing's Coming Home...WBA's Still Gleaming

November 7th, 2009 - The day Heavyweight boxing came back to Britain after a six year absence, following David Haye's majority decision victory over Russian Nikolai Valuev.

The Hayemaker fought a tactical fight, earning himself a deserved majority victory over the 7ft Russian known as 'The Beast From The East'.

Haye had been Britain's first real chance in years to spark some life into an otherwise dull and withering Heavyweight division.

In recent years, Boxing's most glamorous fights could be found in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions, with the sport's most famous division being surrendered to Eastern Europe, and most notably, the Klitschko brothers.

The former Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion maintained his confidence and belief in himself going into the fight, which would at times would be hard to maintain given the sheer size and stature of the man mountain, Valuev, who he would be facing.

Haye fought a tactical fight from the off and it was Valuev who came out looking to control the fight.

The Londoner was able to use his size and athleticism to his advantage as he ducked and dived away from Valuev's swinging fists, and landing some heavy shots of his own.

Valuev was rocked in the 2nd round of the fight after Haye landed a beautifully timed left hook.

The Brit suffered a suspected broken hand early on in the fight, landing a fierce right to Valuev's head, which could have done more damage to the thrower, rather than the recipient.

Haye continued to control an otherwise dull fight, and the punch stats will show that Haye fought a technical fight, avoiding many of the Russian's shots, and was never particularly in trouble throughout the 12 rounds.

Haye shocked Valuev again in the 9th round, landing a strong straight right hand, before sending the defending champion into a daze in the 12th round.

Valuev held on until the end of the fight, and looked tense in the corner as he awaited the decision.

Despite the fact that to most it may have already been apparent that Haye had won the fight, nothing could be left to chance.

A decision from the judges in Germany was not something many had banked on for Haye in this fight, believing that he would have to floor the giant russian, in order to win.

It was not until Michael Buffer's distinctive voice uttered the words, "From London, England" that a huge weight was lifted and the cloud disappeared from British Boxing, and Haye's dream realised.

Heavyweight Boxing slipped from Great Britain's grasp, 6 years earlier, to be taken over by a sudden dominance from Eastern Europe.

Despite earning a 6th round TKO victory this night against Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko, this was the last fight fans saw of Lennox Lewis in the squared circle, leaving Britain without a champion, or any real hope in the Heavyweight division.

The fight proved to be one that Lewis was lucky to win, after being awarded the stoppage due to a nasty cut over Klitschko's eye.

At the time of the stoppage however, Lewis was down on all three judge's scorecards, with the Ukrainian looking very much in control of the fight.

Lewis turned down the opportunity of a rematch, and retired from the sport to pursue other interests. Possibly the Klitschko fight had been a reality check for the former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion, as it appeared as though he could no longer dominate the division as he had done so in his prime.

Since this point, the Klitschko brothers', Vitali and Wladimir have dominated the Heavyweight division and until now British fans have had to rely on success in other divisions, with Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe proving successful at Welterweight and Light Heavyweight respectively.

Despite this success, Britain has still longed for a challenger in Boxing's most glamorous and famous division of all...Heavyweight.

Since Lewis retired, others have tried, and others have failed in their attempt to storm the Heavyweight decision and steal the crown.

Fighters such as Danny Williams have fallen well short of the mark in their efforts.

After a victory against a 'hasbeen' Mike Tyson, Williams was handed a World Title opportunity against Lewis' heir, Vitali Klitschko, who disposed of Williams in the 8th round.

British fans never really got behind recent Heavyweight hopefuls, such as Williams or Audley Harrison, maybe due to a lack of faith, or a lack of charisma in the division.

Step forward... David Haye.

Haye had dominated the Cruiserweight division and after stepping up, managed an easy 5th round KO of Monty Barrett before seeking a title opportunity.

Having riled the Klistchko brothers already with his cocky and brash attitude, Haye has stated that he will be chasing the two again after defeating mandatory challenger, John Ruiz.

"I said I want to be unified champion and the Klitschkos are definitely in my sights. I am not fussed which one it is."

At 29 years of age, The Hayemaker has made no secret of the fact that he intends to end his career, which currently stands at a mere 23 fights, at the age of 31, leaving Haye 2-3 more years to truly dominate the division.

Having now proved himself at this level, the next challenge for Haye will be to prove that he can not only fight a tactical fight, but aim to fight more aggressively, like he has been known to at Cruiserweight.

Inevitably, we would see more of this from Haye were he to fight Ruiz, or the Klitschko's given more of a similarity in size.

With potentially 2-3 more years for Haye (given no abrupt upset to his career) Britain must now be on the lookout for more Heavyweight talent.

Hopefully Haye will look to inspire a new generation, with many looking to his success and looking to emulate it.

As it stands, Tyson Fury remains the only real British Heavyweight prospect, but at such an early stage in his career, it remains to be seen how the future looks for British Heavyweight Boxing.