Afternoon Folks…

It’s the middle of the [what we do during this period] International break, and for some reason, it seems like this break has really dragged on… The reason, perhaps, is that there was no senior International game yesterday and that Jack Wilshere is the only player worth watching this weekend and week. The 18 year old featured yesterday for the England Under 21′s as they played Romania and won 2-1. Romania at under 21 level are very strong, so yesterday’s win was definitely an awesome victory.

Jack Wilshere has been the talk of the town right now – he has just been named Arsenal Player of The Month for September. His performances for Arsenal have been sublime and considering he is only 18, it’s a massive progression from where he was last season to where he is this season. Stuart Pearce has been full of praise for the starlet – I think his head turned when Jack came on from the bench in the last round of games and completely changed the game. Down at the Emirates, the amount of young talent coming through is incredible. We have the likes of Diaby, Denilson and Song, of course, but there have been many a question about performances from those three, commitment wise too – sometimes Song seems to forget his positional sense, sometimes Diaby doesn’t turn up and sometimes Denilson does very silly things.

But in years to come, a midfield starting trio of Cesc, Wilshere and Ramsey and Nasri also in and around the midfield area, is just a sublime amount of talent. It’s like in Championship Manager when a player is young, talented, but has “the potential to be world class”. I can’t wait to see them play, that’s for sure…

Stuart Pearce was keen to keep him in the Under 21′s and said this:

“I tried my hardest. I spoke with Fabio before the match was played, and I think Jack will be meeting up with the seniors. Part of me is pleased that he is going, as it shows to the rest of the squad the pathway which is there for the players, part of me would have liked to have him in Romania. However, we feel as if we have quality in the squad and whoever plays will do themselves proud on Tuesday. I also hope Jack gets a game against Montenegro.”

And you’d have to think, with such an important game for the England Under 21′s that Capello has a real intention to play Jack against Serbia. With Frank Lampard out, Jack could start alongside Gerrard and Barry in a midfield trio, and the more and more you think about it, it makes a lot of sense considering he has been moved from the under 21′s to the seniors.

Pearce continued:

“The one thing which really pleased me was Jack would have been happy to get on the plane and come to Romania with us. Part of him feels he is being taken away from the U21s, in a nice way, but his attitude is fantastic, he is an outstanding player. With his form for club and country, he deserves to be with the seniors and good luck to him. Jack is an outstanding player and we have to nurture him for club and country. I honestly feel experiences like tonight will improve him as a player. It was a difficult game with not a lot of room to play in for Jack, but I think he enjoyed the game tonight and will go away from here with a good feeling out himself to join up with the seniors.”

His attitude is something that has been talked about by Arsene and by Stuart Pearce and they’ve both said that it’s fantastic and he is an outstanding player. Of course, we’ve seen him play a lot for Arsenal and I think he has what other players don’t – a genuine love for the game, a genuine love for the club and a genuine will and want to better himself as a player. He does remind me of a Ryan Giggs / Paul Scholes type – talented, and with their head screwed on…

There are still a few days until England play and then a few days until Arsenal play, so it’s going to be relatively quiet.

The Arsenal.com site have tried their best to keep us entertained with words from Nasri about how he wants to be a regular fixture in the France squad and from Chamakh on how Laurent Blanc made him the player he is now. Stick in a little Rosicky, and a bit by Ray Parlour and it will keep you busy for about 9 minutes!

For now, that’s it… have a great weekend… party on fellow Gooners…