Internationals 
/ Ralph Ellis / 28 March 2011 / Leave a Comment Jack Wilshere has shown that English talent can rise through the Arsenal ranks but his strong displays in the national team colours mean that he's in demand - for both Fabio Capello and Stuart Pearce
There's always been a bit of a myth that Arsene Wenger didn't allow English players to roll off the end of his production line of young talent. A succession of promising kids have gone away from first Highbury, and then the Emirates, over the years grumbling that they never got a chance.
Many of them were a tad bitter about it too, claiming that Wenger favoured the boys who'd been brought into Arsenal's academy from Africa or France above those who came from Islington or Essex. But the truth was that while many of them went on to make decent careers elsewhere - the likes of Steve Sidwell or Matthew Upson - you're struggling to name anybody who hit the real heights at another big club after Arsenal let them go.
Wenger's rule has always been that the ones who make it to his first team get there on the basis of talent, and more particularly the hard work to apply that talent, than what's stamped on their passports. And now finally comes proof of his claim with the emergence of Jack Wilshere.
In a dull 90 minutes as England cruised to a 2-0 win over Wales at Cardiff on Saturday, Wilshere was England's shining light. Until now Michael Owen at the 1998 World Cup and Wayne Rooney at Euro 2004 were the two best examples of a teenager stepping straight onto the international stage and looking completely at home. Arsenal's 19-year-old midfield prodigy goes straight into that category.
Clearly his response to the difficulties of breaking through the ranks of other talented teenagers at The Emirates has not been to moan about the competition, but to embrace it as a challenge to rise to. The result is England's most promising midfield prospect since Steven Gerrard first fought his way through Liverpool's ranks.
The better news is the work ethic is still there. Wenger might want him to take the summer off, but Wilshere has warned this morning that if he's picked for the European Under 21 Championships he wants to play.
"It is international football and I want to play in any international football. It's up to Stuart Pearce and Fabio Capello," he says.
Significantly he's leaving out the name of his club manager in those who will be responsible for the decision.
Sadly it looks like Wilshere won't play for England again in tomorrow night's friendly against Ghana, as Capello goes down the Sven Goran-Eriksson route of appeasing the clubs. He's already sent home the stars who are still involved in the Champions League (nice to know John Terry was so passionate about becoming captain again that he didn't want to stay and play). And the likely reserve side that will face the World Cup quarter-finalists, who won 3-0 in an African Nations Cup tie in Congo yesterday, makes the idea of laying England at [1.7] for the Wembley friendly extremely tempting.
My Betting.Betfair colleague Richard Aikman wrote an excellent piece yesterday about the death of international football, and this weekend didn't offer many reasons to argue with him. Wilshere's progress was one of the bright spots, as was the performance of Aaron Ramsey in his first game as captain of Wales. They will clearly both be important if Gunners are to get back into the Premier League title race in which their price has slipped to [4.3].
I also thought that Charlie Adam didn't look so very out of place in Scotland's 2-0 defeat against Brazil. And given that David Vaughan made an impact as a sub for Wales, there's encouragement to lay Blackpool at their current relegation price of [2.24].
Coventry goalkeeper Keiren Westwood was another who brought some brightness with a smashing display that helped secure a 2-1 Saturday night win over Macedonia to keep Giovanni Trapattoni's team in with a chance of qualifying. Level on ten points with Russia and Slovakia after five games, they are [4.1] to win the group, and [2.5] to qualify for the finals.
Westwood, let go by both Manchester United and Manchester City as a boy, was filling out the forms to become a policeman before Carlisle gave him a route back into the game. He's another good example of how there are chances for anybody to hit the big time, if you're only willing to do the work to take them.
An experimental Brazil side should still be too good for a defensive-minded Scotland side says Mike Norman, but don't expect too many goals in this international friendly....
With such a long break between international matches it can be difficult to keep up to speed with Fabio Capello's team. Michael Cox assesses the 12 matches England have played in the last year and makes four key conclusions....
Wales hit by injury blow as Spurs star is omitted from squad for Saturday's match......
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