Arsene Wenger was going to be one very upset person if Jack Wilshere had been called up by Stuart Pearce for the England Under 21 squad to take part in the European tournament this summer. Thankfully, Pearce did not call up Wilshere as the player himself said he was tired and needed a break this summer. Understandably so as Wilshere played a whole lot of games for Arsenal this season.
Earlier this month, manager Arsene Wenger declared that Wilshere would not be fit to start the season for Arsenal if overused during the summer but will now be available for pre-season including the tour to China and Malaysia in July.
Wilshere spoke out and explained his decision not to feature for England Under 21 this summer:
Missing the Under-21s is not just about the Euros. It is about me looking after myself. Over the last few weeks, I have been feeling tired and my GPS results have shown that.
It shows I am heading for an injury and that is the last thing I want. Especially heading into the Euros. There are players like Steven Gerrard who have been injured while I have been playing and if I want to keep my place in the team I have to be 100 per cent.
It didn’t really sink in at first but the figures just kept going down, on a downward spiral. It scared me a bit and made me realise as much as I can keep going and going, there’s a time when you’re going to hit the wall. Maybe that was coming.
I am 19 and with the Euros coming up, it was in everyone’s best interests for me to rest. I think Stuart Pearce agreed with me. It was a bit awkward (with Pearce) but he was very understanding.
He made it easy really. Over the last four games, after about 60 minutes, I started to feel a bit more tired than I would have done in January.