Pearce Names Jack In England U21 Squad; Club Raising Ticket Prices Next Season

By: Sairax | May 3rd, 2011

England U21 Head Coach, Stuart Pearce, has released the 40-man provisional squad for the Euro 2011 Championship this summer. Three Arsenal players have been named to the squad:

Provisional England Under-21 squad:

Goalkeepers Frank Fielding (Blackburn), Scott Loach (Watford), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough), Alex McCarthy (Reading).

Defence Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jones (Blackburn), Michael Mancienne (Chelsea), Ben Mee (Man City), Kyle Naughton (Tottenham), Micah Richards (Man City), Chris Smalling (Man Utd), James Tomkins (West Ham), Kieran Trippier (Man City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).

Midfield Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa), Jack Cork (Chelsea), Tom Cleverley (Man Utd), Mark Davies (Bolton), Adam Hammill (Wolves), Jordan Henderson (Sunderland), Jonathan Howson (Leeds Utd), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Henri Lansbury (Arsenal), Josh McEachran (Chelsea), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Scott Sinclair (Swansea), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Attack Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Gary Hooper (Celtic), Jay Rodriguez (Burnley), Freddie Sears (West Ham), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), James Vaughan (Everton), Danny Welbeck (Man Utd), Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town).

This list will eventually be cut down to 23 players before the start of the tournament, but it seems like Pearce has his mind set on taking Jack Wilshere to the tournament. I am generally pretty supportive of international football, though I recognize the problems it has as well as the issues it faces in a broader sense with respect to its relevance in modern football. I don’t really have an issue with Lansbury or Gibbs going to the U21 Euros this summer. What I do take issue with is Wilshere going. Here’s Pearce’s reasoning behind his decision:

“I will speak with Arsène Wenger because of the number of games Jack’s played this season,” said Pearce. “But I’ve got my own thoughts as to what the squad will be. If that involves Jack, then any conversation I have with his club manager will not influence my thinking on that.

“I’ll sit and look at the make-up of the squad and then pick my 23. I won’t do it for any cosmetic reasons, I won’t do it to appease managers. I’ll do it because they’re the right and proper decisions to make.

“I had a conversation with Jack a month ago and asked him: ‘You’ve played a lot of games, what are your thoughts on the summer?’ He wants to go because he likes playing for the Under-21s. So it would be hard for me to turn around to him and say: ‘Have a rest, son’. We’re going into a major tournament against some very good nations. They’ll be turning up with their best players. We want to turn up with ours.”

Jack wants to play, so we should just let him, yes? No, actually. As his coach, Pearce should be making a reasonable decision as to whether the player should play and whether or not he will be fit to play. Jack already looks like he is losing steam after this season. Then again, with the Dutch and Danish coaches playing our Gunners in the World Cup last year without being fully fit, why should I expect any international coach to stop and think about the physical fitness of our players? Or discuss the matter properly with the club that pays the player’s salary?

“I’ve spoken with the players and the important thing is the players. I’ll be speaking to any relevant managers that I deem necessary. With Andy Carroll, I don’t think there is a relevance really to speak with the manager there. I think Jack Wilshere is in a different situation. I will have a conversation with Arsene with respect to him and outline my viewpoint on that. That’s concern from an Arsenal manager who wants to preserve his young player, and I can understand where he’s coming from,” said Pearce, who pointed to Spain’s Bojan Krkic and Juan Mata as players who have coped with the weight of games and will play in the finals. “Arsène’s priority is to be successful for Arsenal and however many hundreds of thousands of supporters they have. Mine is to be successful with the Under-21s and make sure these players step up on the international stage.”

Yeah, why would Kenny Dalglish want to know what’s happening with one of his players over the summer? A player that he paid an extraordinary sum of money for and who is only just back from injury. He’s British, though. He’ll understand. It’s that damn Frenchman who doesn’t get why Pearce needs to play Jack this summer so he can win a European Championship and make a beeline for the England Manager job once Capello leaves.

“What I can tell these young players is: ‘Play football’. The beauty with Wilshere is that he loves football. He reminds me of Gascoigne. That underpins him and it underpins all the great players – they don’t do it for a means to an end. They do it because they love playing football.”

Jack says he wants to play for the U21 team, but the fact is, he can’t say anything different or he will be vilified by many England supporters. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen to many players for many teams on the international level. Besides, Jack may love playing, but maybe he isn’t completely thinking of the bigger picture. Football is his career now and he needs to take care of himself. It’s up to his trainers and coaches to give him the good advice he needs to maintain a long and healthy career.

“The most important thing is England go with a very strong side and hopefully that stands the players in good stead for the future, when they step on the pitch for the senior team. I’ve been involved in football a long time but never actually seen a team who get to a finals, then decide to drop their best players. That’s quite silly. Football is about gaining experience at whatever level you have to play. When I look back over the past 15 years of the previous winners of the tournament, if you look a couple of years on, their senior national sides have done particularly well.

“I look at the Germans at Under-21 level – champions two years ago in Europe and their team went on to a World Cup semi-final. Italy went on and won the Under-21s twice in a row. The Spanish did the same. You have to be successful at these younger age groups to have any chance at senior level.”

Where do I even begin with this one? First of all, when you speak of teams like Germany and Spain, they actually have a plan in place for their youth teams and the development model they will use for their players. What I am seeing with the England team isn’t exactly a coherent policy of how to transition players between levels. Hell, I don’t even see the U21s playing the same football as the senior team. That might be something to think about, Pearce. Why do you even need Jack when you don’t even play through the middle where he would be useful. I constantly see the England U21s play hoofing-it-up-to-the-big-man type football. They are not great to watch, believe me. The last time I saw Jack play with them, he kept dropping deeper and deeper during the match because he wasn’t seeing any of the ball. There are other midfield players that could take Jack’s place. Maybe they aren’t at the same level as him, but there are still some good players who would be missing out on the opportunity to play at the tournament.

“The one thing you do know in the future is when you step on the pitch and go to a major tournament with the senior team, the more experience you have at Under-21 and Under-19 level, the better stead it will stand you in.”

I have an idea. Why doesn’t Jack play with the U20 team? It would be good experience. And hey, Jack loves to play football, so why wouldn’t he want to play even more with the U20s? What about the U19s? He’s still eligible for that isn’t he? Is there a tournament coming up? The fact that Jack has played at the senior level seems to have no bearing on Pearce’s decision whatsoever. If that’s the case, why not bring Theo back to the U21s? He is probably still eligible and would be a huge asset on the pitch!

(Jump to 0:24 seconds in for my favourite bit)

If my sarcasm was lost on anyone, I apologize for not making it more clear. I don’t actually want Theo to go back to playing with the U21s and I don’t see the point in taking Jack this summer. Sure, it would be a great experience for him. The problem is that he has played a huge number of games this season for Arsenal, probably somewhere around 50, and he has played with the England National Team as well. If he doesn’t get a proper summer break, it could really have an effect on him physically, especially since Capello looks certain to include him in the Euro 2012 squad. Players like Cesc and Fernando Torres have played for years without a proper summer break because of internationals, and at a very young age. Look at the injury problems they face now. It doesn’t happen to all players, but playing in the Premier League is very tough on the body and Jack is one of our most fouled players on the pitch. I’m just very worried about how playing a full season at 19 and then going off to a tournament, playing another season with Arsenal, and then go to another tournament, would be beneficial at all.

Jack has 7 caps for the U21 team and 4 caps for the senior team. It’s not like Pearce has built the team around him with only 7 appearances. Capello has made it clear he wants Jack to play at the senior level. It needs to be one or the other. It can’t be both. It’s just too much. The U21s will be playing against Norway on June 5th to warm up for the tournament. The games in the group stages will be played on June 12, 15, and 19. If England progress, then there will be more games after that. Arsenal’s preseason will begin sometime in July. Wenger has said that he will give Jack a month off if he is to go to the Euros. The Emirates Cup is scheduled for July 30th and 31st. That doesn’t even include the other preseason games for Arsenal and any international friendlies and qualifiers for the England Senior Team that Capello wants Jack to play. At the end of the day, I think it is a bad decision on Pearce’s end, and a selfish one too. Maybe I’d be less angry if Jack were playing under a really good coach like Guus Hiddink or something, but to spend a month with “Psycho” playing long ball and possibly getting burnt out for the next Premier League season doesn’t sound like something Jack needs for his development as a player.

Apologies for the rant. There’s probably more where that came from, but I’m even beginning to annoy myself with this topic. Moving on, the club has announced that season ticket prices will be going up next season but 6.5%. I believe this is the first increase in 3 years, but with Arsenal not winning any trophies for 6 years and Arsenal fans paying already higher prices than many other clubs’ fans, this announcement is not going over well. Supporters groups like AST and AISA have already expressed their concerns and are actively talking to the club. I’m going to stop short of offering too much of my thoughts on this matter since I don’t have a season ticket or go to games since I’m in Canada, plus I wouldn’t be able to afford a season ticket anyway. I do feel sympathy for the fans that do pay to see the Arsenal. The club has seriously missed the mark on this, both with timing and the general sentiment amongst supporters. There’s more information about the season ticket increase here and here. I’d also recommend contacting the AST or AISA if you want to get more involved with the supporters groups and their efforts to communicate with the club on these matters.

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reeoww

its experience we need, not our youth products coming up. that puts us back to sqaure one really, we loan them out at 18,19,20 yeah they get experience in lower leagues. but then we are back to start with kids who have hardly any time on the big stage up against the other big two clubs, manscum, chelsea. do you really see them bringing in 19 years old on a regular basis ?

wegners youth system is brilliant i admit but come on guys its been six years and im sick and tired of hearing glory hunting fans say how shit arsenal is because we havent won anything in a long time. just bring in some experience and lets fucking win a trophy so we can have our share of bagging out the useless cunt who follow manscum and chelsea ;)

thats just my thoughts
ASDF

I know its totally irrelevant to today's blog post and the comments below, but today is Cesc's birthday. Happy Birthday to our beloved captain!!!! What he has achieved as a 24 year old, most footballers can not achieve in a lifetime!!! May he have many more years of terrific football ahead of him - hopefully at Arsenal :)
Georgedb1

Internationals should be gotten rid of, period. Certainly, useless internationals should be gotten rid of, like the U21s, and international friendlies. Every year I get pissed about this nonsense on multiple occasions. I wish there were terrorist groups around whose goal ii is to bring down FIFA.
TJ

i love talking about trasnfers and youth soo...

Assuming we sell Cesc, Squillaci, Rosicky, and Denilson, and Nasri moves inside to take Cesc's spot, what young cats do you see moving into the side? I think Bartley, Lansbury, JET on the wing, and Frimpong. Anyone else you guys seeing come in any time soon? I think we loan out Miguel, Arsene loves loan spells before 1st team, and Ryo to premiership sides, and probably Coquelin too again :(. I feel we will buy a ST (falcao), World Class CB (Mertesacker/Thiago), young stud Winger (hazard/Sanchez), and a CDM (Y'Vila/Inler) (although I don't know why we would with Song,Frimpong,and Coquelin, but I feel we will).

That leaves this team:

Wojo, Flaps, Random

Sagna, Eboue
Verms, Kosc
Thiago Silva, Djourou, Bartley
Clichy, Gibbs

Song, Y'Vila, Frimpong
Wilshere, Diaby, Lansbury
Nasri, Ramsey

Walcott, JET
Sanchez, Arshavin

RVP, Falcao, Bendtner, Vela

what say you?
Homey_Mills

Well of course you and I know that nothing like that will happen. It's the same wish list we have every summer and don't do anything with. I'm at least have a smaller wish list this summer than I had last summer, because I think we have a good young answer in goal. For me, there are really only two positions where we need something. That would be another defensive midfielder, and another wing/forward. Basically, enough quality to ensure that Denilson, Diaby, and Rosicky aren't on the field. I'm not sure what can be done with Eboue, but at least Sagna has proven to be one of the few players on the team not getting injured a lot.
I really feel good about our central defense if Verma comes back healthy. I think there are three very strong options in that case, and then Squizz as 4th. I can certainly live with that. And we already have enough center forwards as it is. You didn't even mention Chamakh in your depth chart.
As I see it, we have three quality options in the wing/forward role. But we need at least 4 players for those two spots. So I'd spend money there for sure. And now that we're playing 2 defensive midfielders, I think we need at least 3 players there, with a 4th who is flexible between spots. So if we can say that Ramsey can play either central midfield role, he's the 4th. That means, in my humble view, we need Song, Wilshere, and then someone else who's quality.
So for me it's simple - a shopping list of two players for the summer. And I would offload at least 3 to make up the monetary difference. I think younger guys like Vela and Mannone could get us some money. And then there's Almunia, Diaby, Denilson, etc.
TJ

Well my view on the CB is, unless he is 100% world class, he's not worth buying. So if we do buy, he has to be by far better than Djourou/Koscielny, because I think Djourou is certainly good enough to start for 90% of teams in the world. The problem is our defense isn't goal keeper, Wojo is the man, or CB's, it's at times, though I love him, Clichy, and then , more than anything, defending set pieces. If we defend set pieces better, and take away 4-5 goals over the course of the year, we have the 2nd best defense in the premiership. I don't think big purchases are necessary in any areas other than winger, to be honest, although my fantasy fairy tale wishlist has 4 big purchases. I think Diaby is a much better player than Denilson, and he has shown at times this year, when he is fit, he is quality. Tackles fairly well, keeps the ball well, is willing to dribble and at and penetrate into enemy territory (unlike Denilson), if he can stay healthy, fix his mental issues, and play faster at times, he is quality. I think Y'Vila is a great addition to compete with Song, but Diaby can play Song or Wilshere position, with Ramsey backing up Ramsey...

I guess the reason I had so many purchases was because we sold Cesc. And I disagree with you on Strikers, I think he definitely need another striker, Chamakh isn't quality, we need someone who can play when RVP gets ineveitably injured, and he aren't worried about it. Chamkah is not that guy, Bendtner can get there, but isn't. Afobe could be that in 2 years, but as it is, we need to buy a proven baller at striker to be right behind RVP, from any league. Falcao is my boy there. I think that could be a realistic purchase. But I don't know.

I think we definitely need top notch winger, and striker. World class defender would be great, as would midfielder too. yay Arsenal!
Martin

Interesting tidbit from @Orbinho on Twitter:

If every shot which hit the post or the crossbar this season had gone in, and everything else remained the same (far from a safe assumption, granted), the table would look like this at the moment:

Table: 1 Arsenal 86pts, 2 Chelsea 74, 3 Man Utd 73, 4 Liverpool 59, 5 Man City 56, 6 Spurs 56

Sigh.

And . . . I know it's an unpopular viewpoint, but I'm not sure how much I can really blame Stuart Pearce for this. Honestly, if I was in his position, and wanted to get the best players, and Jack Wilshere had publicly and privately stated that he wanted to play in the tournament, I'm pretty sure I'd be doing the same thing. His responsibility is to the FA, and he's trying to field the best team and win the tournament. I blame him less than the system which screws the clubs over at every opportunity.
JG

Ok... so not only do we have a terrible injury record, a maybe-real-maybe-not bad draw against refs in big games, and terrible squad depth in terms of quality, we also have bad luck.
Yay!
Sairax

Nah let's blame Stuart Pearce. I enjoy doing that.
Orion_saidwiseguy

Wengeritis is rubbing in? *sigh*
Sairax

Oh it's just a joke, calm down
tinomuvonga m

To be honest I am not really concerned about Jack going with the U21's. I prefer he didn't go, but it's hardly an issue when you look at the team dynamics.

The fact is Jack, Aaron, Diaby and Denilson are competing for one spot in the three man midfield. If Jack wants globe-trot with the U21's, someone else will play during his absence. If that person performs well, Jack could find himself on the bench...
Darren_V

Pretty sure you are the first and only person looking forward to another viewing of Diaby and Denilson on the pitch at the same time.
How many times does it have to be proven that this doesnt work?
Martin

I read his comment as saying that Song and Cesc are pencilled in, and either Denilson OR Diaby could play alongside them. But maybe I misunderstood.

But for what it's worth, no, Denilson and Diaby at the same time does not work. At all.
tinomuvonga m

Yes, Martin's interpretation is correct. I expect Cesc and Song to start together.
TJ

I think anything including Denilson doesn't work at all.
tinomuvonga m

I'll be very curious to see what plans Wenger has for Denilson next season. He's had good games, including this season but his last few performances left a lot to be desired. I found it interesting that when Denilson came back from a foot injury, Wenger made it clear that he was healthy but would not be in the squad. Will we see him on the bench again this season? I think it's unlikely. How about next season? He may still be here.

In 2008-9 season he started 36 games in the league and I would think that if he played anything close to what he has shown us this season, there is no way he would still be here. There is talent in there somewhere...hiding.
Ian

no offense to any youth team supporters out there, but i dont think a large number of ppl take youth tournaments seriously. yeah sure yay if england win it but who cares if they dont?
to me youth teams are just a stepping stone for international players. a place where they can get time to play and get experience playing as a coherent national team before they get shipped off to the senior team. and also part of the process to see which players are going to make the senior team. if caroll and wilshere already made the senior team, they don't rlly need any more experience do they? they dont rlly need anyone to go look woah those guys are good, time to watch him and nurture him for the senior team.
Chris

For me it's clear. Wilshere, Carroll etc. either play for the U21 or they play for the senior team, not hedging between both. Once a player has been called up for the seniors, and has taken to the field, then he is part of that senior squad. All Jack needs to do is say to Pearce that his commitment (as far as national team is concerned) is henceforth with the England senior team, now that he has four selections to his name. If Wilshere and Carroll nail their colours to the senior team, and both have a perfect claim to do so, then if Pearce wants to complain about Capello "poaching" players for seniors who are still elegible for U21, that's a matter for the two managers to sort out between them.
Clarissa

Yeah, Pearce selection does seem strange. I can understand that there probably is a lot of pressure on him to do well with the U 21 (what with Englands bad performances at the World Cup and all the talk about other nations youth systems) but taking players that already are established Premier league players and senior national team players like in Wilshere's case makes little sense. You just risk overplaying them, especially since the Premier League doesn't even have a winterbreak for the players to at least get a couple of weeks off and at least mentally if not physically recuperate.
sarah

(Liverpool fan here.) Stuart Pearce is RIDICULOUS. I can't even with this nonsense. First, Kenny Dalglish HAS spoken out against young players spending too many summers competing in international football, so yeah, I think he WOULD have an objection to Andy Carroll trotting off to the U21s. Utterly ridiculous.