Wenger Fumes At Wilshere Selection

09 November 2012

Arsene Wenger has expressed his displeasure at Roy Hodgson’s decision to pick Jack Wilshere for England’s friendly against Sweden later this month.

The Arsenal boss has also questioned the logic of November friendlies in general, suggesting that “political” meddling behind the scenes forces clubs to send their top players to meaningless international matches at an inopportune time of the season.

Regarding Wilshere, Wenger fumed that the recently returned midfielder should not need to play an additional match, placing his new-found fitness under threat for the sake of a friendly.

"I wouldn't like to come out on my feelings [over the decision] because at the moment they are not very positive," Wenger said.

"The ideal solution would be yes [that he would not be involved with England].

"t's good to have a little break after three games. What we like is that he won't play over the weekend so he will recover. But I think he needs 10 days of good recovery.”

Wenger added that he feels Wilshere is yet to pass his “test of durability”, and that only Hodgson’s compromise that Wilshere will play no more than 45 minutes against the Swedes has pacified him.

Meanwhile, Wenger was highly critical of the notion of November friendlies, which he alleges are played for more than just sporting reasons.

"You don't know how the November friendlies can prepare you for a game in February [when England next play a World Cup qualifier]," he said.

"There are a lot of politics behind these games. When you see some teams travelling [long distances], you think: 'Is it more to pay back some corporation than prepare a team for the next official game?'”