Danny Higginbotham heaped praise on West Ham midfielder Jack Wilshere during the Hammers’ 2-0 win over Newport County on Tuesday.
The Sky Sports pundit named the 27-year-old as his Man of the Match and revealed he still believes the Hammers midfielder is a special talent.
Higginbotham then boldly claimed that Wilshere is still one of the best English central midfielders around when fit and hoped his latest display was a sign of things to come.
“Yeah, I think there have been some very good performances from the Newport players but I just thought Jack Wilshere,” said Higginbotham while commentating on West Ham’s clash with Newport on Sky Sports (21:04, Tuesday, August 27th).
“His influence grew and grew as the game went on as the game got stretched we started to see the quality he possesses and you hope now he stays injury-free as I still believe he is a special talent.
“When he is up to full fitness, I think he is one of the best central midfielders on the English side of things so hopefully this was a sign of things to come.”
OPINION
Considering Wilshere hasn’t featured for England since June 2016, his last match was the 2-1 loss to Iceland, it’s bold of Higginbotham to claim he is one of the best English central midfielders around. While the pundit does cover himself by saying he only considers Wilshere to be among his country’s elite when fully fit, it’s not like the 27-year-old hasn’t been fit for the last three years. In fact, in his 2017/18 campaign, Wilshere featured 38 times across all competitions for Arsenal and seemed to have put his injury problems behind him. Yet his nation didn’t come calling. Granted the 27-year-old then had an injury-hit debut season at the Hammers in his 2018/19 campaign as he managed only eight appearances, but what stopped England coming call in the campaign before? While it may be argued his nation was waiting to see if he could stay fit for longer than just one campaign until Wilshere starts racking up international cap after international cap once again, he can’t be considered one of the best English central midfielders surely?
