Jack Wilshere needs rest to avoid burnout, says Wenger Reuters

Arsène Wenger has made it plain that he is opposed to England's selection of Jack Wilshere for next Wednesday's friendly against Sweden and fearful of what could happen to the midfielder, as he feels his way back to full fitness after 17 months out with a foot injury. The Arsenal manager, who said that too many of the November friendlies were motivated by the desire to make money rather than by football reasons, suggested that all he could do was hope that Wilshere does not suffer a setback.

Wenger has discussed the issue with Roy Hodgson, with whom he has a good relationship, and reached a compromise with the England manager over the extent of Wilshere's involvement. The 20-year-old is expected to play for 45 minutes in Stockholm, although the Arsenal manager would rather that he did not feature at all.

Wilshere has played three matches for Arsenal since his return, completing 90 minutes for the first time in the Champions League at Schalke on Tuesday. He was sent off in his second game, at Manchester United last Saturday, and as a result he is suspended for Saturday's home game against Fulham.

"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]. It'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.

"He is not completely through the big test of durability. The fact is that he has come out in a positive way of the first three games, which were quite intense physically. The first response is positive. Let's touch wood and hope he gets through well [the England game]. The next 10 games, of course, will tell you a lot more.

"I feel, physically, Jack is quite there; slowly he gets stronger in every game. That means his basic fitness is good. Sometimes, when you accumulate games, you need to have a little rest again, to build on that, to recover and then go even harder. For us, it is important to know to stop him before he gets to that point."

Wenger noted that Wilshere did not "hold back" on the pitch and that it would be pointless telling him to do so against Sweden, as he sounded a note of resignation over Hodgson's decision. He also made a dig at the Football Association, whom he accused of being too easily influenced by the media.

"I saw it coming, that's all I can say," Wenger said. "Because of Jack's suspension [for the Fulham game] … because of the fact that England looks for some midfielders and, as well, because the media puts some pressure to bring him in as quickly as possible. You [the press] always have a big influence on the FA.

"Anyway, I have no choice. I have good relations with Roy Hodgson. We spoke about the situation, he knows my feeling and I know his feeling. You know that I think it is early for Jack. We found a good understanding and a good compromise. Roy wants him in the group to connect with the players."

Wenger reminded his audience that Wilshere had suffered the original stress fracture when playing for England against Switzerland in June last year. "You cannot ask a club not to overplay a player if he is not injured with the club," he said. And Wenger warmed to a familiar theme when he attacked the purpose of international friendlies, particularly the upcoming round of fixtures.

"You don't know how the November friendlies can prepare you for a game in February," 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?'

"The problem is not to have too much conflict with the interest of the clubs. But when we play next Saturday at 12.45pm against Tottenham and [Santi] Cazorla plays for Spain in Panama on Wednesday night, you cannot say there is no conflict of interest between the two. It is also difficult to understand why these games are not like the official games and played on a Tuesday night."