Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere believes England could learn a few things from their defeat to Chile on Friday night, in particular their style of play.
The South Americans ran out 2-0 winners at Wembley thanks to an Alexis Sanchez double, but what Wilshere picked up on was their ability to pick up the game and also slow down the game.
The 21-year-old admitted that despite them being able to pass the ball well and move it around the field quickly, they were also able to make little fouls and break up the play as well, something which he believes England should do.
“South American teams like to make little fouls and break the game up, which gets frustrating,” admitted Wilshere.
“We could learn a bit from them, sometimes, maybe when they’re counter-attacking maybe a little foul like they did doesn’t hurt.
“Once they did a little foul it slows play down, we have to start again, build up and they’re all back. It makes it difficult for us.
“There are a few South American teams out there, so at least we know now what to expect from them and we’ll learn from it.
“We don’t want to lose two on the bounce at Wembley. We’ll recover from Chile, we’ll get ready, we’ll watch it again and learn from it.”
The Arsenal star is used to playing with a team who can keep possession, but even he was stunned by how well Chile kept the ball on Friday night and he even compared them to Spanish side FC Barcelona.
“The last time I played against a team like that was Barcelona, the way they keep the ball, the way they play out from the back and when they don’t have the ball they press, they pressed high and made it difficult for us.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
