Jack Wilshere scored one of England’s top 10 goals in the victory over Slovenia, says ex-captain Gary Lineker.
The midfielder, 23, scored twice as England came from behind to win 3-2 in Ljubljana – his second a superb 25-yard strike.
Lineker told BBC Radio 5 live: “Jack Wilshere scored two breathtaking goals. I’m sure he hit the same square of the net on both occasions.
“Let’s put it this way – if we had a top 10 he’d be in it.”
Wilshere had not scored in 27 caps before his brace put Roy Hodgson’s side back on track to extend their 100% record in qualifying for next summer’s European Championship in France.
England trailed to Milivoje Novakovic’s first-half goal before Wilshere first buried a shot from the edge of the area and then collected Adam Lallana’s backheel to thump home a stunning second.
The Arsenal man has been used primarily as a deep-lying midfielder under Hodgson but showed his attacking qualities in the second half – and Lineker believes he should play further forward for the national side.
“I like him going forward because he goes past players easily,” said the Match of the Day presenter.
“The problem for Roy Hodgson is we don’t seem to produce natural holding midfielders.”
“I have said that I need to score more goals, it is something I need to add to my game. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes have done that for England.”
Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes scored 64 times for England between them while Hodgson’s current midfield is short of goals.
Before kick-off on Sunday, starting trio Wilshere, Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson had failed to score once in 53 combined international appearances. Hodgson’s current 23-man squad have scored 66 goals – with captain Wayne Rooney now netting 48 of those, his late winner on Sunday moving him level with Lineker in England’s all-time list.
“We have talked about goals from midfield before,” said Hodgson.
“We have got quality technicians in midfield. We have got Wilshere, Henderson, Delph, Adam Lallana and James Milner and this is the time to start proving that because we will need their goals. We can’t just rely on the front men.”
Hodgson was full of praise for Wilshere’s performance and believes he can continue to perform at international level.
He said: “I thought Jack’s performance in the second half was top class, controlling the midfield with the sort of performance we have seen from him for a while now.
“If we can keep him fit and he can get plenty of league and international matches, he is at a young age and we would like to think we have got a very good player going forward.”
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Source: BBC