Jack Wilshere denies he is a smoker but not in pictures ...

Jack Wilshere denies he is a smoker, but he certainly seemed to be inhaling in these pictures taken outside a London nightclub this week.

He looked something of an old pro when it came to balancing the tip of the offending cigarette between his lips. Very James Dean. 

On Friday he offered up a defence on Twitter, pointedly posting a picture of the brilliant World Cup-winning France midfielder Zinedine Zidane smoking,  followed by a tweet stating: ‘For the record, I’m not a smoker.’

Kick the habit: Wilshere puffs on a cigarette while chatting with a mystery blonde

Wilshere could, of course, point to other professional sportsmen who enjoy the occasional puff.
Wayne Rooney has been caught on camera with a cigarette. Ashley Cole, too. As has Wilshere’s new Arsenal team-mate Mesut Ozil. 

Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradona smoked. Jimmy Greaves smoked a pipe and the much-loved Sir Stanley  Matthews used to advertise cigarettes, admittedly before the world fully  appreciated the potentially deadly dangers of tobacco and nicotine. 

But his manager at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, appeared less than impressed, clearly agreeing that Wilshere’s smoking remains a concern to be addressed.

Deep discussion: Wilshere and his blonde friend smoke and chat outside Dstrkt nightclub in London

Sir Bradley Wiggins was photographed puffing away shortly after crowning a remarkable 2012 with Olympic gold. Heaven knows why he does it when his sport makes such heavy demands on his lungs, but that’s the man. 

But there’s a crucial difference between Wiggins and Wilshere. Wiggins reserves such indulgences for the end of the  season. Not when fitness is an issue. Not when he needs to be on his game.
Only last week I interviewed Wilshere, and he spoke of the urgent need to get fitter as he continues his recovery from serious injury. 

He said he was, essentially, running out of puff towards the end of matches and when you’re a box-to-box midfielder of his considerable ability that is obviously a problem. 

In hot water: Jack Wilshere could face disciplinary action after he was caught smoking outside a London club

Young talent: Wilshere has won ten caps for England at the age of 21

Irony: Wilshere tweeted this image of former France international Zinedine Zidane smoking

Rather than posting pictures of Zidane, Wilshere could learn from the monastic lifestyle Wiggins leads when he’s doing his job. 

Even the food he consumes is measured to the gramme; a  scientifically calculated amount that enables him to train hard but allows him to drop to a fighting weight that means he can propel his 6ft 3in frame up mountains as fast as his rivals.

Maybe it’s a cultural thing in football. We’ve seen Rooney, at  the time in a race to get fit for a major international tournament, with a drink in one hand and a fag in the other.

Presumably it was not on the advice of England medical staff.

Treating himself: Wiggins was pictured smoking a cigarette on holiday after the London 2012 Olympics

Wilshere is the brightest English talent to emerge since Rooney burst on to the international scene 10 years ago, and these  photographs are alarming when one must hope the family-man image he is keener to promote is a sign that previous brushes with controversy are a thing of the past. Let’s not also forget that Wilshere is just 21, and who didn’t make  mistakes at that age? 

But talent alone will not get Wilshere to where he needs to be, particularly when he is still recovering from a serious ankle problem that at one stage kept him on the sidelines for 17 months.

As he discovered this week, he will have to be back to his best to secure a regular place in that impressive Arsenal midfield.

Puff: Wayne Rooney (above) and Ashley Cole (below) have been pictured smoking in the past

And he will need a regular  starting spot if he wants to remain alongside Steven Gerrard in an England midfield that, if he’s on form, is certainly stronger for him being there. 

So learn from this, Jack, and better still learn from someone like Wiggo. 

That talent is a gift. Make the most of it.

P.S.

Wilshere attempted to justify his smoking by tweeting an image of legendary French midfielder Zidane taking a drag on a cigarette during the 2006 World Cup finals.

There is a slight difference, however.

By then, Zidane was 34, with World Cup and Champions League winner’s medals, three league titles, almost 100 international caps and three World Player of the Year awards under his belt.

The kind of record that some would say entitles you to sit back and enjoy a smoke!

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