"The problem in the modern game is you need to be absolutely 100% physically to express your talent," he said. "At the moment Jack is not completely at his best physically. That's why people start to question his performances but he is a fantastic footballer and he will show that. He needs consistency now."
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The Arsenal manager is wary about excessive levels of hope and hype put on Wilshere and that it has a habit of inhibiting players. "That's the problem with national teams," Wenger said. "I watched the French team and it was a bit the same. How can it happen? You have all these players he plays at Bayern, he plays at Real Madrid, he plays at Arsenal, the other one at Paris Saint-Germain
You put them all together and nothing happens. It is a mystery. For me when they get there everyone is a bit handbreaky.
"The pressure suddenly for all the players is completely different. In the club they are used to it in a certain way. If Jack Wilshere has the same game at Arsenal we just say today, OK, he was not at his best. But when he has that game in the national team suddenly everyone questions your ability. The players find it a bit more difficult to handle in the national team with that kind of mental pressure that comes from everybody.
"National teams need always a guy who absorbs this type of pressure and takes it. We had Zidane. Before we had Platini. In the history of the French national team, results stopped when Platini stopped. They stopped when Zidane stopped. You need a good generation but you also need one [special] player."
Wenger believes Wilshere can be that player, the one to absorb the team's pressures, for England. "Jack can take that, he is young, only 22. He has the capacity to do that. But he needs to play six months without any problem. He has gone through a difficult period. He is not fazed by the importance of the game. He is not inhibited. Jack has the personality to be a top, top, top player."
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Although Wenger initially saw Wilshere's future as a classic No10, he has changed his mind over recent seasons and rates his best position as a deeper midfielder. "Looking at Jack over the years now, he likes to come deep to take the ball and make a difference, and then give and go again," Wenger said.
