After making his debut in a full season for Arsenal at just 19, Jack Wilshere quickly rose to the top of football’s must watch list of young talents. The young man, put on spectacular performances against the likes of Barcelona in their prime to mark his name in history as a massive talent, even going on to earn himself an England call up and being seen as the potential jewel in England’s crown.
Unfortunately, the subsequent years have not been kind to Wilshere, especially after inheriting Arsenal’s number 10 jersey, he was seen to be the next leader, our next captain, but continuous injuries have seen the Arsenal fans slowly lose faith in this fantastically talented player. Fans have stated they’d like to see the player sold, while the club can still get a premium on him, but is this justified? Is it also fair to cast him aside with claims of stagnation due to injury?
The Arsenal man has been criticised heavily over the past 2 years for his dribble heavy style and his lack of end product when fit, some even going as far to claim his style of play is largely the reason why he’s injured so often. While the links to his style and recent injuries are legitimate, and even acknowledged by Wenger himself, questions about his ability due to lack of end product are naive.
A player that shares similar playing characteristics with Wilshere is, Luka Modric. The mould that Wilshere best fits is similar to the one Modric occupies at Real, which is a regista or deep-lying play maker role. Jack has the vision and range to spray passes and the drive and dribbling ability to successfully help the team make cleaner transitions from defence to attack. Wilshere, like Modric, uses his close control dribbling to open up spaces/channels in which to better influence the game, and like Modric, Wilshere isn’t likely to be playing the final pass or be scoring goals abundantly but his ability to dictate and push the team forward attacking wise, is impressive. Marco Verratti is another player who’s game Wilshere could adopt.
Regardless of how Wilshere adjusts him game to be a regista, questions will always arise about his attacking game, especially since Wenger see’s him as that driving attacking talent and utilises that part of his game often. Despite the small number of games played this season which may skew the data, it can be seen that Jack has improved in his shot attempts, the percentage of shots on target, and his number of successful dribbles. All these indicate that there was a potential for a fantastic season for the midfielder and that all the criticism about his attacking play did not fall on deaf ears.
If there were any indications of what Wilshere would have offered this season we can look to the early season game against Man City this season be a guide, with a fantastic all action performance. Completing 10 dribbles in that match, far more than any other player, as well as adding an assist to his game. His goal in the game is exactly what Wenger and most fans want from the midfielder and what he can undoubtedly offer to Arsenal.
Wilshere will have a tough task getting into this Arsenal midfield and rightfully so, with the team’s current form. The level of competition for Wilshere in the team should also have a positive benefit on midfielder, as he not only works to regain full fitness & match sharpness but to also reach to higher levels, in which this displays in his early years showed he was capable of.
Fans are afraid of having another Abou Diaby on their hands but on the other side Ramsey, Walcott and the Ox have been able to rediscover themselves from massive injuries. A former fan favourite Robin Van Persie was also a very notable doctor’s patient, yet it all paid off, in more ways than one (excuse the silly pun). But Wilshere has displayed his passion for the club and has often hinted at pushing to the next level, Wenger has the faith, and the fans should also be hopeful, having seen miracles being pulled off before.
