England international Jack Wilshere has had an up and down career with Arsenal so far and has caused a lot of divided opinion between fans, debating whether he’ll make it as a top player at the club. Prior to his injury against Manchester United earlier in the season, Wilshere was arguably enjoying his best period as an Arsenal player despite only getting one goal and one assist in ten Premier League appearances. I’ll discuss the attributes that the midfielder possesses which improves the Arsenal side and also my overall opinion of him.
Firstly, his desire to drive the ball forward, putting pressure on the opposition. He, through doing this, drags many players towards the ball creating space that the forwards can exploit. A perfect example of this was his goal against Norwich last season. If you re-watch the goal, you’ll notice that a small driving run from Wilshere started the move resulting in the end product of a great passing move between Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and Wilshere himself.
Despite this being the main aspect of his game, it sometimes causes a loss of possession and possibly an injury for him. This is also seen as one of his major downfalls as a footballer, because he occasionally doesn’t release the ball soon enough to keep the momentum of the attack flowing.
Secondly, a key factor that allows him to thrive when on the pitch, is his ability to play fast paced, flowing football; knowing that Wenger has a philosophy of a similar playing style, you could safely say that he fits into the Arsenal system. Not only this, but he, in having this ability, can help counter attacks with the likes of Alexis Sanchez & Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Wilshere can also play a range of passes, with the deep-lying playmaker role he plays for England a prime example. An example of this is his assist for fellow Arsenal teammate Oxlade-Chamberlain against Scotland. On this occasion, it was a pass of pinpoint accuracy which made the Ox’s job very easy.
The competition he has with Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey is a great topic of discussion, which, I personally believe is a battle won by the latter. I think Wilshere will struggle to get ahead of the Welshman in the current team that Arsenal have. However, by the time they both reak their peak, both will become integral, crucial players to the club as their levels of performance will mature, meaning they could go on to become Arsenal greats.
Wilshere returned to first team action, featuring from the bench in the 3-1 win over struggling Hull City and played a part in games against the likes of Swansea and West Brom. He has looked very sharp and is proving to be an important player in the top 3 finish the Gunners achieved this season.
Arsenal fans will be waiting and watching in anticipation to see if he can up his level of performances, with the hope that Wilshere will stay injury free possibly career-defining.
