It does sadly seem to be the case that Jack Wilshere is yet another player whose Arsenal career will largely be defined by injuries. He is now irreversibly associated with his incredibly weak ankles, which appear to be made out of broken glass wrapped in tissue paper and sewn together at the edges. It is rare a game goes by without a commentator mentioning their fragility and his injury record, or without the fans wincing and fearing the worst each time an opposition player makes a challenge which leaves him writhing on the floor. Which happens a lot.
This treatment and targeting by the opposition is in itself evidence of how defining the injuries have been for Wilshere – almost every single team now uses the knowledge of his fragile ankles to their advantage, trying to take him out of the game before he can really have an effect. Arsenal fans complain a lot about Wilshere receiving little protection from the referees – and in some cases, this can be justified, with unnecessarily hard challenges often going unpunished – but in professional football every weakness is targeted, and Jack’s injury record is a big one.
Although not quite at the Abou Diaby end of the spectrum, Wilshere’s career will now almost certainly be one of ifs and what might have beens, due both to the various effects of the injuries on his own ability and potential, and due to the easy option it has handed the opposition when it comes to dealing with him. It’s a sad state of affairs for a player who’s only spent four months away from Arsenal since he was nine, a loan spell at Bolton in 2010, and who once had the potential to be one of the best in the world.
Wilshere was named PFA Young Player of the Season 2010/11, and holds the record as the youngest player to ever play for Arsenal both in the league and in Europe. Not just any player can achieve that – indeed, the man Wilshere was supposed to replace, Cesc Fabregas (who has now leaped on to the pile of players who’ve gone from being loved to loathed by many Arsenal fans) was both a previous winner of the award and holder of the record. But any suggestion that Wilshere can now achieve the world class heights that were promised by early performances, such as that against Barcelona in 2011 (“Jack Wilshere is the midfielder we have been waiting for”, said The Guardian), is far-fetched.
Wilshere will not be one of the best in the world – he is no longer even a clear first choice player at Arsenal. The most we can hope for is that he stays fit, and is able to develop as much as he is still capable. For that to happen, he cannot be overplayed – indeed, given the other players at Wenger’s disposal, he shouldn’t be – and he cannot be shoehorned into the side simply to gain him some minutes on the pitch, as he was at the beginning of last season. He needs time, patience, and the ability to develop in a position that truly suits him.
We must also hope that his off-pitch antics, the smoking and disciplinary problems, do not escalate into something that becomes detrimental to his development – he’s had enough of that from the injuries already. Finally, we must hope that he is not tempted by the ridiculous sums of money apparently being waved at him by Manchester City. If he stays fit, stays loyal, and calms down a bit, there’s no reason he can’t become a very good player and a key one for Arsenal. But he’s not there yet, and he won’t ever be where he could’ve been were it not for those dodgy ankles.
