Jack Wilshere has come from being a superstar Arsenal starlet – to a forgotten sick-note – to a bit part player in the Arsenal reserves. But now he has reinvented himself yet again to become an integral leader and midfield dynamo in the Arsenal First team and has played every minute of our last six games without seeing his energy levels dropping in the slightest.
The 25 year-old capped off his resurgence for the Gunners by scoring his first Gunners goal for two-and-a-half years against Chelsea on Wednesday, which has left our old Invincible Martin Keown gushing about his abilities. Keown said: “Jack [Wilshere] proved against Chelsea on Wednesday that he is well and truly back, and a force to be reckoned with,”
“He is a superstar approaching the levels of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil but, crucially, he wants to play for Arsenal.
“The uncertainty surrounding the futures of Sanchez and Ozil has created a flat feeling at Arsenal.
“Much was made of some Arsenal players not celebrating with Sanchez when he scored at Crystal Palace but that was not the case when Wilshere fired Arsenal into the lead against Chelsea.
“You could see how much his goal meant to everyone, including the substitutes.
“Wilshere is the figurehead in this dressing room and does not take any nonsense.
“He has taken those fighting qualities which have seen him battle back from injury and is displaying them to great effect.
“He is the dynamo in Arsenal’s engine room.”
“It should be a formality that he signs a new contract. Given his injury history, he will have to be realistic and the club may want to build something into his deal which is linked to appearances.
“If Wilshere plays, he should be paid top dollar, but allowances have to be made for if he has another lengthy injury lay-off.”
So is Jack Wilshere our new Mr. Arsenal? If Arsene Wenger finally gets his finger out and gets Jack to sign a contract extension could he be a replacement for one of our outgoing superstars Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez? Or has Keown gone just a little bit too far after just six games?
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He is good and that’s great to see, but he needs to stay injury free to prove his worth. Problem is that our team is out of balance at the moment and I don’t see that changing with Wenger in charge.
Wilshere needs a year or two to show some consistency to ask whether he is as good as those two. Pointless question right now, but shows where we are in our desperation that an injury prone player with a few decent games under his belt is the next Messi……
At his best he is a great player – at their best, Ozil and Sanchez are a level above him. What Jack give though is 100% every game when it seems that Ozil sometimes goes missing in the big games and Sanchez goes round the pitch like a kid with a smacked arse
Jack is good, but not as good as Ozil or Sanchez! I like the way he plays and his overall vision of passes but theses two are in a different class. I might be wrong but if he is as good or better than them two he will not struggle to be a regular in the English team! Talk of how bad Ozil is, his record is better than Dele Ali who the media celebrates and who is highly rated than Jack!
Jack is a very good CM. He is the best CM we have and i think he will continue to improve. As for ozil and sanchez their roles are dofferent so harder to compare to jack. Jack gets back and forward well and covers for the defence unlike ozil and sanchez who dont do so as much. I think jack is our carzola replacement and will play will with le coq. Xaka is still very average and I am hoping his injury keeps him out for a good month or so so thatvwe can see how jack does with another partner ramsey or coq. I am also hoping sanchez goes sooner rather than later so that we can get a replacement in and get things moving forward. The club at the moment is much like our football. Sideways passes and not alot going on. The occasional peice of excitment that is short lived.
Every player has his own unique strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion:
– Wilshere: Plays better in a deeper central midfield position, than playing behind a striker, like Cazorla. Has high work rate, has good ball control due to his short stature, is willing to tackle and do physical duel with the opponents.
– Ozil: Also plays better when he drops deeper due to the less pressure from the opponents, has nice ideas and very unselfish. He lacks the skills to protect the ball when in possession and often gets robbed because of that, but can read the game very well and has great finishing ability.
– Sanchez: Can handle the opponents’ pressure very well when playing behind a striker, has high work rate, has excellent close control like Cazorla and has great vision to create chances for the others. Sometimes he is very selfish and he likes to take higher risk by producing more touches on the ball, but has world class first touches and finishing ability.
Excellent analysis. Meant thumb up, not down! (Finger too big on this device)
Like your thumb comment, which set me thinking, it is not just Arsenal who can’t overturn and reverse mistakes. But yours is unimportant but as for Arsenals, well…..!
Were you a scout submitting that report to your employers, I would want to double your wages. Spot on ! Nice to read reality and perspective.
JW has played OK in the last 6 games, but ask yourself how many of those games we have actually gone on to win. In my eyes he lacks pace. He is good over 10 yards, but we have all seen him lose the ball, dive in and get injured over the last 8 years. Over 30 yards he is sluggish, so when we lose the ball high up he does little more than amble back. He has failed to pick up his man several times in recent games. Off topic, but does anyone else think that Bellerin has been poor lately?
Do you not think though , as some including me, surely do, that over these six games he has shown far more discilpline and maturity in his play? He is only just 26 and it would be stupid beyond belief not to offer him a new contact, since we are already in Jan ,when he can talk , if he wants to- but clearly is reluctant to do so- to rival clubs. Wouldn’t a shrewd manager have already tied him to a new contract, albeit with wages clauses as to future injuries. Remind me again who our “shrewd” manager is!
I thumbed your Wilshere comment down but do agree about Bellerin. To me, though pacy and talented going forward, he has NEVER shown in his caeer to date any instinct or real ability to defend. He is often too far upfield or drawn inside , or outside sometimes, when needed to mark his attacking opponent . As as for marking at corners and wide free kicks, he is little more than a novice. If he stays WE NEED TO FIND HIM ANOTHER POSITION SINCE HE WILL NEVER BE A DEFENDER AT THE STANDARD WE NEED. Nor will Xhaka, but he should be moved out of the club asap.
Sell,sell,sell….
he should be made captain provided he can stay injury free
wilshere is a decent player but not exceptional so lets not get too ahead of ourselves
I believe if he played in deeper role he would be exceptional. Better than Kante.
Jack wilshere is having some good spell of games that s all.
I think Arsenal should have Jack Wilshere to pen an
extension to his current expiring deal this winter at Arsenal. No player is immune from getting injury but some are more prone to picking them up than others. And some too come back strongly after a lengthy period on the sideline. e.g. Jack Wilshere. And also, some have a fast recovering rate from injury than others have. e.g. Olivier Giroud. But the problem with him is, he’s aging and thus, may not be able to score the numbers of goals required by Arsenal this season to get a top 4th table finish despite he’s being a super sub and occasional starter for Arsenal I team.
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In the case of Wilshere, this guy has suffered irreparable lost playing time in his career which if not, he would have become one of the top midfielder if not the top in the game in the world able to score and gives assists on a regular basis. But the point now at stake at Arsenal from the point of Arsenal perspective is, will Arsenal allow their 2 midfield dynamos of Oezil and Wilshere remain at Arsenal beyond this window? I think Arsenal should not make the mistakes about it by not keeping these 2 duo top quality players in the Gunners rank beyond this window but give them an improved new deals to sign to extend their staying at Arsenal for the next 4 seasons in my opinion.
Great post , apart fron your hope that Sanchez esp, would ever agree to stay, HE WON’T !
Hé palyed few gold games ans hé is alredey better than ozil who has nearly 90 caps for Germany ans was a superstar at Madrid….stop thé hype mate.hé’s still young and can make progress but nowhere near ozil
It will be interesting if continuous goes to baccarat and Liverpool opt for mahrez who arsenal are supposed to be interested in, I wonder which club he will choose and I bet it will be Liverpool cause the word around players at the moment is arsene wenger is not improving the players,so sad
How do you know what the word is around football. Ozil has just said he’s a better player now than he ever was. Alexis just had his best season in a very very long time which was only topped once and that was before Barcelona. Ramsey’s been in the leagues top three percentile this season with all round all action type displays. P Cech is breaking records with clean sheets despite our aging and non cohesive back-line. Niles is carving out a reputation built on dynamo! Nketiah has all eyes on him before anyone’s ever seen him play. Of course I could argue the other way and I believe I could rip shreds with ease, so make of it what you will.
Some truth in that a bright and literate person can easily play devil’s advocate. But , I have to ask , why would anyone do so?
Yes, that old rumour going around that Wenger is not improving players. Hmmn! Now that you remind me , I believe I have heard it too, somewhere or other. But surely that could NEVER be true, could it!
Here we go.
Building the player up to be something he is not.
Making the fans believe he is world class when clearly he is not.
Jack is a good player but not on the level on the two mentioned.
I expect a media release very soon with Wenger stating Jack is like a “new signing”
I don’t have a problem with the players or them wanting to leave – I don’t blame them at all.
The problem I have is with the manager and the board who repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Who do not listen to their customer base – in fact, who do not even recognise their existence.
And a manager who should have left a decade ago…
Stop this silly statements!
Trust me but Wenger will now give Wilshere a contract worth GBP 200k pw. Just remember how Wenger signed Stepanovs after Adams and co was joking how good he was?
Wilshere as good as Ozil and Sanchez – simply no chance!
I think I would rather trust “Prince” Michael from Nigeria, when he assures me by phone that my computer needs repair and to do so, he needs my bank details.
Remember when a 20 yr wilshere dominate barca middlefield.
That how wilshere can reach
I do remember vaguely but reality is that he today didn’t even dominate West Brom!
Not blaming Jack for the teams poor display against West Brom but he was still part of the team that reminded me of the football served up in the mid 90s….hold on here a little – actually the team in the mid 90s actually defended well at least!
Wrong to compare him with those players. But lest say he means Jack to the CM position is as good as they are in their favored positions. Alexis is one of the worlds greatest in his position, the whole world. Ozil is one of the highest at racking up chances out of all creative wizards. Jack can be compared to Santi just going by the position they play. But anyways, is Jack one of the best CM players the world over, or even Europe alone, well ..what about the premiership then. That in itself gives you the answer, there are many many players above Jacks level playing centrally, Jack’s not in the running.
What’s worse is Keown says this after seeing a small run of games which has felt like two years in the making since we last saw him play well. Look at his entire career on paper and you really do get a sense of Keown talking utter nonsense.
Jack Wilshere is certainly world class. He may not be the fastest player but he is the most intelligent player in the premier league.