Is Wilshere now in line to start for Arsenal first-team?

Jack Wilshere impressed once again as Arsenal demolished BATE Borisov in last night’s Europa League win, and boss Arsene Wenger has now admitted that he is ready for first-team action.

The Frenchman has nursed the English midfielder back to full fitness, and the manager is finally ready to throw him back into contention for the Premier League squad.

“Jack’s moving forward, and you could see tonight that he’s really ready now to play,” Wenger said of the midfielder, who has yet to start a league game this season. “He’s sharp, he’s quick, he’s incisive again with his dribble, and technically he was very good tonight. I would say for 70 minutes in the game he was dominant in midfield on the creative side. And that’s very good news for us.”

The manager was then asked whether Arsenal’s performance was flattered by a lower level opponent.

“It was done in a stylish way, and a technically high-quality game from our side,” Wenger said. “You could say, yes the opponent was not exactly the level of the Premier League, I would agree with you, but you can only do your job, and that’s what we did in a convincing way, in a remarkable spirit.”

The manager then moved to defend his less-than full stadium, claiming it was to be expected due to the lack of importance with his side having already cemented top spot in the group.

“You forget about that once you’re on the pitch. It’s true that you prefer the ground to be full, but tonight there was not a lot at stake on the competitive side. And no matter how many sit in the stand, you have to give them what they expect. And that’s what the players did,” the Arsenal boss said.

“You respect the decision of your fans [to stay home]. They knew we were top of the group anyway, and you could basically expect that. You have looked around last night in the Champions League in game No. 6, I’ve seen many grounds that were not full, or half empty. That’s a bit the problem of the group stage.”

Tags Arsenal Wenger Wilshere

17 Comments

  1. This is how we perform when there is ZERO pressure.

    Seems like Wenger is the type of person to crack under any pressure and he reflects that into the team.

    1. What are you talking about? Didn’t we perform when there was pressure on us a few weeks ago against spurs? Just give credit to a all round good performance. Yes the opposition was pretty weak, but I can only imagine what you would have typed if we lost or won the game 1-0. Just be happy with the result and move on!

  2. Wilshere’s test would come when he has to start ahead of Sanchez or Ozil in the Premier League. He was given a lot of space by the opponents to express his creativity last night, but an under pressure Premier League team would be more physical and more pressurizing.

    Ozil often has better ideas than Wilshere in the field and Sanchez is more skillful, but Wilshere is good enough to be their backup or compete with Xhaka and Ramsey in the deeper position. Let’s see whether Wilshere would be able to withstand the pressure and the physicality of the Premier League or not.

    If he fails, there are plenty other options, such as Lemar, Denis Suarez, Sergi Roberto, Jean Seri, Goretzka, etc.

    1. Wilshere has been playing in the premier league since 2010 so I don’t know what you talking about saying it would be too physical for him and he wouldn’t be able to find space. He can easily start in the the premier league side and perform.. Its just about finding the right position for him. Wenger will never play him and ramsey together because it might be too offensive and I doubt he would be starting ahead of Ozil or Sanchez. Therefore the only way I see him getting back into the premier league side is if either ramsey or Ozil is injured

  3. Jack got MOM a few times for England playing in the deeper holding area of midfield and I think he should replace Xhaka in that position.

    1. Yeah, but Wilshere and Ramsey together might be too offensive. Both players would want to go forward, leaving huge holes in front of the back three. Maybe they could start together in a home game against lowly opposition like Crystal Palace or West Ham, where we will have a lot of the possession.

  4. You can only deal with the team in front of you, and that is what the boys have done. Liverpool did the same the other night and everybody is singing their praise to high heavens.

    Arsenal are the most examined team in the premiership. No matter what they do, they are never good enough. The unbelievable dross that has been written about Walcott in recent times have been legendary.

    Those boys and their manager are up against more than the team they play on the field. Their fan’s are part of the opposition many times. Why?

    1. Who knows bro. I can only imagine what the reaction would have been had we lost or just won by a single goal last night. We would have had more angry fans calling for wenger to resign and for all the players to be dropped.

    2. Why do you think people, many of us, write “unbelievable dross” or to put it correctly, extremely justified criticism about Walcott? It is clearly not personal, since he is not a thug on the field, a troublemaker or nasty person. No, rather it is because we are thoroughly fed up with his laziness and lack of proper trying. He is known as a hider on the field and this has been going on for most of his career at Arsenal. He is on £110000 pw and this is an obscenity for this shirker and idler. HE HAS DESERVED THE JUSTIFIED CRITICISM HE REGULARLY RECEIVES THROUGH HIS LACK OF CHARACTER AND HIS LARGELY WASTED CAREER. If you are unable to recognise this as the real truth, then , frankly, I pity you. People like you , who make excuses and condone mediocrity are the enemy of our chances of making top spot ever again.

  5. Jack looked fantastic Vs BATE no doubt but they are not premiership class and Jack is made of glass, so no, keep jack in the second string.

  6. When Wlshire is fit he is head and shoulders ahead of Ramsey in terms of vision and football brain.
    The problem is is it worth gambling on his fitness.

    I would like to see him get more minutes in the PL.

    1. I wouldn’t say he is head and shoulders above ramsey. Yes in vision maybe but not goal scoring, or box to box stuff that midfielders do. Ramsey can easily go box-to-box.I am not too sure about Wilshere. But in terms of vision, yeah I would agree Wilshere has the better vision than ramsey. Maybe because he is more of a no. 10.

      1. Vision skill control and all round football brain … Running up and down aka box to box is no substitute for quality …wilshere and coquellin or xhaka should be gien a run out against west ham or Newcastle … Finding ways to combine ozil and wilshere could be key to a top four finish

      2. I find Ramsey rather unimpressive. Not the type of player who can dominate a midfield and too many sideways passes for my liking. Rather predictable as a player.

  7. I think from our recent injury records, there are players who we don’t need to be playing week in week out, especially games within 3 days due to their history with hamstring. Wilshere can be rotated with Ramsey to keep him refreshed. Chambers and Holding can also rotate with Koscielny and Mustafi as well. In period crowded with fixtures like this December, we need rotation.

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