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.”