Arsene Wenger is desperate for Jack Wilshere to stay fit so that he can deliver on the potential that led to him being handed an Arsenal debut at just 16-years-old.
Nine years of injury problems mean enthusiasm about the England international’s latest return to fitness, this time from a fractured leg, is somewhat tempered. That said, after a bright cameo in the Europa League and a Carabao Cup start against Doncaster penciled in for tonight, the boss is hoping his protege can take the next step towards regular action.
“Jack has been consistent in training,” Wenger told Arsenal.com. “If you ask me is he back to his full, 100 per cent potential, I would say no, but he’s not far away. The rest now can only be gained by competition.
“That’s why I believe that these kind of games are very important for Jack at the moment. He is focused, he is working hard and he is absolutely determined to get his place back in the team. There is a big fight there and that’s what we want.
“Jack deals with the pressure very well. He always had that from a very young age but I would say that overall he is more patient now. He got a few knocks and bruises that build a man and at the start it was all very easy for him.
“Jack has gone through some tough times so he has that density, that fitness now of a man who knows that life is not only easy. You have as well to go through some difficult periods and he has always had a football brain. Jack understands football very well, but I would say he’s a much more mature man today. He had always common sense Jack, but he had an impulsive character.”
Many of Wilshere’s injuries have been the result of impact injuries, in part caused by a unique dribbling style that has tended to lure lunging challenges from opponents – one incident against Manchester United in 2014 saw Paddy McNair crunch the midfielder’s ankle and left him sidelined for months – and also his refusal to pull out of tackles.
Despite the circumstances behind Wilshere’s fitness problems, Wenger doesn’t want to see him change his style of play. A long-term stance of the player.
“I don’t think you can get that out, because that’s part of your pride,” the manager said.
“Your pride is part of your game and I don’t think he will ever lose that. He will never accept to lose a ball, but that’s part of a good football player. What I think is that for him it’s important now that he stays a long period without having any setbacks.
“It’s a dream for all of us. I gave Jack his start at 17 years of age. That means I am convinced. You have to be convinced to play a boy at 17 years of age, that he is a special player. He is a special player, but we are all the same in that you need health to work. I need health to work and a football player needs to be healthy to play.”
The closest I’ve seen to Cesc in terms of quality. Such a shame how he’s been ruined by injuries.
I refuse to believe he has been ‘ruined’ already, we have seen many of player mature late and go on to have the best years between 28-33. And as for his style, I for one love to see Jack running at players direct and for the most part leave them in their arse (if he doesn’t get lumped by the big daft lumpy players) that’s one of the best sights of football for me. Hope he comes good and it does sound positive from the gaffer
I thumbed you up. But it also depends on how far is he willing to go to build his body. I dislike neymar as a person, but jack really need to look at how neymar build up his body without compromising on his speed and agility.
Isn’t Jack physically stronger than Neymar ?
Neymar has a wiry strength that’s very deceptive. According to whoscored both him and JW are the same weight (same age too!) even though we know Jack is shorter and stockier.
Neymar’s ability to withstand the rough treatment players like him and Jack get probably gives him the physical edge.
As a layman I’d say he spent too much time in the gym after his first few longer lay offs, adding on unnecessary body mass and muscles that made him lose that extra bit of pace and burst. He’s never regained that zippiness since. He weighs 3-5 kgs too much. I see the same thing happening with Hector atm. He’s putting on that same extra upperbody weight that is a detriment to his natural game. He’s lost some of his recovery pace and burst to. I think the chileans would call them both porkers.
Don’t write him off yet, he’s still only 25.
wilshere – it’s a REEL WISH
Tough crowd!
A fit jack playing well is every Arsenal fans dream. Just having that pride and desire on the pitch will benefit us greatly.
We have been here so many times though is my only worry.
Personally would rather see Santi back for both on and off the pitch reasons. Better player, more important to the team, and a better guy too. Good luck though jack, still a handy piece to have around for rotation and injury cover
great comment. I’m glad you hijacked this thread for your own prickish opinion. I missed the part where the article was about who you would rather have on the pitch Santi or Jack? But hey whatever right smh
Someone has to reign you Wilshere homers in a bit. If you didn’t know you’d think he was the second coming…
Off the pitch reasons… what does that even mean… does Santi let you drive his car or something?
He’s already been fit for long periods but he hasn’t brought anything convincing to the team. Instead of hiding themselves behind the Blame Özil, fans should open their eyes and see how it was with Wilshere on the pitch especially at the start of the 2014-2015 season. Wilshere did nothing in Bournemouth and they were better without him. If he weren’t English, fans would love to see him go. It’s not because you show your tongue and run nonsense that you feel desire. But maybe it’s the body language you love.
If he weren’t English? What utter bollocks. RVP, Diaby, Eduardo all suffered with injuries and the fans backed them.
We just want good players to be able to play as much and as well as possible.
Anyway, he’s a kid who came through the ranks and clearly cares, why wouldn’t we back him!?
Yeah because Bournemouth have really started the season brilliantly without him this year..
Another Ozil fanboy. No one even brought him up, let it go.
You might need to check your facts before saying anything – he was very unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions last season while playing for bournemouth but he was their most creative player when he played and if not for some chances missed by Benik, he would have also bagged some assists as well. He did do some great things in the team lst year
Agree Isaac. He hit the woodwork as many times as Alexis did last year with 102 fewer attempts on target. Id say thats unlucky.
Alexis 5 on 129 Shots
Jack 5 on 27 Shots
https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/hit_woodwork
https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/total_scoring_att
When a player makes himself available in a tight space, takes the ball and slips his marker, it doesn’t register anything on the statistics. What it does do is shift momentum to your team, forces the opposition to lose their shape, and opens spaces for your team mates to run into. He did that time and time again for Bournemouth last year and was one of their stand out players in their best ever season. I’d recommend that you stop forming your opinions based on statistics and start paying proper attention to what happens on a football pitch.
Can I give you a million thumbs up sir?
When a little spanish bloke does that and everything else better, completely bosses the midfield running our team like a maestro and acts like a true pro…A fit Santi would help us more than a fit Jack.
Santi>>>Jack
Both fit would help the squad a lot, but Jack wouldn’t be in the first 11, no chance. Santi, Xhaka, Rambo, Ozil, all well ahead of him. He would be competing with El Neny, Iwobi, AMN for reserve spots
Santi is coming towards the end of his career so we don’t know if he will reach the level he was at pre-injury, but if he does then Yes he’d be first choice. But that’s a big IF, and not necessarily for many years more. Whereas Jack will hopefully grow to Santis level…
I didn’t think it was Santi v Jack article?
Ramsey is no way better than Wilshere… all external factors being equal. Wilshere is a leader and a bulldog
I am a great admirer of Ozil and I think anyone who understands football sees his quality. What does that have to do with Jack? When he is fit, he is a wonderful player and so it seems pretty reasonable for Arsenal supporters to hope he can remain fit. I felt the same about Rosicky and Diaby. Didn’t you?
This guy likes to go to every thread and say something about the Arsenal world vs Ozil narrative. Almost every fucking thread
He played most games at Bournemouth and the players say how much they miss him so to say they played better without him is sheer nonsense.
Wilshere was a success at Bournemouth. Just because he didn’t score doesn’t mean he played poorly. They played much better when he was fit, as any Cherries fan will tell you.
Here you go again with your Ozil against everyone else narrative. You are like a broken record and a bad one at that.
“…just like the one I used to know..”
“Wenger dreaming of a fully fit Wilshere. Just like the one I used to know..” (White Christmas)
Come on Jack! We love you
Fuckig christmas can do one already.
Don’t tell his wife
The Special boy had one fully fit season and he wasn’t playing for us ?
well. not a full season mate….
How then has he played 34 times for England? Incidentally he was Man of the Match for 3 consecutive internationals
And the ox lost. Again. And played shit. Again.Long may it continue
its quite funny. moves to liverpool to play CM. starts as wing back. plays fucking terrible. and loses. yes, long may it continue.
Started as a winger though (4-3-3). But was still terrible.
i was unaware of this. thanks
This is Anfield player rating write-up:
“Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 5
Heavily involved. Sloppy. Had a problem with his socks which seemed to baffle Jurgen Klopp.
Let off a powerful shot with his left foot but it was straight at the Leicester ‘keeper.
Tried in all aspects of the game: dribbling, shooting, passing, but the only ones he succeeded in were work rate and application.
If he gets the other things right he could be a good player for Klopp, but he wasn’t on Tuesday night.”
They better get used to that. Pretty much the perfect summary of the Ox’s career
other fan forums has the Ox at a 2. They were all saying he has to tools to be great, but needs to put it all together. sound familiar?
I can’t believe we offered him 180K a week to stay and he didn’t take it…oh well, we weakened a rival.
I’ll doubt that was true about the offer. That would be triple what he was getting. How do offer triple on potential? I think that was probably his agent trying to negotiate.
I don’t understand the hate for the Ox. He gave his all while he was with us with varying success. He left for the good of his career and to try to play in a position Wenger wasn’t giving him a chance at (possibly rightly) and not for more $$$ like any other player before him
in the words of Jeff Stelling ‘it was only banter’
Not one hint of resentment?
not at all. he fucked off to play his preferred position. fair go. but hes not. and hes a bench player. whereas he was in our starting line up. my honest view on the whole situation is ‘fuck it’, i genuinely just love taking the piss
Bit rich coming from the same guy that is forever laying into Mesut Ozil…
I like Mesut Ozil! I think he offers great qualities and is one of the most creative players in the world. I certainly think his lack of physically is his biggest weakness and there are certain games I would not play him for. 90% of the time I would start him.
Maybe because he turned his back on a club that were willing to embarrass themselves to keep him? This move pissed me off, and as much as I didn’t fault the Ox for it, this scenario was foreseeable and I’m going to take my schadenfreude where I can get it.
Ox isn’t very bright if he thinks he’ll get lots of game time as CM with the scousers. He’s not consistent enough to play their regularly but he does need game-time. So they’ll do the same as we did, which is play him as a winger/wingback until he shows that consistency.
So fuck all change there and certainly not a ‘good of his career’ move at all.
The benefit for us is that when he gives the ball away in his own half and it leads to another goal for the opposition, we may be that opposition team…
That liverpool game killed all sentiments. His we are on a good run after beating arsenal comments buried the sentiments.
Burnt his bridges himself, and I will laugh myself hoarse when he plays shit like he did for us on their behalf.
He did leave for more money. He got double his wages. I don’t believe in the hype of that 180K offer. Offering triple his salary on potential sounds more like a agents negotiating through the media.
Plus he didn’t play that position last night. JK seems to have the same idea as AW about how he’s going to use him all over the pitch and not in one single position lol
https://twitter.com/elliottsimmonds/status/910244103572611076 is worth a watch to see how bad the Ox was.
wow…that was pure stink. I loved the zoom on Klopp’s face: “40 Million for this?! Scheisse!”
https://twitter.com/ArsenalGent/status/910268173613764608 have a laugh at Sp*rs.
As Jack himself said, what do we think of Sp*rs?
Haha, enjoyed that.
Ha! You couldn’t make it up
They keep saying he shouldn’t change his game but come on, it’s holding him back. He physically doesn’t have the acceleration or speed to play b2b at the same intensity as Ramsey. He often gets closed down so quickly. Back in the day his body could hold up against the contact, plus he had the athleticism to quickly evade his opponent. I watch him now and he almost appears sluggish in comparison, like he’s dragging his heels. I’m not saying he should be a DM or deep playmaker, but he needs to watch someone like Kroos or Pjanic or even… Read more »
Omg, Get a room!
You.d have to have a heart of stone not to wish that Jack could get his career back on track with Arsenal and go on to be the Club great we all hoped he would become.
Here.s hoping he plays well tonite and goes forward from there
And fair play to Arsene..he has always had Jack’s back. I hope Jack can see and appreciate that
Can’t explain letting Jack have the No 10 shirt till now.
*otherwise… As in if Wenger didn’t have his back… Aaah fuck it! I can’t use my words today. Next.
I’m looking forward to seeing him play tonight. Hopefully Wenger will put some senior players on the bench in case we need them!
I wonder how Ox is feeling after losing to Leicester last night!
Emperor Wenger
“You poor fools. Now witness the power of this fully operational Jack Wilshere.”
/Emperor Wenger
I totally read that in the Emperors voice
Come on Jack
He could be injured again tonight though, poor soul, maybe he needs to go to china to find the ancient treatment to fix his injury prone, i admit if he fully fit and only have a small injury he would be one of the best CM in the world.
As a man who knows all about Pride, I can tell you that Jack is like a full-blooded saiyan.
The best way did Jack to avoid injury is to start using his right foot. Too much reaching across to tackle and trap with his left has been his plague.
No. Refs letting opposition players ‘kick chunks out of Jack’ has been his plague.
A fit Jack at his best is the best midfielder at the club by a distace, due to his fitness issues his sell on value is limited so it makes sense to keep him for the coming season to see if he can put these issues behind him. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
He is still only 26 and has time on his side, he seems focused and determined, good luck to him, if things work out he could save us a fortune.
What are you smoking? cazorla and xhaka are far better midfielders
Cazorla maybe but he is 33 and unlikely to get back to his best, Xhaka is decent but at his best Jack is a better all round player.
I never understood people criticizing Jack’s playing style. How about criticizing the officials for allowing teams to rotational foul him? Or how about throwing some yellow and red in the air instead of excusing dangerous play as being invited? A foul is a foul, regardless of how long a player is holding a ball.
make your mind up wenger, one minute you want to get rid of him, and the next you want to keep him, do you have a clue as to what you are doing, we all know he is a great player, except you so stick him in the first team and then you will see if he is good or not
When has Aw said he wants to get rid of him? He will play him tonight so what on earth are you talking about?
as I said, wenger don’t know what he is doing, if he can play tonight why don’t wenger play him in the first team, wenger was willing to sell Wilshire to a Turkish club but Wilshire didn,t want to go, also chambers is playing tonight another one wenger don’t know what to do with, further proof wenger don’t know what he is doing, he cant make his mind up as to what to do, that’s why Wilshire wants to go to west ham, to get away from all this misery, because he is playing tonight it doesn,t mean a thing
You said that AW wants to get rid of him….
Did you make that up or is there any proof of it?
Or are you just so gullible that you believe the media?
lol, do you think aw would admit it if it was true….
No answer to the question again, so it looks like you’ve made it up.
Thanks for clarifying that.
if that’s not an answer what is, what do you want BLOOD…..
By not answering the direct question, you made it perfectly clear that you made it up.
Lol are you serious why play him tonight instead of a PL match???
Maybe, just maybe the match tonight isn’t as important as a PL match. Just my thought. You know use these games as a way of getting your fitness up.
Chambers has been recovering from an injury.
If you don’t want AW as manager is an opinion but man just to nitpick everything without rational thinking is well just bad
as I said before, it don’t matter if he is fit or not, he still wont play him
Yes it does matter. He isn’t fit enough for the PL so he hasn’t played. If he keeps it up we will probably see him after the next break
Nice name.
One of very few players we have now who can ‘glide’ with the ball.
Like Marty McFly
Im with jack. Ozil can fuck off from arsenal for free. Wait il pay someone to take him. Theres only 1 arsenal fc and i believe wenger needs to open his eyesto that has been ozil