Jack Wilshere paid tribute to Olivier Giroud after the Frenchman’s late goal rescued a point against Southampton on Sunday, and says he’s enjoying himself as he works his way back into Arsene Wenger’s first team plans.
The England international could find himself thrust back into the side if Aaron Ramsey’s hamstring injury sidelines the Welshman for any significant period, but he says he’s just trying to enjoy the fact he’s fit and getting some playing time.
“I’m enjoying it,” he said. “I’m enjoying playing and I want to play as much as I can.
“I’ve said before that I’ve missed way too much football and I’m just enjoying it at the minute.”
Wilshere was a second half substitute for Granit Xhaka, and although he showed some nice touches the Gunners still found it hard to break down the home side’s stubborn resistance.
In the end though, a late goal from Giroud salvaged a point – an outcome which Wilshere sought to take the positives from.
“I don’t think it was our best team performance, but we showed character and dug in at the end and if you can’t win a game, don’t lose a game,” he said.
“We might look back at the end of the season and see it as a valuable point. For me Oli is one of the best strikers in the Premier League when he’s on it and he’s on the bench, so it shows what we’ve got.
“There are a lot of games in December, so I’m sure he’s going to get a start and if he’s coming on scoring goals that’s massive for the team and it was an important goal for him today.”
Oli Gunner ….
The Beardy Faced Assassin
The thing that bugs me the most wasn’t the fact that we had a shocker against Southampton, and needed a last minute equalizer from Giroud – it was the fact we didn’t beat United at home. Had we of won that game we’d be second in the table, on a decent run of games, with a bit of momentum behind us. Then we’re going into West Ham away and Newcastle at home at full speed. We put them away and we’re in serious decent shape going into the new year. Not title winning shape, as I simply cannot see anyone… Read more »
Your narrative makes sense, but each game is worth the same. I agree with the home/away issue–at least if we preserved our home record, our team would have more to believe in. Still, it could happen. Our past experiences are colored by the judgment we weigh on the future; what’s impossible, what’s not.
There’s still enough games to kick on strongly for the top four. I’m more bothered by the loss of Ramsey, in this regard. It destabilizes a midfield that was finally beginning to click together again, and without midfield control, Wengerball begins to crumble a bit.
Yeah I think when you’re struggling on the road, you obviously need to make your home an absolute fortress, and just dropping points in the manner we did was so frustrating, because we really should be putting United away at home.
Under Mourinho they literally are just a kick and chase team. Just annoys me so much we fell into the same traps as we always do against him and then spend the remainder of the 90 minutes trying to play catch up.
What are you talking about?!? We got thumped by United, they only had to play for 10 minutes each half!
Nope
We definitely we’rent thumped by United.
We gifted them two goals and the match was over. They had 4 shots on goal, scoring 3. As I said, two of those goals were on a plate.
Good to hear, sounds like he has grown up a lot.
Look forward to seeing him and Oli on the pitch, first choice or subs.
I like Jack version 2.0. Sure has grown up a lot, seems mature in his outlook, isn’t in the tabloids for the wrong reasons any more, and increasingly looking like a future Arsenal captain. Ramsey’s misfortune is Jack’s opportunity, and hope he gets to showcase the quality that we know he has in abundance. Must say though, every full-blooded ‘tackle’ on Wilsh does make me nervous!
‚If you cant win, dont lose’…against southampton? Really? What a terrible mindset. Why does not he instead try to explain why couldn’t we win it and get some contructive conclusions from it?
what do you want him so say? his involvement came from a losing position and during his time on the pitch we got a goal back vs 11 defenders.
a quote like that in August? NO we should be looking to win every game!
a quote like that in December after we looked like we had slipped up? far more acceptable in the context of this individual game.
Because that would mean heavily criticising the manager, who can’t see a pattern that’s exploited time and time again by the opposition. How many goals have been conceded down that left hand channel this season?
Unfortunately we have a manager who is prepared to sacrifice results at the altar of his non-negotiable style of play. Nothing wrong with that in principle however the only way this will change is when the board grow a pair and install a new manager.
Of Ramsey and Laca, Only one striker needs to start. Thank You !
The issues at United reemerged at Soton. We are falling into some bad habits again. I think the BIGGEST problem is Ramsey. I’m not saying he is a poor player but his instincts are higher up the pitch. Wenger is trying to fit BOTH Ozil and Ramsey into the team when quite frankly they both play similar roles. Partially this is also be for various reasons of neglect(replacing Santi) we have started this season with few good options next to the flawed but indispensable Granit. Granit btw I though had a decent game again. But Ramsey simply played too high… Read more »
tl;dr
As for Giroud, he is not a plan B Wenger is the man who goes to the tool shop and is very good at buying value for price. But he comes back with these tools and often times doesn’t know how to use them to their best benefit. Against a packed defense coiled to spring at the counter, Giroud is a better option than Lacazette. He adds the physical bully to the box allowing more nimble players to play off the space he creates by occupying the opponents Cbacks. He is certainly better than Welbeck at the moment. The England… Read more »