Arsene Wenger has defended Jack Wilshere after Roy Keane labelled the England international “probably the most overrated player on the planet” following Arsenal’s Europa League 2-1 defeat to Ostersund.
The 26-year-old started the game as captain but was far from his best – he was eventually subbed off – as a lackadaisical Gunners stumbled to an embarrassing home defeat played out in front of swathes of empty seats.
Ultimately, the result didn’t matter as Arsenal progressed 4-2 on aggregate, but it didn’t stop the former Manchester United midfielder venting about Wilshere and the team’s performance as a whole.
Roy Keane has his say on @Arsenal's performance against @ofk_1996 this evening…
It's safe to say he's not impressed! ?
Watch @EuropaLeague highlights on @ITV now! pic.twitter.com/HjvWFiEzEh
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) February 22, 2018
When Keane’s assessment was put to Wenger in this morning’s press conference, Wenger unsurprisingly, went in to bat for his player.
“It’s very difficult to hear. I rate Wilshere very highly. You can have opinions. Jack was in the team last night but did not perform particularly well.
“It was certainly not one of his best performances. Roy Keane knows that it can happen to anybody.”
Wilshere will be out of contract in the summer and earlier in the week, Wenger stressed that he’s eager to see the Gunners Academy graduate sign a new deal at the Emirates.
“That decision doesn’t depend only on me,” Wenger said. “I want him to sign very quickly.
“We are still to make the decision and find the pen somewhere. I’m happy to give him one.”
Does anyone even listen to Roy Keane analysis! Clown
Wenger will be happy to give Jack one?
He must be very keen for him to sign.
Sorry, should have said ‘lol jks’. My mistake.
He’s an utterly despicable clown at that. Can you imagine how he’d react if someone told him the real truth, that he was one of the worst coaches in the game? He’d probably karate kick a blackboard (again) or deliberately snap a players leg (again)… Well done ITV, for giving a violent knobhead a platform to spout his cynical and aggressive horseshit.
…eh? Sorry to all the Roy Keane fans I’ve offended with my previous comment… jeeez
*edit: Sorry, at the original time of this comment my above comment was reading 1 up 4 down. Normally I wouldn’t be too fussed but it was surprising to see people defend Keane. Since, I’ve realised it was simply down to Roy Keane’s mum and her four profiles searching the internet to defend her son.
The Keanes, fightin’ round the world! (with Tugger)
Nah, like the Wenger thing, down voting shit comments doesn’t make us fans of the individual.
Us? This is a collective you represent is it? I don’t like Roy Keane, didn’t think I’d put anything in there to truly upset people. He was a poor coach, he did karate kick a blackboard (at Sunderland) and he did snap a players’ leg (at United). If I’m in the minority and most people like Keane, fair enough, but I’m not changing my opinion of that particular buttock.
Get a grip man
Write something worthwhile Nasris+wallet ?
confusing set of replies all-round on this comment
I do, funniest shit in the world when he goes on a rant. Absolute idiot that guy is but on a serious note, anyone that doesn’t rate Wilshere either hasn’t seen him play enough times to be able to judge him or doesn’t know shit about football. Because his only problem is his injury record, the guy is comfortably England’s best midfielder. If he’s overrated, then wtf is dele Ali? Wtf has Ali done in his career other than be a big cheat? I’ve never seen Ali do anything that made me go Wow, average player that does the basics… Read more »
You’ve made a great point when you were talking about how Ali doesn’t make you go “wow”. See, you have it completely wrong. It’s not about how many times Jack makes you go “wow”, it’s about how effective he is controlling the midfield. Kean never made anybody go “wow” (except in the sentence “Wow, what a cunt,”) but he was nevertheless one of the best midfielders of his era. Jack is, alas, an Arsenal player. Great when things are well, fucking atrocious when they aren’t. When it comes to judging midfielders, consistency is far more important than how great they… Read more »
“the guy is comfortably England’s best midfielder”
were it not for the injuries, this may have been the case,
pretending Jack is this good though, is utterly ridiculous however….
He’s a clown but Wilshere is hugely overrated
I havent listened to Keane but Wlishere is overrated no doubt. Maybe ppl would hype Diaby too if he too was native. But Jack, as passionate as he is, is only as good and just as fragile.
Yeah…. but Roy Keane is a massive cunt so who cares about his opinion?
I would have said “Arsenal are the most overrated team on the planet.” That would have made more sense now.
We need a new coach and a new voice ASAP. I really hope Wenger steps aside in the summer.
Who rates Arsenal?
Wenger lost his way 10+ years ago but I wonder if he is starting to understand what a 2/3rds empty stadium really means…
What it means? You mean apart from it being a seemingly inconsequential second leg tie, starting at a 3-0 aggregate, against a team nobody has heard of, in the Europa league, on a cold Thursday night?
Of course nobody turned up.
Who knew Ostersund were gonna actually turn us over. It looked cut and dry.
No we WERE overrated. Now any team comes knowing too well how to embarrass our clueless team 🙁 we may be rated highly but only as the biggest laughing stock on tweeter… Bright side is in couple more years hopefully ppl will get bored and accept us as the mediocre team we are
what a twat roy keane is, my gripe with nearly all the pundits is that they can slag off players and teams all day long but put them in the hot seat lets see how they fare. eg roy keane may have been a class player but he is a SHIT manager, lets just repeat that ROY KEANE YOU ARE A SHIT MANAGER. others are in a similar boat, look how amazingly well neville did at valencia. how about all those average players who won sod all in their prime but feel the need to slag arsenal off all the… Read more »
Merson won sod all? Get a grip.
He was a Arsenal academy product who won sod all like 2 championship medals, a cup double and a European trophy. Oh and was also PFA young player of the year 1989!
I wish we had more average players like him!
Yeah but he’s turned into a massive prick
Yeh Still fuck the lot of ‘em!!!!
Roy Keane was the most overrated player in the history of world football! He was a massive prick. I wish Vieira had kicked him in the balls and made him impotent. Ferguson called him overrated.. do you even need another proof?
He was just like a high bully who would piss on his pants if someone stepped up to him.
I agree. So many “hard men” are really just angry guys with misplaced anger issues. What is he 6 ft and 155 lbs? Most people I know would knock his teeth out without even blinking. Fucking pussy he is if it came down to it. I guarantee it.
No. He wasn’t.
“I’m happy to give him one” Oooh errr mrs!
How Keane did not go to jail for premeditated assault will always be a mystery.
Jack was playing in front of the two CMs which he doesn’t usually do. Don’t you think if he had been playing alongside Elneny he would have been more effective? He would have got the ball more certainly
I agree. He’s not a number 10 and always plays better when he’s receiving the ball deep an running into space. Hopefully Wenger can see that after last night.
Keane is a epic cunt in the same universe as Terry.
Lol, you’ve got me thinking. If there was a premier league for cunts, who would be in it?
1. Terry (sleeping with mate’s wife and shin pads at a final)
2. Barton (maybe he should be top of the table)
3. Cashley
4. David Bentley
5. Rooney (for the dive that stopped our unbeaten run)
Bowyer, Vinnie Jones, Pepe maybe, Ronaldo (haha joke) Ryan Shawcross >:/ , El Hadj Diouf, Duncan Ferguson although i admired the fact he went after other hard men too.
Unfortunatly we are all in the same universe as John Terry, which makes you wonder why interdimensional travel is not a higher priority for researchers.
I hope Keane sleeps with his eyes open. I wouldn’t want to cross Super Jack.
You have no idea whos Roy Keane do you?
Well we all know how good Keane is as a judge of a player’s effectiveness.
His managerial record speaks for itself.
I love Keane as a pundit, dares to say what most people won’t, but not just for effect. Of course, hes right. Wilshere is bang average. He didn’t even stand out at Bournemouth last season, so why the fuck do people think he’s fit for Arsenal? He can’t even get in a perpertually garbage England side. So yeah, not sure about most overrated player on the planet, but certainly one of the most overrated English players ever. Normally, I’d care aboit players leaving Arsenal for free, but couldn’t give a monkeys if Wilshere left. No chance of him coming back… Read more »
Jack’s a decent player who has something to offer. He’ll never be the world class player some seem to think he is but he can be a great role player either coming off the bench or as part of a decent midfield if we buy a proper DM.
I no longer see what he has to offer. In any other title-competing team, he would not get a look in or even be on the bench.
That’s bollox and you know it!!!
Atom your assessment is right on. He is decent, but not the player he was. And he has been decent (not great), but still very inconsistent when called upon. Could be a great role player in this squad. Tired of hearing he is this simply incredible player that is one of the best midfielders in the EPL and world class talent that was just unlucky with injuries. The fact that we rely on him so heavily recently says a lot about the state of our team. We are poor. A midfield with Jack Wilshere as a key player is a… Read more »
Wilshere is certainly not “bang average.” On his day he can be amazing. The problem he has is consistency. Put that down to injuries, focus, youth, being rushed too soon, or what have you. Bang average is total BS. Perhaps you’ve not seen Jack play before this term? Or have forgotten how good he really can be – and has been in seasons past. Short memories and that. He’s had quite a few amazing matches this year even. Just not every one. David Silva, and KDB even have off games (not that Jack is that caliber, but have some objective… Read more »
“dares to say what most people won’t”
So he is the Donald Trump of footballing-pundit-world? How admirable and deserving of love.
Ex-players are paid to say provocative, controversial things about current players whether they have any basis or not. To be fair to Keane, he would happily say stupid things without any payment at all.
Pundits are paid to express their opinions and give analytical commentary on the game they are watching.
You clearly have no fucking clue what you’re talking about
Wilshere has largely been one of the best players this season, but I find it hard to judge the squad in the final days of the Wenger era. His methods as a manager only worked with a full team of top players and plenty of experience.
I agree. He got a way with it in first part of tenure because he had the benefit of the market when English teams were still allergic to hiring too many ‘foreigners’. Plus it coincided with a golden generation from France. This edge has steadily been worn down and although we have loosen purse strings (somewhat belatedly), the league has caught up with us with even lesser teams able to take advantage of TV distribution money and adding technical quality from offshore. It is this technical quality which we are fundamentally lacking at the moment (plus a decent defensive organisation… Read more »
It is a good old fashioned centre half we are lacking!!
keane is just a big CUNT, he will never get over ARSENAL winning the league AT UNITED, that’s why he says what he says, sour grapes
Keane needs to mind his own business or I’ll tell Viera!! I’ll knock him out myself if I see him the sack of shit!!
Course you would Tyrone
Stayed at an Irish friends house for a month a few years back. Nothing to read except Keane’s or Gerry Adams autobiography . Went with RK and even in his own words he’s just a massive prick.
…said the guy who intentionally broke the knee of another footballer…
despite how we feel about our arsenal and Wenger, Roy Kunt is a dick
Why do some people find it so hard to accept that being a good football player doesn’t mean your opinions on football are inherently valuable? I genuinely don’t understand this, is it simply down to a kind of celebrity obsession? No one in their right mind should be concerned with Keane’s opinion on Wilshere or any other player. Just stop paying any attention to these people who are encouraged to provide controversial opinions for the sake of clicks and whatnot.
Not many of these ex football players now involved in cheap punditry have had any experience managing clubs let alone transfer dealings. Keane’s experience in this realm were explosive in the least favourable way. The other ex -United player cum pundit is Gary Neville. He’s eaten some humble pie at least with his failed stints in the management hot seat for a very short while before scampering back to the general safety of sideline sniping. Talk is cheap. Try management for 20 odd years in a row at one club taking these jibes but sticking to your guns and generally,… Read more »
I wonder why Keane would feel comfortable rating a player who is perpetually not healthy. I think jack is not fit; he is just struggling to play to make the world cup.
“We are still to make the decision and find the pen somewhere. I’m happy to give him one.”
Classic Wenger, again
If Wilshire wasn’t English, he’d be crucified worse than Xhaka.
And…. who cares Keane?
Your opinion is not even qualifying to be rated, its a bad smell of breath when ever you open your mouthd and intellectually on pair with listening to a dog pooping. If anyones kmows how to completly ruin a legacy it is you Keane.
I think we need to line up 3 at the back against City. A 3-5-2 : ……………Aubameyang…………………………………….. ……………………………………Ozil……………………….. Kolasinac……………………………………………..Bellerin ……………….Jack…………………….Ramsey…………… ……………………………Granit……………………………. …………..Monreal………………………Koscielny……….. …………………………..Mustafi……………………………. …………………………..Ospina……………………………. Aubameyang and Ozil essentially Henry and Bergkamp. We are likely to not have as much of the ball so we will need the two up top to be superb in understanding playing closer to each other. The midfield I feel needs 3 to work with Jack and Ramsey flaning Granit taking turns to go up to support Auba/Ozil but also hold back in caution behind the overlapping wingbacks and doubling up with Granit against their counters.… Read more »
What I like about Jack is the fight in the dog.
He never backs off a skirmish and its what we do need in a potentially otherwise insipid midfield of ours.
Sure he can be better than against Ostersunds but you cannot blame him for not having the heart.
He won’t run away from his national team either unlike a certain Irish gent.
Does anyone take Roy Keane seriously? Does he even take himself seriously?
How a cunt like him ever gets any airtime is beyond me…
Roy Keane’s opinion has no bearing on me whatsoever. Moving on.