It’s been quite some time since Jack Wilshere played for Arsenal.
Since that day Manchester United’s Paddy McNair almost snapped his ankle in half, the England international had to go under the knife to mitigate some problems he had with the ankle. After missing out for an age, Wilshere and some of his fellow first-team regulars played a closed door friendly against Brentford and he featured again (played all 90 minutes) in the Under-21s 4-1 victory over Stoke U-21s. Alex Iwobi was the star of the night, bagging himself a hat-trick but Wilshere would have been happy to go through the entire game unscathed.
Speaking after the game, the Englishman spoke about how he missed some first team football and has stated that he’s ready to play a role in the team’s surge for a strong finish to the campaign,
“You can train as much as you like but you can’t get that match fitness unless you play. In the Premier League you know how quick it is so you have to get back to that speed.
“I feel like I’m ready to play some part. When you’re injured you look at your comeback date and the games around that time.
“The one that stands out is the FA Cup semi-final but even before that we’ve got big games and we’ve got to got to Man United as well so there’s a chance to play this season.”
Wilshere must have been watching his teammates tear opposition team apart in recent weeks and he’d be longing to be part of that. Olivier Giroud has been grabbing the headlines with the goals but Arsenal fans know that it has been a great team effort for the lads to be where they are today.
In central midfield, Ramsey has been finding some form but he still pops up with those his moments of frustration from time to time. With Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla becoming indispensable members of the team, I can only see Wilshere replacing Ramsey in the team, because the Coq Block is there to stay. However, Ramsey is a better all round player than Wilshere and he also does his bit to provide defensive support to Coquelin – something Wilshere lacks.
Then there’s the issue of Wilshere’s style of play where he holds onto the ball far too long before threading a pass to a teammate in a better position. In more times than one, Wilshere usually runs into a brick wall, putting his team on the back foot. Nonetheless, he’s a player that still has a role to play at the club and I suspect that Wenger would schedule his comeback for the FA Cup semifinal against Reading in Wembley.
It would take a while for Wilshere to get a full hang of things and he’d need games but with Arsenal’s ‘one game at a time’ approach where every game seems to be like a cup final, Wenger would have to manage his team efficiently between now and the end of the season. Santi Cazorla has played a lot of games this season (42 appearances already) and he’d have to be given a breather from time to time.
