“He (Wilshere) couldn’t take part in the game (against Chelsea) because of an ankle problem he sustained yesterday. It happened at the training ground.
“We don’t think it’s bad at all but I haven’t been told whether it will be two days or five days. I don’t know how long he will not be available for. It’s a matter of days.” – Arsene Wenger.
Before’s Arsenal triumph over Chelsea, Wenger made the fans feel that Wilshere’s ankle injury wasn’t a big deal. The midfielder enjoyed a good summer in the Sun and was reported to be one of the earliest players to join training this season. He had a good preseason by his standards and he was one of the players that was bound to make Wenger have selection problems but alas, Wenger wouldn’t have to worry about featuring Wilshere anytime soon because he’s ready for another spell on the sidelines – a familiar sight at Arsenal.
Sadly, Wilshere’s ankles have suffered a lot of impact injuries in his time with Arsenal with the most recent injury surfacing in November last year, when the inexperienced Manchester United defender, Paddy McNair, mistimed a tackle with a lounge that put Wilshere on the sidelines for five months.
The Daily Mail recently published an article on Wilshere’s injury problems and they created a time line of the player’s visits to the treatment table since he made his debut for the club. Wilshere has had 13 major injuries since 2009 with 10 of them suffered on his ankle. If you add his most recent ankle injury to the list, that would make it 11 ankle injuries in six years, with a some total of almost 112 weeks out due to injuries to his ankles. These are just mere stats but it’s a fellow professional footballer these things are happening too.
Wilshere had aspirations for himself this season and was hoping to stay fit in his bid to fight for a first-team berth. In the central midfield role, he had fallen behind the likes of Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla, so it was a case of simply taking your chance when it comes a la Coquelin or Bellerin but with his latest setback, Wenger must be thinking about what the future holds for the lad.
This is a guy that broke into the first team at very early age but a stress fracture to his ankle made him miss the game for close to 14 months. Wenger tries a rather courteous approach with Wilshere due to his injury worries but he’d be utterly frustrated that his midfielder wouldn’t be available for selection. Arsenal is challenging for trophies in four fronts and Wenger would want all the men he can get at his disposal.
The initial prognosis states that Wilshere would be out for six to eight weeks, but with me being an Arsenal fans and judging from the injuries of the past, I’d say he may be out for more than that duration.
I wish Wilshere a speedy recovery and I hope he’d give the club a chance to tap into that potential stored inside him.
In all honesty, his injury is a frustration to his manager, his teammates and the fans.
Sayonara.
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