Jack Wilshere has not played a competitive game this season for Arsenal; let that sink in, that might not be a startling fact but it sure does raise concerns about the fitness of the 23-year-old. Wilshere hasn’t had the best of times when it comes to injuries as he has faced a lot of time out of the team nursing injuries and trying to regain his fitness.
It isn’t just the recovery time which is a problem, he has had his run-ins with manager Arsene Wenger as well, everyone remembers the smoking incident which saw Wilshere getting rebuked by various corners of the footballing world. With a poor record in terms of staying fit, is it time for Arsenal to say bye-bye to the talented midfielder?
Talent and ability only let down by fitness issues
No one doubts the talent that Wilshere has, when he is played in midfield and is given a bit of freedom to link up with the attack, Wilshere has shown that he is one of the best in the Premier League and at only 23, he has time to develop his game and ability.
The fact about his injury record certainly has curtailed his chances of achieving bigger and better things at Arsenal and there could be a point when Arsene Wenger says ‘enough is enough’ and deal with the youngster.
We saw Abou Diaby being released from his contract and that could be the fate of the Englishman. No one actually wants to see such things taking place in the world of football, when players have careers not lasting more than 15 years at the most but business sense must prevail over emotion, especially in this day and age of money ruling over hearts.
The other aspect of this case is that Arsenal have one of the most talented squads in the league, when everyone is fit, the problem leads to many players sitting on the bench. Would anyone want to change the foundation of a team that is doing so well in the league and even in Europe?
Arsenal have been on fire since the start of the season, barring a few blips against Chelsea and in the Champions League, they look imperious and could actually win the Premier League for the first time since 2004. Arsenal’s winning combination in midfield currently is Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin and the way the pair have played this season, you cannot think about dropping them.
You can’t bring Wilshere into the team in attack either with Sanchez, Walcott, Ramsey and even Giroud now finding his scoring touch. Selling Wilshere might actually turn out to be too big a step for Arsenal, especially since they have been hit by a couple of injuries as well. Ramsey is out for a long time and we know that any player could sustain a major injury, Wilshere would be a great option to have off the bench and with a requirement to play a number of games, he could make his way back into the starting line-up but the main focus for him should be to regain his fitness and stay fit for a major portion of this season, anything less and he could be looking at the bench for much longer than expected.