Wilshere recovering well – But have Arsenal missed him as much as expected?
Showing signs of becoming the next Liam Brady for the Gunners, 19 year-old Jack Wilshere’s absence after injuring his ankle in late July was considered by many as to being the end of Arsenal’s season before it had even begun. The fact that the club had been struggling for consistency with him in the team before the end of last season made life without him look fairly daunting to some, especially considering the lack of options at that time.
Wilshere told his Twitter followers yesterday: “As I said had 6 week X-ray earlier and all going well… I can start to work a bit harder now”. Unfortunately for both Arsenal and England, though, another four to five months on the sidelines is looking like the most probable conclusion to this nightmarish start of the season for the youngster.
Wenger did act upon the news that he was to be out for longer than expected, revealed in mid August, signing Arteta and Benayoun to strengthen the midfield. Benayoun’s loan transfer never promised regular action but he has still managed to look fairly impressive, while Arteta has eventually settled into his role as Arsenal’s midfield general. His play has allowed the team to tick over whilst he has also contributed goals and defensive help for Song.
Ramsey too has shown massive improvement and has arguably gotten better than his brilliant form he was showing before the Shawcross incident. Rosicky and Arshavin both offer excellent options down the middle or on the wings – although the latter isn’t overly fond of that position – meaning that Wenger might have a more competent squad than he may have imagined when learning of Wilshere’s fate.
Beyond any doubt, Jack Wilshere’s influence last campaign was massive – not to mention his two goals and nine assists – and his Player of the Season award was richly deserved. Wenger’s team obviously longed for a quick recovery but their wishes have so far been made in vain.
However, having played so many games in 2010/11 and looking like one of Arsenal’s most talented prospects in years, have the Gunners really missed Wilshere as much as one might have expected?
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Yes we have missed him. It has taken time for Arteta, Benayoun to adjust to the squad – making our midfield and team in general vulnerable. Jack would have enforced that midfield from the word go. I would love to see him, Song and Arteta working that midfield and playing that beautiful football. Ramsey overall has contributed a lot but I think when Jack returns, he will have more of a fight for his position in the squad.
Recover quick Jack, we miss you man!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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no matter how good chamakh was playing last season he was benched as soon as RVP was fit
no matter how good the mert-kos partnership was becoming as soon as verma was fit some1 had 2 be benched
and no matter how good arteta n ramsey r playing as soon as wilshere is fit some1 will be benched……………sorry arteta n ramsey but that’s the reality
GOONER TIL I DIE
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oh n isn’t wilshere 20 not 21……it could even be 19 i’m not quite sure but his definitely not 21 yet
GOONER TIL I DIE
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I’m not sure we would have had as bad a start to the season had wishere been fit. I mean losing fabregas, nasri AND wilshere would damage any team. But yea, arteta is starting to look more comfortable and ramsey looks like he’s put some realy bad early season performances behind him and is starting to put in some wilshere type displays on himself so yea, I think losing wilshere massively hurt us but at least it looks like we’ve begun to heal! Arsenal till I die.
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Wilshere’s absence has been well managed by getting the new players on board and the continued emergence of Aaron Ramsey. When he does return it will be good to give the likes of Ramsey a bit of a rest. I think the fact the Wilshere has been injured so long is in part due to him playing so much last season. We don’t want that for Ramsey too, especially after much a big injury.
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We missed him at the start of the season. His presence in midfield would have helped us a lot, not only results wise, but with the assimilation of the new signings as they took some time to gel and Ramsey was starting his first run of games back to back for quite some time.
Saying that, Ramsey has come on well after some average performances early on and it will be interesting who plays in midfield when young Jack gets back because we’ve been doing pretty well in that department
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Wilshere silenced the Barcelona midfield last season, which other players have we got that could have done that?
Not only is he techically awesome during play, he is like a TRUE captain in the centre of the field. He’s not afraid to confront slacking team-mates and “encourage” them to try harder. He has the complete respect from more experienced and older players like Scholes and Arshavin who have said Wilshere is already better than them in their prime. Nobody messes with Wilshere if you look carefully.
Wilshere is win, win, win – he’s like an unstoppable force. No team would fail to be improved with him in it. Arteta is not going to whinge about Wilshere getting his play. If Arteta truly wants the team to succeed then he’ll even suggest playing the better Wilshere.
It’s hoped that Ramsey and Wilshere forge a central midfield like that at the Nou Camp with a DM behind them. Ramsey himself is Captain material and is a very forceful character, so he and Wilshere are not easily dominated men. An on form Song behind them with Vermaelen paired with the equally steely Koscielny behind Song, Van Persie growling upfront – I’m actually thinking Barcelona won’t be much of a problem. Especially if our full backs get their acts together with the Wingers.
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it just goes to show what a great buy Arteta was…
as wonderful a player as Wilshere is i think the versatile and combative Arteta has more than filled the gap…
Jack’s return will ultimately pressure Ramsey’s position in the team
what a fabulous position to be in though with such an abundance of quality in our midfield….samir who ?
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Jack, Arteta, Ramsey and Song will make an impressive midfield no doubt about that, it is balanced with a lot of both defensive and attacking quality, that’s the best midfield we could have. Theo, Arshavin and Roshickyc can provide back-up and Frimpong, Coquelin will learn a lot from these players and they can show their own worth in the CC.
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Yes we have missed him, we can always do with a little more quality in the side. I beleive the Manager has done a wonderful job in solidifying the team and the midfield by bringing in experienced players who have always been consistent. Obviously when Jack returns the squad would have an even stronger look to it. My question is, if we sign the youngster from Dortmund who is likely to be benched, in January?
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It’s just so good to hear jack talk about his true love for the club. Remember when we had a whole team of similar thinking players? I’m sure we’ll get back there again. I cant believe that every footballer is in it solely to earn as much as they can. There has to be passion for the the club and the shirt you wear. Well done Jack.
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i thought wilshere was 19?
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Jack is a top Player and I think he will ultimately take Ramsey’s place but Ramsey is more of a Goal scorer and jack seem to play best as the deeper playmaker which is arteta’s position. For me I would play a 4/4 /1/ 1 with Rosicky and Arteta on the flanks and Arteta and Wilshire in the middle. We can then play Arshavin as the player in the hole or RVP with theo up front. Against Barca and the like we would play song behind the 4 mid fielders and just a lone srtiker.
I think we would be very hard to break down if Arteta and Rosicky played on the flanks.
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jacks 19 years old
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He is 20 by the way, and yes we have missed him. I forgot so until i checked a youtube video on his performances last season, specifically the barca match. Our midfiel could be one of the strongest once he comes back, i think he can fit into fabregas role and be a huge player for us! Get well soon JAck!!
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Err…Jack’s 19, will be 20 at the turn of the year.
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Jack Whilshere is only 19. When he returns, we would have more depth in the midfield. As of right now, we may have enough midfielders (number wise), but very few of them are actually reliable. Jack’s return would add more creativity as well as strength and enthusiasm to our team. After all, he’s the one going to create his own legend at Arsenal. He is not a second Liam Brady; he is the first Jack Whilshere!
#Gunnersforlife
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He has been missed from the point of view of rotation and he is still (probably) the best midfielder in the squad but what really matters is that he plays at home against Spurs, City, United and Chelsea in the last half of the season. To have the top four rivals all coming to the Emirates after Christmas gives the club a real chance of challenging if the lads continue the brilliant home form. It has been 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in all competitions at home this season and that includes the terrible start to the season. The draw against Marseille ruined a perfect record since the 10-man defeat by Liverpool in the second game of the season.
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Definetly missed wilshere!
why must em,why nt squid r almunia that wud b on his place ryt nw..song,arteta n wilshere…wenger cud even chnge to arteta,wilshere and ramsey r othrwise..arteta cn also b backup for song..lots of matches n its all up to the le profesor! bt soon f he comes..i knw he wil b at the atacking midfield role..there is a lot of options..hpe they ol wud b fit and in form like rvp..jst see the determination on tv5,he is jst the same as vidic of manu..he is important to us..f we gt vertonghen,podolski n goetze n get rid of squid,chamakh n cud loan frimpong..gt rid of denilson,bendtner too..our first team lineup after january f ol fit;
szc
sagna-mert-tv5-vertonghen
song-wilshere
walcot-goetze-gervinho
rvp
fabianski
jenkinson-koscielny-vertonghen-santos/gibbs
arteta-coquelin/diaby
arshavin-ramsey/rosicky-podolski
park
sory for the long text,it is ntnt specificaly like that the lineup..jst an opinion..
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Its obvious that jack had to be away for so long,thanks to arteta,song and A.Ramsey for helping out at the midfield,but the truth of the matter is that we realy miss jack,and we also wish him speedy recovery.
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Yes, we missed him in August. I doubt we would only have gotten 1 of 9 possible points with him in the team and the 2-8 mauling by ManU would never have happened. We basically started with only RvP, Theo and probably Koscielny of the current preferred starting XI. We missed Sagna, Vermaelen, Gibbs/Santos in the defence, midfield was without Arteta (not an Arsenal player at the time), Song and Wilshere and up front we were missing Gervinho.
That is all old news though. Do we currently miss him? Hmm, with Arteta, Song and Ramsey all playing well, we cope pretty well without him.
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Sorry, not sure why I put 21. He is (incredibly!) indeed only 19.
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Yes Wishere has been missed …. But, we are still strong in midfield. What Wilshere now brings (when he’s back), is depth to our midfield. Although we still need a creative midfielder, we now have options. So, instead of fielding the only (‘A’) team we have, AW can put out the best team that is suited to beating our opposition, and also, enabling players to be rested when they need it.
So IMO, I would look to sign a creative midfielder, and striker/winger in Jan. CM – Hazard would be ideal, but I think we have missed the boat with him (unfortunately). I think he will be taken but a club who will throw more money at Lille. But who knows. And RVP needs releif up front. Chamakh and Park just don’t cut it when we need a striker. Furthermore, let’s sell a few players to fund the players we need – Chamakh, Bendtner, Squid, and Almunia. (Possibly Arshavin – for me the Jury is out on him. He’s hot and cold. We need him to be consistent. When his hot, he’s great, but too often he has a great week, followed by a few bad weeks in a row. So maybe it’s worth getting a player of his calibre who is a little more on the money. But like I said, not totally sure that’s the best way to go).
If we get those positions sorted, I think we are true contenders in any arena we play in. I really hope we do sign a couple of top notch players in Jan.
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What are u talking about?Of course we missed him.
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arsenal1again
that is quite possibly to be one of thee most optimistic comment i have seen. but i like it
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we have managed without Jack,but the good thing is when he comes back the lads in midfield will have to step up a gear to keep there places,and he will have to be on top ov his game,just like walcot coz ov the ox and koncielny n metasacker coz ov the vermainator.santos coz ov gibbs and so on.
its the best situation our club has been in!!
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Jack is 19 not 21.
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