As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
clockender1 wrote:hate is a bit strong, most on here hope the rest will do him good. physically and mentally.
i do think we're better without him in his current form - if you dont, what do you think was the reason for change in pace and directness amongst the other four midfielders ?
im very interested to see if we go on a run now, or we suffer another stoke or Southampton.
I really want him to succeed because there's a lot to like about him as a player but, unfortunately, there's equally as much to dislike about his game at present.
I think it's pretty clear we're a better side without him right now.
Sounds bad it was a relief he wasn't available yesterday. The two proper holders played well and the movement of Ox, Cazorla and Ozil was far superior.
Hlebby you make some valid points but you have to also account for the strength of our squad compared to a few years ago. Wilshere was excellent 2010/11 and we missed him horrendously the following season with no Nasri, no Fabregas, Rosicky generally injured, Ramsey being shifted around and struggling wherever he played etc. Now we've added Ozil and Cazorla, Ramsey seems to have taken really positive steps, Rosicky has stayed generally fit and Flamini provides far more stability than Song did. I would still love a fit and firing Jack Wilshere in our squad but we don't need it anywhere near as much as we did two years ago.
I'm disappointed he hasn't been able to kick on as we'd hoped - whether that is down to Wenger not figuring out what role will get the best from him, the medical team botching his treatment, his attitude, unrealistic expectations or just sheer bad luck. But the biggest factor for me is that he is just not as important to the squad as he was.
LDB wrote:Seems to struggle away from home. He talks a good game about being a salt-of-the-earth Brit but really he's prone to intimidation.
Think it's something that he'll get over as he gets more experienced and (hopefully) less injury-prone.
Not sure of it's what you mean but I do think he is targeted by opponents looking to take him out, particularly on his ankle - his habit of laying prone on the ground whenever tackled only encourages more of these types of challenges as they know it as a big weakness.
I like Jack, think he has an abundance of talent, but it is not coming out often enough to warrant an automatic starting berth - if that is due to carrying an injury and playing through pain, not having the correct role in the team or him just not performing at anywhere his best I just don't know. (I haven't worked 30 years in football)