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Is Jack Wilshere En Route to Being the Next Abou Diaby?
By Josh Sippie
It’s a scary prospect. In five years, Jack Wilshere has played in 95 league games and missed 119 weeks, 112 from various ankle injuries. Now, the young Englishman could be out until March after having surgery to repair his left ankle’s ligament damage.
This news is downright tragic.
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Wilshere had been dominating the field for club and country and had been man of the match for England four times. At only 22 years of age, it’s still way too young to stick a fork in him but I’m starting to get a sick feeling. Abou Diaby’s injuries started right off the bat too and in the past 7 years with Arsenal, he’s suffered over 30 injuries.
Here’s some more eerie comparisons. In his first full five years with Arsenal, Jack Wilshere is averaging 18.4 league matches a year (29.4 appearances in all competitions). Abou Diaby’s numbers through his first five years? 18.4 league matches a year (27.6 in all competitions).
The worst part about that stat is it isn’t including all the time Wilshere is going to miss for the remainder of the year. With a return to training set at March, it may end up that he doesn’t even play again in 2014/15, but let’s just hope for the best.
It’s a depressing comparison when considering how much potential Wilshere has. The only reason Wilshere hasn’t been able to live up to that potential is injuries. He’s been absolutely derailed by injuries and every time he seems to be reaching new heights, he is stricken again.
Some people just have bad luck. Abou Diaby has had an entire career of bad luck. Let’s hope that Wilshere’s luck turns around and we can see him overcome these “glass ankles” that he’s been plagued with for his entire career.
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