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Arsenal Must Embrace Jack Wilshere, Attitude and All
By Josh Sippie
Jack Wilshere is facing a 40,000 pound fine for his little harmless rant about what Tottenham was. Aside from that, the rambunctious Englishman has found himself in spots of trouble for smoking, drinking, and doing just about everything a party-rocking college student would be up to.
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The problem is that Jack Wilshere is a world-class athlete on one of the best football teams in the world. After so many bouts with his attitude, does Arsenal really have any chance of straightening out Wilshere?
First of all, they should not want to. Arsenal need to embrace the bad boy mentality that Jack Wilshere has. It enhances his game and makes him a much more valuable player than those guys that bounce around from team to team. His game is heightened by his love for Arsenal and if Arsenal (and Arsene Wenger) can reciprocate that love, the results will be fantastic.
Wilshere clearly felt a little strain in the relationship with his lifelong team. He said, via ESPNFC: “I want to be wanted by Arsenal.” But as he himself pointed out, he was not going to change who he was as a person or as a player, and again, he should not have to. This dynamic between Arsenal and Jack Wilshere is going to cement itself as a driving force as soon as Wilshere can stay healthy for a season or so. After seeing his last couple games of the season and what he is doing for the English National team, this is the year of Jack Wilshere.
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According to Wilshere (via Eurosport), he models his play after the very successful Paul Gascoigne. Gascoigne, known as Gazza, played a very similar game to Jack Wilshere. Both play without fear, without hesitation. They derive the ball and create beautiful strings of play.
However, both also have a bit of an attitude to boot, it just comes with the territory of the play style. The sooner Arsenal can embrace that, the sooner Jack Wilshere can really flourish and become the special player that he has been destined to be. The criticism of Jack Wilshere is slowly but surely evaporating and turning into universal praise. As long as he can stay healthy, he can become the core of Arsenal and the core of the English National team.
You have to wonder if that embrace will ever happen, however. With the strict policies of Arsene Wenger, will Jack Wilshere ever really be able to be embraced by Arsenal under Le Prof’s system? Any transfer linking Jack away from the Emirates was always laughable, but it could be really strained if the leash is not loosened even in the slightest. It may even work out that if Arsenal were to embrace Wilshere’s mentality, all of the side problems may go away.
Jack Wilshere needs to be allowed to be who he is. If you restrain him off the field, it may well restrain him on the field.
Next: What is going on with Serge Gnabry?