Pain in the Arsenal
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Why Jack Wilshere can Change Everything at Arsenal

By Josh Sippie

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Everyone deserves a hero. Jack Wilshere can be the hero that Arsenal deserves. After years of relentless injuries walking hand in hand with years of Arsenal mediocrity (speculative), Jack Wilshere is set to return to the team, perhaps at a time when they need him most. The young English midfielder came off of a stellar end to last season and went straight into another injury sustained in practice.

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Now, the team needs him more than they ever have.

Arsenal has lacked a real direction through the first three games of the season. They dink the ball around inside and around the box but they never really have someone to drive at the defense and cause trouble. Alexis Sanchez does it and Aaron Ramsey will contribute, but that is about it. The Ox, in the rare minutes that he sees on the pitch, does it better than anyone else, but again, his minutes are rare.

Jack Wilshere does it too. The bulldog in the middle oft he pitch has a knack for pressing the issue, driving the ball straight into the opposition’s comfort zone and causing hefty batches of discomfort. That is what Arsenal needs right now.

All we have seen from the Gunners is a cluttering of bodies, short passes and very few probing efforts into the goal. We have also seen Santi Cazorla make mistake after mistake from his out-of-position deep-lying spot next to Francis Coquelin.

Aaron Ramsey has called for that spot, but surprisingly, the Welshman has found contentment and extreme usefulness on the right side of the pitch, getting in between the lines, as Wenger told him to do. In fact, Aside from Giroud, Ramsey has looked one of the few threats that Arsenal have thus far.

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Jack Wilshere is set to return mid-September to a Gunner’s side that will hopefully be in much better shape than they are now. But either way, once fully fit and capable to give a full 90 minutes of play, Wenger needs to find space for him. If he will not start the Ox, maybe he will start Wilshere, because this Arsenal squad needs a threatening spearhead in this attack, not another blunt boomerang that swings the ball round the box with little threat posed on goal.

Every time someone gets hurt at Arsenal, they return stronger than ever, in the best form of their life. Jack Wilshere did as well when he returned last year and he could very well do the same when he returns this time around. Wenger will most definitely want to inch his prodigal son into game play but he cannot be afraid to let Wilshere loose once he displays that he is fit.

Wenger is not one to make changes, but it is quite clear that changes must be made. Wishful thinking would have Jack Wilshere back next week and starting but if it has to wait until mid-September, so be it.

Next: 5 Questions following Arsenal vs Liverpool

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