Arsenal: Let’s hold the Jack Wilshere horses

Jack Wilshere played a full 90 minutes against Doncaster Rovers on Wednesday. While exciting, let’s hold the horses and not get ahead of ourselves.

Jack Wilshere is a wonderfully talented player, a talent that has, mostly, been wasted. Injuries have been the culprit; his career has been the victim. Now 25, the midfielder has seen his standing in the Arsenal squad gradually decrease, such that, he now finds himself behind the likes of Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny after a year on loan at Bournemouth.

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So, given his historic struggles, it was fantastic to see him play a full 90 minutes on Wednesday against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup. For a player of his fitness issues, simply to play a full game is now a rather significant achievement.

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And after a prosperous performance in that match, especially early on where he dictated the game with wonderful control and creativity from the centre of the park, thoughts have begun to turn to the future and where Wilshere may be able to have an impact this season. Speaking with Sky Sports, former Gunner Charlie Nicholas accurately stated that Wilshere’s primary role this year will be in the Europa League and domestic cup competitions:

"“He won’t start against West Brom and it will probably take him a lot of time to get over his first 90 minutes, when he was probably man-of-the-match, but if if they can get 2-0 up then the crowd would certainly love to see him get 20 minutes. Then on Thursday night, against BATE Borisov, I’m looking at him getting another 90, so he’s on the right track. A lot of people have said he won’t get into the team because of Mesut Ozil but he doesn’t necessarily have to play there, but he’ll get opportunities in the Europa League and the Carabao Cup.”"

And Nicholas is right to be tentative with his projections for the year ahead for Wilshere. Although he is an outstanding talent, more so than the other midfielders in the squad — Elneny and Coquelin are more combative and dependable, but Wilshere certainly has the great potential –, he is also extremely rusty, injury prone and hasn’t completed a full season without missing time since he broke into the first team at 18 years of age.

I am certainly of the thinking that Wilshere should be given the opportunity to prove whether he can rediscover his best form. His ability is deserving of that and little is lost as a result. But let’s hold the horses with any hype surrounding him.

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Yes, it is brilliant to see him playing again. Yes, he is a wonderfully gifted player. Yes, he played well in midweek. But let’s be patient with him and see what happens. The season is long and the dangers are many.