Arsenal: Jack Wilshere on standby with cape in hand

Arsenal’s midfield has been a point of contention over recent months, but with Jack Wilshere lurking, cape in hand, is there anything in his way but time?

Everybody is talking about Jack Wilshere all over again. This always tends to happen, and it’s really a beautiful thing. For about a decade we’ve been waiting for Wilshere to take the reigns and steer Arsenal into the promised land behind his probing runs and his bulldog mentality.

Yet, despite having to wait a decade, the hope has never died. Supporters are saying the same things they always have. “He’s the best midfielder we have,” “Get him into the starting XI.”

It’s all beautifully reminiscent of his teenage years.

Arsene Wenger has put the damper on things, reminding the world that he has just come back from yet another serious injury and, just because he was able to go 90 minutes against Doncaster Rovers, does not mean he is ready to go 90 minutes against Premier League opposition.

Wenger has the right idea. You can’t risk letting him get hurt again and, to be completely fair, Wilshere did lose a lot of steam in the League Cup win over Doncaster.

But after seeing Arsenal’s midfield bullied against West Brom, perhaps we should start talking logistics. Wenger clearly avoided signing a midfielder this summer and as such, the crop we have is what we will be utilizing until January at the earliest, but the summer more realistically.

Which is fine, because we do have some talented players. But for as good as the midfield was at winning the battle against Chelsea, they lost all of that momentum against West Brom, letting the Baggies harass them into numerous mistakes.

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All the while, supporters keep reminding each other – Jack Wilshere is there, he is ready, he wants to be a hero.

Wilshere will play 90 minutes against FC BATE Borisov on Thursday. Ideally, that 45-60 minutes of brilliance we saw against Doncaster can be stretched out to 70-75 minutes and we can slap a big “progress” sticker on the match and prepare for the next.

There isn’t much else in Wilshere’s way. Especially with the quick hook that Wenger has shown this year. If Danny Welbeck can keep Alexis Sanchez out of the starting XI, then Jack Wilshere can return the favor to someone else.

Even if that someone else is Mesut Ozil.

Neither Granit Xhaka nor Mohamed Elneny was particularly outstanding against the Baggies. Meanwhile, Mesut Ozil has been a chance-creation machine for as long as he has played football, but there’s no guarantee that this one facet is going to be enough to satisfy Wenger’s rotating whimsies.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against West Brom

With Brighton & Hove Albion, there will be more questions asked and, without the proper answers, Wilshere can move one step closer to donning the cape and making his return.

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