Arsenal: Jack Wilshere winning the lengthy war of relevance

Everyone wants Jack Wilshere back in the Arsenal starting XI. It’s just a matter of where to put him. Thankfully, he is winning that war, with some added help.

Jack Wilshere has lost a ton of battles in his Arsenal career. Injuries have knocked him down, rust has held him back, yet no matter what happens, he always ends up coming back.

When that all began, Wilshere always had a spot waiting for him. He was that important to the club and everyone was banking on his long-term stay with the club. He was, after all, destined to be the heart of Arsenal football club.

Gradually, Arsene Wenger had to start planning around him. He had to equip the team for life without the prolific Englishman. When he was healthy, great, but they couldn’t rely on him.

That can be problematic for a guy like Wilshere. He has world-class ability but he’s never able to stay relevant for long enough to exercise it.

It was especially hard this year, because Arsene Wenger is notoriously loyal. Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka have had an on again, off again partnership and, when it’s not their turn, it’s some combination of Mohamed Elneny, Francis Coquelin or anyone else Wenger can scrounge up.

For Wilshere, he wasn’t only going to need good health, he was going to need help.

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Against Norwich City, he got a lot of help. Coquelin was downright awful and may have helped himself to the bottom of the midfield totem pole. Meanwhile, Elneny has bee subpar for quite some time now, and may have done the same as Coquelin, allowing Wilshere to pass them on up.

Wenger has already hinted that things can change when rotations change. This was in regards to Wilshere. It’s hard to see still yet where Wilshere may find an opening, especially with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil clicking all of a sudden, but for now, at the very least, Wilshere is the next in line.

Whenever an opening should arrive, in either the attacking or holding midfield, no one has proven themselves more deserving than the Englishman. The question now is all about patience. How long does Wilshere go before he gets frustrated at lack of Premier League opportunities?

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Norwich

We all want Wilshere back, that much is certain, but the war goes on. Wilshere has won several battles in a row, but there is a much bigger foe out there that he can’t overcome, and that foe is other people’s form.

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