Arsenal: Yes, Unai Emery will have to shoulder Jack Wilshere fate

Olivier Giroud has stated that Unai Emery will have to take responsibility for Jack Wilshere’s Arsenal exit. He is right. If Wilshere ever realises his potential, it is Emery who will have to shoulder the blame.

It may have been Jack Wilshere’s decision to leave Arsenal when his contract expires at the end of June, but his hand was unquestionably forced. This is someone who had been at the club for 17 years, moving through the academy from the age of nine, making his first-team debut at 16, becoming a fully-fledged star at 18. He wanted to stay.

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The problem was that he also wants to play football. It is this desire that has ruled his decision, and rightly so.

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When asked about his former teammate’s departure from north London, Olivier Giroud, who made the very same decision six months earlier for exactly the same reasons, expressed his sadness at the news, hoped the best for Wilshere’s future, and also thrust the responsibility onto the new manager, Unai Emery:

"“It’s big news and I’m very sad to hear it because he’s a good friend. It’s a big loss and I hope he will bounce back as soon as possible at a good club. I wish him the very best because I appreciate him. I hope for him and his family he will bounce back. The new manager makes the decision and he has the responsibility for the team and the player.”"

And certainly, this decision was motivated by Emery’s evaluation of Wilshere. For whatever reason, Emery did not feel that Wilshere was a part of his future plans. There is good cause for him to come to that conclusion.

Wilshere has not looked like the same player he was as a burgeoning teenager since he was a burgeoning teenager. Perhaps Emery felt that he would never be able to rekindle that same level of performance. There are many who would agree with him. But if Wilshere moves away from Arsenal, finds a home that he is comfortable in and, somehow, is able to stay fit, get fully match sharp and rediscover his best form, it will be on Emery’s head.

These are the type of decisions that managers have to make. Forecasting the future performance of a player acting as a result of that forecast. The successful ones are right more than they are wrong. Emery has made a big call to start his Arsenal tenure. It would have been much easier to give Wilshere a two-year contract and delay the decision for another year or two. But he didn’t. He was proactive, clear, certain.

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It remains to be seen whether it was the right decision. Only at the end of Wilshere’s career will we be able to say. But Emery is to blame for Wilshere’s departure. He will have to shoulder his fate, good or bad.