The final whistle had not been blown in Bournemouth’s draw with Tottenham Hotspur when humorous tweets regarding Jack Wilshere completing a Premier League match for the first time in a little over two years started coming through. “Bournemouth should get an extra point for getting 90 mins out of Jack Wilshere,” the journalist Sarah Shephard wrote, while the comedian David Schneider posted a sketch in which Wilshere is left confused by still being on the pitch at the end of the game. For the player himself, however, this was a serious milestone to reach.
A lot has happened to Wilshere in the 771 days between the game on Saturday and when he walked off at the end of Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City in September 2014, and indeed in the 487 days since he completed a match of any sort – England’s 3-2 victory against Slovenia in June 2015. The midfielder has gone from shining light for club and country to outcast for both on the back of a wretched fitness record but, having joined Bournemouth on loan, Wilshere is not only playing from start to finish but also regularly: this was the sixth successive league contest in which he has taken part for the club.
“I’m working hard in training but you can’t get that match fitness unless you’re playing games, and to play 90 minutes in the Premier League is hard,” said the 24-year-old. “I knew it would take me some time. I haven’t played 90 minutes in two years.
“It’s a long time and by the time it got to the 88th minute I was feeling it. But that’s only normal and, when you play game by game, you start to get your confidence back and try more things. I feel like I’m getting my first five yards of power back and, when I have that, I can do more things with the ball.”
There were undoubted flashes of quality from Wilshere in a position just off a lone centre-forward, Callum Wilson, although his movement was often too slow and his touch too heavy. But improvements will come with time and, with Gareth Southgate watching on here, the player is entitled to feel he can eventually force his way back into the national setup, although he is reluctant to say as much: “I have got to concentrate on myself, playing here, playing 90 minutes and getting back to my best. Then I can start thinking about that.”
Wilshere also insisted that he had not given thought to playing for Arsenal again and certainly was in no mood to discuss Jamie Redknapp’s pre-match assessment that he has no future there. But having joined the London club as a nine-year-old, become their youngest league player when he made his debut aged 16 years and 256 days and made 159 appearances under Arsène Wenger until his switch to the south coast, he must have a yearning to return. Wilshere can certainly be reassured by Wenger’s insistence last month that he remains in the Frenchman’s plans, even going as far as saying that the player could one day be Arsenal manager.
All that matters now for Wilshere is playing as often and for as long as possible, something he was prevented from doing at his parent club due to a litany of cracks, sprains and strains. “Being injured, coming back, playing a few games, trying to get your fitness back, getting injured again – you don’t get a chance to prove what you can do. So no matter where I was I would have to prove myself all over again because I have missed so much football.”
Having got Wilshere over the 90-minute barrier the Bournemouth manager, Eddie Howe, expects him to go from strength to strength. “Football can be a cruel game and you pick up an injury when you’re doing all the right things,” Howe said. “We’re pleased to be able to select him and he’s having a real positive effect on the team. Our long‑term objective is to keep him fit and available for the games ahead.”