Jack Wilshere: Arsenal midfielder may have made major error in leaving north London on loan this season – opinion
Tottenham Hotspur dismantled Bournemouth with ease at the weekend and Jack Wilshere's struggles were symptomatic of the away side’s difficulties.
Substituted before the hour mark due to an ankle injury on a forgettable afternoon for the Cherries, his decision to go on loan to the south coast club - not so long ago hailed as a sensible move – is being called into question.
Following the Spurs game, Alan Shearer said on BBC Match of the Day that Wilshere’s loan move to the Vitality Stadium was supposed to reignite his career but, if anything, has created more problems.
Earlier in the campaign, in an interview with the Daily Mail, Wilshere revealed that being left out of the England squad at the end of August 2016 was the final straw in his decision to leave Arsenal, albeit temporarily, on transfer deadline day.
Now, nearing the end of his spell, we’re scratching our heads at what’s next for the on-loan Arsenal man, even questioning the role he has played with the Cherries.
A habit of judging players on their goalscoring and assist stats alone has grown in recent years, leaving their all-round influence to a game often overlooked and overshadowed, but it’s hard to ignore Wilshere’s tally sitting at just two assists for the campaign. And away from the attacking third, WhoScored show that he’s averaged just one tackle and 0.4 interceptions per game this season.
His being in and out of the team this calendar year suggests that Eddie Howe, the Bournemouth manager, is also unsure over his contribution.
Few want Wilshere to fail. Besides Dele Alli, Adam Lallana and Ross Barkley, it’s been slim pickings with regards to English midfielders displaying the ability to excite supporters over the past five years.
He has the intelligence to conduct play, to combine short and long passes, cleverly link-up attacks and lift his head on the run. Sadly though, it’s hard to remember the last time he displayed his qualities.
Still we pine over his performance against Barcelona in the Champions League second-leg last 16 meeting at the Emirates in 2011.
It was that night, as Lionel Messi and company were thwarted in north London, that Europe stood and applauded the fresh-faced Wilshere, believing one of the future’s brightest talents had emerged from the developmental stage of his career to establish a place among the game’s elite.
But fast forward six years and it seems that Arsenal’s gifting of too much, too soon to their midfielder may have caused irreversible damage.
Financial rivalry and demands from agents has left clubs almost powerless to bring the interest of a young player’s progression to the foreground. At 18 years old Wilshere had already agreed a £50,000-a-week contract and with that, despite this figure being the going rate in the Premier League, came unrealistic expectations.
While Tottenham’s Dele has worked his way through the lower leagues of English football, Wilshere hit the jackpot almost instantly - and he’s learned that glamour has its expiry date.
The pertinent question now is have Arsenal, even with their injury problems in midfield, missed their number 10 during his spell away? Whether he's welcomed back to the Emirates will provide the answer.