Jack Wilshere’s Injury and Where Arsenal Go From There

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have no doubt heard of Jack Wilshere’s latest news- he’s a dad! Oh yeah, he got injured, or something.

First of all, congrats to the Wilshere’s for one more person with Arsenal DNA making it to this world. While the fact that Nikola Tesla never got to reproduce but a teenage footballer did saddens me, it’s always good to see one of our players get to experience such a happy day. Hopefully that will magically speed up his ankle’s healing process as well, because his ankle really sucks right now.

For a brief speeding-up monologue, what basically happened is this: After a long, strenuous, 50-game debut season in 2010/11, Jack did the sensible thing and eventually decided to not go with Stuart Pearce and the Pearcettes to the U21 Euros. Only, Mrs. Injury still paid him a visit anyways, because she’s that mean. His ankle stress fracture was either brought upon by a Johan Djourou tackle during England’s game against Switzerland in Euro 2012 qualifying (start of June), or was finally aggravated to the point of being unable to play during Arsenal’s Emirates Cup Clash against the NY Red Bulls. Or both. Or something. The point is, Jack fucked up his ankle, but at that point of time (start of the season), it was assumed he was going to return in a couple of weeks.

Then the word got out that he was in a protective boot. Ruh roh. Then the word got out he was in light training the weekend before the 2nd leg against Udinese. YAY! Then it was officially stated that he had a setback and was in a protective boot again. Damn. THEN, finally, a week or so ago it was confirmed he was going to have surgery on that darn ankle, and would be out until February at the earliest. All those people saying this was Vermaelen part deux, go pat yourselves on the back. Try to hold back your tears.

Now, before we start talking about the implications of this to our squad, let me put in a word for the medical team, specifically their media guy. Media Guy*, if I may, if you are not 100% sure of a certain comeback date or time out, then please, please, don’t say anything. It gives us false hope, but more damagingly, gives the player in question false hope, as well, which can be physically and mentally damaging once he gets the news that no, sorry buddy you’re not out for 3 weeks, you’re out for 4 MONTHS. It’s not just Wilshere- Benik Afobe was told he would be out for a couple of weeks, but last week he was told that, yep, he’s out for 4 months. Everyone remembers Vermaelen’s mess last year. And right now, I’m not feeling too confident of Koscielny and Djourou coming back anytime soon. Yes, I know injuries are a part of the game, and the way we play, and the amount we play means that the players get injured quite often. And I also know that accurately getting the injury and time out for the player in question is quite difficult, hence all the protective boot stuff, but do you really have to gamble on someone’s fitness? Wilshere is young, he’s still developing. If he’s not 100%, then don’t put him out there, not even for training. It’s that simple. Hopefully this will the last that this type of thing happens.

At least our medical team isn't this guy...

Now, back to Wilshere, shall we? With Cesc’s departure, Wilshere became our most creative and most influential midfielder (although Song’s good form and Arteta’s signing have put that claim under challenge). He was the guy who was going to make us forget about Cesc and his sexy passes. A tenacious, box-to-box but intelligent midfielder, Jack was the way Forward, the one who was going to lead us to future success, the future captain. Except now, his ankle is done and he’s out until February. Right.

Now that Wilshere is out for the long haul, the hope is that the current midfield trio of Song-Ramsey-Arteta stay healthy from now until January, when the reinforcements will hopefully come. This isn’t exactly a promising hope. At the rate guys like Vermaelen, Koscielny, and Djourou get injured, it’s quite likely that Song will be playing CB more than once after Sunday. We don’t know just yet how physically sound Ramsey is right now when it comes to knocks and niggles, considering this is his first full season since returning from his awful injury Shawcross-induced leg break. And Arteta isn’t exactly the healthiest guy in midfield, either. But the fact is, that those 3 guys are our best midfielders right now, and the chances of them playing together most of the time from now until Wilshere’s return look slim. So this is where we go to the other guys, the Second String.

Rosicky is past it. I’m sorry, by all accounts he is a model teammate, but his age and his injury records mean that he really isn’t useful other than a squad player, a loyal team guy, and someone who can shore up the midfield when we’re trying to close a game. Not exactly one we can count on for dictating games or helping us get results. Next on the list are Frimpong and Coquelin, who are both DM’s by trade. Both are inexperienced, raw, and in need of games to sharper their talents. Frimpong is energetic and aggressive, but lacks the coolness to make meaningful contributions right now. Coquelin’s a little more reserved, and more cerebral in his passing and technique, but still lacks experience. While the battle between the two for the backup DM spot will be fascinating (right now I’m inclined to favor Coq), are these two the guys you want to rely on to make a Top 4 spot? I wouldn’t personally. They will come good in a couple of years, but right now they are firmly in the learning stage. And, to be blunt, they haven’t shown any incredible skill or technique that guys like Cesc… and Wilshere.. showed when they made it to the big stage. I hope to be proven wrong on this, and that Francis Coquelin becomes a top-class DM a year from now, but I don’t see a lot of signs of that happening.

So the other option is to get an additional midfielder come January. Names that have been thrown include Yann M’Vila (bookies favorite), Moussa Sissoko, and others. More audacious names include Mario Goetze and Eden Hazard, but those moves would depend on their respective sides crashing out of the CL by December, and they would be cup-tied anyways. And they would cost a lot, a lot, a LOT of money. Wenger and Arsenal have never been to spend big bucks on a player, less so in January. However, they DID do just that in January in 2009, brining in a certain Andrei Arshavin for a still club record fee. For those that might recall, we where of being overtaken in the battle for 4th by Aston Villa (remember when they were 4th place contenders?). And come January 2012, it’s certain that we will be NOT be safely and secure above 4th place (unless something miraculous happens, and we play awesome with a midfield trio of Song, Ramsey, and Arteta), and it’s fairly certain we will be a scrap with Spurs, Liverpool, and Yearly Midtable Team Pulling Above Their Weight(I’m going for Newcastle this year. Puke.) for the golden 4th spot. Or even worse, we’re so bad we’re out of the running for 4th place altogether. Yikes. So I guess it’s possible Wenger will whip out the pocketbook and pay a marked-up fee for M’Vila or another good midfielder in January.

Of course, someone will rise up and say “but JG, if we sign another midfielder, then Frimpong/Coquelin/Aneke/Ozzy won’t get their chance to shine! AND THAT’S NOAT FAIRRRRR!!”. I will, of course, kindly ask security to escort the lovely skeptic out of the building and deal with him, KGB style. The fact of the matter is, those youngsters who truly have it in them to shine and be world class, and therefore worthy of playing for Arsenal, will shine and prove themselves regardless of having 3-4 guys ahead of them in the pecking order. Wenger loves giving chances to youngsters, and he’s done that since he’s been at Arsenal. Look at Cesc and Wilshere, two guys who came up and held down first team spots amid a crowded midfield and shone. At the other hand, look at Denilson and Diaby, both of whom were fed a culture of complacency and their careers, and Arsenal’s performances, suffered for it.

Beside adding important cover and depth, adding another midfielder will hopefully add some onus on Wenger to finally shift tactics and formation. It’s quite obvious that the 4-2-3-1 hasn’t worked to our liking since Nasri and Fabregas left. At times, the team has looked unimaginative, deliberate, and still exposing too much space behind our midfield for events like the Blackburn disaster to take place. The signing of an additional midfielder who is intended to come and play straight away may be beneficiary to the team as a whole. Can you imagine a midfield of M’vila-Song-Wilshere-Arteta? Or better yet, how about Song-Wilshere-Hazard/Goetze? Much better than starting Frimpong in midfield, methinks.

Hopefully the team performs well, and stays healthy regardless, and remain in the hunt for 4th with our current midfield. Hopefully Wilshere comes back when expected, and starts playing at the level he was playing last year. But all the signs point that no little or none of this will happen, and a serious push for 4th will need to be bolstered by an additional signing in January. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Spurs preview tomorrow; have a good Friday!

Some Related Stories:

Category: Injury Report, Players, Randoms, Rants