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Jack Wilshere deserves 'big respect' for Arsenal comeback, says Arsene Wenger
There have been enough false dawns for Jack Wilshere to ensure caution over this latest comeback but, in the aftermath of Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace, even Arsene Wenger admitted to genuine surprise at the speed of his old protege’s recent progress.
Thursday night’s match was the best Wilshere has played since emerging so spectacularly during the 2010-11 season and Wenger is confident that England manager Gareth Southgate is also ready to rethink his approach to a player who will finally now be offered a new contract at Arsenal. That looked highly improbable when he returned from Bournemouth in April with yet another broken leg but recent matches do seem to have decisively shifted Wenger’s thinking.
“Give him credit for what he has gone through – it demands some character,” said Wenger. “I have a big respect for that because it is all nicey-nicey when you are super talented and everybody says you are the greatest player at 17. To come back to that level when you have gone through what he has gone through, shows a special character.”
It has been unexpected but Wenger also stressed that he never gave up on a player who first joined Arsenal at the age of nine. “What is a very important quality is always to continue to believe in human beings – I believe everybody is alive to fight, so I never gave up on him,” he said.
Of Southgate and England, Wenger said: “He will certainly rethink about Jack’s situation when he gives performances like that. Where he has improved is tactically and defensively. When he does that his offensive game becomes even better. Jack has a great quality; when he wins the ball he gets you out of the first pressure because he has that little burst and then suddenly he can open the game for you.”
What has been especially encouraging is how Wilshere has handled the physical challenge following Aaron Ramsey’s injury and, at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, he is expected to start a fifth Premier League match in succession. Wenger admitted, though, that he continues to worry about a player who turns 26 on Monday whenever he stays down following a tackle.
After winning at Palace, Arsenal face a comparable test against a West Brom team who also punished them during their horrible low last season in February and March. Wenger will set a Premier League record when he takes charge of his 811th match but there will be a particular focus on the body language between Alexis Sanchez and the rest of his team-mates after some of the players did not celebrate with him when he scored against Crystal Palace.
Wilshere, Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are all out of contract this summer and so also free from Monday to negotiate contracts with clubs outside of England. “They are free to go where they want for foreign clubs but that’s not my problem – my problem is to win the game,” said Wenger.