Arsenal may have been held to a goalless draw by Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday night, but Martin Keown was impressed with one man in particular.
Despite the drab performance, it was enough to secure a place in the knockout stage for the Gunners although few would have left the Emirates in a positive mood given the poor overall display.
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Nevertheless, Keown spotted something he liked and that was Jack Wilshere’s performance in midfield, and he made a huge call in suggesting that the 25-year-old offers something that very few other midfielders in the Premier League can.
Passing ?
Vision ?“He is able to thrust from midfield like no other player can.”
High praise for Jack Wilshere ??? pic.twitter.com/A8nPxVN9B7
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) November 2, 2017
“What I like about Jack is he is able to thrust from midfield like no other player can in that central position,” Keown said, as seen in the video above.
“I don’t see anybody else, there aren’t too many players that can do this in the Premier League.”
Perhaps Tottenham fans would disagree given what their midfield options offer including Dele Alli, who has seven goals and an assist in 13 games, while there are plenty of other midfield stars in the top flight that would argue they do a similar job.
However, Keown makes a valid point in terms of specifically picking out Wilshere and that particular aspect of his game being very effective.
Having been left out of the England squad this week though, he faces a battle to firstly break back into the Arsenal team on a regular basis.
While he has impressed in the Europa League in the last three games and is playing a full 90 minutes without injury problems which is a huge boost for both Wilshere and Wenger as his contract is set to expire at the end of the season, his next objective will be to get into the strongest XI that Wenger reserves for their league fixtures.