Wilshere

Wilshere Watch

I’ve heard and read a lot about Jack Wilshere, but I’ve never had a good look at him. I’ll keep one eye on him during the West Ham--Arsenal cup tie, and document my observations briefly. It will hardly make for riveting reading, but it might be nice to look back on in years to come when little Jack Wilshere is (or isn’t) "the best player in the world".

1 - Little interchange with Sagna. Quite composed, no sign of nerves.

2 - Misplaced pass forward, but nothing silly.

4 - Taken out after a nice touch around the fullback.

7 - Nice close control followed by some slight miscontrol.

8 - Sends a lofted cross into Robert Green’s domain. Something more van Persie-like was the order of the day from that position.

11. Looks to have lost the ball with a slightly heavy touch, but nicks it away from the defender to maintain possession, a la Hleb.

11. Picks up a great position in the box, but the cut-back heading straight to him is cut out.

13. Plays a ball for Sagna down the line, but the pass was never going to bear much fruit even though it was successful.

15. Keeps the ball excellently in a tight space occupied by several West Ham players, and wins a corner for his troubles. Good play, that.

21. Dribbles past a player with ease but his through ball gets blocked.

23. Gets the right side of Behrami and wins a free kick just outside the box after he is tripped.

24. Puts in a clean tackle (complete with backheel) on Diamanti, and eventually comes away with the ball.

26. Loses the ball in midfield through a combination of miscontrol and bad passing.

30. Works an effective short corner with Merida with a nicely weighted return pass.

32. Puts in a good sliding tackle on Behrami in his own half, and then gets muscled off the ball by the Swiss midfielder 10 seconds later in the other half.

37. A terrible 30 seconds for Wilshere. Hits a woeful pass straight to West Ham’s front man who could have scored. Arsenal recover, but Wilshere dwells on the ball and is dispossessed just outside his own box, leading to another West Ham chance.

42. Chance to shoot after striding onto a backheel in the box, but elects to dummy the ball onto his weaker right foot. The defender doesn’t buy it and the move ends with a corner. A left-footed curler into the far corner of the net was the order of the day. Terribly surprised he decided on anything else.

43. Receives a throw-in but volley’s the ball right into touch. Sloppy.

45. Spins the full-back well, who gets booked for a foul.

48. Lovely piece of control near the middle of the park, and maintains possession with a neat pass. That oozed class.

Half-time Report

I get the feeling he’s playing within himself, content not to give the ball away but rather unwilling to try anything game-breaking. I suppose I don’t blame him given what happened in the 37th minute when he looked quite the fool. The quality is there though. His touch is assured, he plays with his head up, rarely concedes possession and has the ever-decreasing ability to go by a player. A little more attacking urgency wouldn’t go astray though. Let’s see what the second half brings.

Second Half

50. Curls a pass straight to a West Ham player.

51. Links up well with, er, someone, and curls a precise pass wide to Vela. That was probing.

55. Tries to thread a pass into the box, but it’s straight at a West Ham defender.

57. Step-over! Which leads to a Ramsey shot from just outside the box.

59. Steps inside the full-back and slips a lovely 20 yard pass along the turf into Merida’s feet which opens up the West Ham defense.

61. Spins away from Behrami on a sixpence, but underhits the ensuing pass.

65. Subbed off.

Full-time Report

The boy does indeed have talent. There’s hints of Hleb, Iniesta and Rooney to his play, with that low centre of gravity and wonderful habit of keeping the ball at all costs. I don’t think he has the freakish ability of Fabregas or Messi, in that I don’t foresee him making a huge impact in the game in his teens. But like my beloved Andres Iniesta, I think he will be a player who grows into his role in a team over time. But time, of course, will tell.