Where did it all go wrong for Jack Wilshere?

Where did it all go wrong for Jack Wilshere?

By Oscar Maung-Haley

Do you remember THAT Jack Wilshere performance?

The one on the 16th of February 2011 against Barcelona in the Champions League?

Wilshere was the best player on the park that night, bossing a Catalan midfield that boasted Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi at just 19 years old.

It was supposed to be Wilshere’s step onto the world stage, an announcement that he had arrived and would go on to be a potentially generational midfielder.

But fast forward ten years and Wilshere’s career looks wildly different to what was predicted.

So where did it all go wrong?

Injuries, injuries and more injuries

Let’s get this one out of the way first – it cannot be overstated how much injuries impacted upon Wilshere’s career.

Following his incredible 2010-11 campaign, in which he featured 49 times for the Gunners in all competitions, injuries meant that Wilshere missed the entirety of the following season.

From there, it was a downward spiral. 

Remember, at this stage Wilshere was still in his late teens, early 20s. Game time, no matter how good you are at that age, is vital.

He featured for the Gunners intermittently throughout the 12/13 and 13/14 campaigns, but then the midfield maestro was hit by a horrible string of injuries that all but ended his Arsenal career.

The injuries ravaged him and after that many setbacks, there can be no doubt that any player would be a shell of themselves.

Had it not been for the setbacks, Wilshere could have gone on to have a storied career for both club and country. Now we’re all left thinking what might have been?

Stalling development

This goes in tandem with his spell of injuries.

Wilshere was such a prodigious prospect that it’s hard to believe he could be without a club just ten years after his 19-year-old man of the match performance against potentially the best midfield trio club football has ever seen.

He should be in his prime now. Instead, he’s a free agent, looking for a route back into the game.

Injuries stalled his development. That late teens, early 20s period is so important for a young footballer's development – they need to play.

In Wilshere’s case, he might have been played too much in that 2010-11 campaign - 49 appearances as a teenager is incredible for a top-four challenging Arsenal.

He’s never even got close to that much game time across a single season ever again, which is partly the reason for Wilshere’s stagnation.

Too much, too soon?

Again, we’re feeding off the last point here, but the fact that Wilshere made 49 appearances in what was his breakthrough season is insane.

Yes, game time is important but 49 appearances is almost reckless at that age - remember, injuries ruled him out of action for the entirety of the following season.

It’s easy to say in hindsight, but perhaps it would have been better to temper expectations and to not see Wilshere as the saviour of English football.

Remember, England didn’t have a player like Wilshere in their ranks. With Barcelona’s tika-taka taking the world by storm, a progressive ball-playing midfielder was all the rage.

Wilshere was just that, but he should have been managed better. In many respects, to call Jack Wilshere a ‘failure’ seems harsh.

Injuries ravaged his career, leaving him a shell of the player he was when he burst on the scene, and it looks Wilshere won’t ever recapture the form that saw him dominate Barcelona’s generational midfield.

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