Jack Wilshere Should Not Play for Arsenal This Season: Here's Why

In order to comprehend more fully the predicament that has befallen talented Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, one must first understand the near-inexorable upward progression his career has taken in the past 18 months.

We discover precedent in the past, after all.

Let's rewind to the start of the 2010-11 season. Arsenal are coming off a third-place finish in league, meaning they do not have to worry about a messy playoff to gain entry into the Champions League group stages, and can, therefore, more fully devote their initial energy to the league campaign. 

As we saw with Udinese this season, that playoff is no waltz in the park.

So, for their first league match, they have the thankless task of traveling to Anfield for a stern test with Liverpool, who, despite having to break in a new manager (Roy Hodgson) are never an easy opponent in their home cathedral.

The biggest change from an Arsenal perspective is working in newly-signed Marouane Chamakh, brought in from Bordeaux on a free transfer over the summer, at central forward. The lanky Moroccan gets the nod at the head of Arsenal's 4-3-3 due to Robin van Persie being rested after a taxing World Cup campaign in which he helped lead Holland to the final.

But there's also a new face for the Gunners in central midfield. Well, sort of.

Jack Wilshere, who first jumped onto the world's radar with a superb performance in the 2009 Emirates Cup, and so thoroughly captivated during his loan spell with Bolton Wanderers in the latter half of the '09-10 season, is set to earn his first Arsenal Premier League start as a holding creative midfielder alongside defensive mid Alex Song.

Wilshere enjoys a decent enough start to his season, but a wayward decision sees the teenager try to pass his out of the heart of defense, only for Liverpool to intercept and score their first goal.

Interestingly enough, Chamakh takes advantage of a Pepe Reina error and lands the equalizing header just before full time to steal a 1-1 draw for the Gunners in a game that "neither deserved to win."

Not the first time the Gunners have stolen points away from Anfield, if this most recent weekend is any indication.

That inauspicious beginning behind him, Wilshere goes on to have a brilliant first full season as a senior Arsenal player.

He is named PFA Young Player of the Year and earns inclusion in the PFA Team of the Year for his excellence in the Arsenal midfield, which earns consideration as one of the best in Europe due to the likes of Song, Fabregas and Nasri perplexing opposing defenses on what seems a frighteningly consistent basis.

Just 19 at the time, Wilshere's future is looking luminous.

He is hailed for his performances in Arsenal's Champions League Round of 16 clashes against Barcelona, a team widely regarded as the greatest in the world.

Wilshere's scintillating work in midfield over the two legs against Barcelona becomes one of, if not the, highest point of his season.

Despite his relatively short stature (Wilshere stands 5'7"), he wows opposing coaches and pundits alike with his uncanny poise on the ball, technical brilliance and ability to successfully hold his own in tackles with players far bigger than himself.

Like Abou Diaby, once Wilshere has possession, it's nearly impossible to force him off of the ball. Call it a sixth sense for fending off defenders.

Wilshere's season does not go unnoticed at the international stage, and the youngster becomes a frequent member of Fabio Capello's senior England squad, earning a starting role in midfield for a February friendly against Denmark.

Like that Liverpool match, Wilshere is not at his best against the Danes. But that is something that will quickly change, as was also seen with Arsenal.

The 2010-11 season is, by all accounts, the perfect beginning to what looks almost assured to be an incredibly prosperous senior career for Wilshere—both with Arsenal and England.

But then, something happens over the summer.

After initially injuring his ankle during a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland in June, Wilshere is forced off during Arsenal's Emirates Cup match against New York Red Bulls due to an inflammation of that tendon.

The initial prognosis is not serious and Wilshere even hopes to make it back for an Aug. 10 England friendly, which will be postponed until February in the wake of the London riots (the match was to be played at Wembley).

But that is not the story. At the very least, it's but a chapter in what has become a frustrating narrative.

Like so many players in recent memory, Wilshere's ankle has become an immense and temperamental liability.

What had initially been considered a minor knock spirals into a full-fledged conflagration that threatens to swallow whole his entire 2011-12 season.

The initial hope is that the youngster would be out for only "a few days," returning for the start of the Arsenal season.

That prognosis morphs into "two to three weeks" following a set back in training.

Then it devolves to "two months."

Eventually fears arise that Wilshere's 2011-12 season will be lost following surgery to repair a stress fracture in that troublesome ankle.

After Wilshere attempts to return to training in early February, he suffers yet another fracture. This time, to his right heel.

It was not deemed an aggravation of his initial injury, but it is worrisome nonetheless. Is Wilshere doomed to a career of brittle bones and tetchy tendons? Arsenal fans begin nibbling their fingers in fits of anxiety.

The latest prognosis deems Wilshere ready to make a return to first-team football before the end of the season. Wenger has tabbed May as a likely return date for his star.

Great. Wilshere will finally be back where he belongs: trading the treatment table for what will certainly be a cathartic first time back out in a Premier League stadium. Grass will never have smelled so sweet.

So why is there a question that continues to nag me? Why do I keep wondering exactly what is the point of bringing back Wilshere in May?

Arsenal have two games scheduled for May—against Norwich City on May 5, and away to West Bromwich Albion on the 13th. Their fate regarding the ensuing season could already be decided by that point.

Do we really want to see Wilshere subjected to a middling pitch at the Hawthorns, dealing with a hard-tackling team just weeks into his first-team fight back?

The Gunners are out of all cup competitions that might lead to a finals date in mid-to-late May. Had they still been in the running for trophies in the Champions League and FA Cups, obviously Wilshere would have been a valuable asset.

But that is not the case.

On the other hand, there is precedent—as recently as last season—for a key Arsenal player returning for a couple games before the end of the season.

Thomas Vermaelen, who missed a substantial chunk of 2010-11 due to his own ankle problems (Achilles), made his return to the first team in May, playing in the Gunners' final two games.

Sound familiar?

However, if we've learned anything about ankles in regards to Arsenal players during the past 18 months, it's that they're a desperately tricky and temperamental ligament.

Wenger was hopeful of Vermaelen returning to the side as early as February of last season, which would have been a vital boost for a side still seeking glory in the Champions League, not to mention the FA and Carling Cups.

Yet that hope soon soured and Vermaelen, like Wilshere, learned that even the best medical attention is often superseded by a simple need to convalesce. Ankles require treatment, then time. Lots of time.

So back to my question: what is the point of playing a player so deeply rooted in Arsenal's future in what may well be two meaningless games at the end of the season?

Wilshere may, and probably will, be involved in Euro 2012 for England—he takes his national duty very seriously—a competition in which he will likely play a key role for the Three Lions, given his recurring starting role earned before this injury.

And given the current flux in the England midfield—Steven Gerrard cannot seem to remain injury-free where his groin is concerned, Frank Lampard is becoming an increasingly peripheral figure in the framework, and precious few of the new faces brought in (outside of Scott Parker) have succeeded in making indelible impacts—Wilshere's presence may not only be requested but needed if the Three Lions are to make a run in Poland and Ukraine in June.

With a full summer of high-intensity and -volume football on his docket, would two games at the end of the season for club really accomplish that much?

Wilshere will need time to get back his first-team fitness, but that won't be accomplished in that brief a spell for Arsenal.

England have friendlies against Norway (May 26) and Belgium (June 2) drawn up to help prepare for the Euros; let Wilshere convalesce until then.

Those three added weeks (compared to making his comeback at the start of May) can only help his recovery, not hurt it.

With next season looking evermore like the Final Judgment where Arsene Wenger's North London career is concerned, a healthy Wilshere is an absolute necessity if the Gunners are to finally win something of significance.

Should Arsenal find themselves in a fight for fourth place in those final two games in May, though, then obviously my current stance will need to be taken under further scrutiny.

Champions League football in 2012-13 will be a key selling point for building up the current squad through summer transfers, and Wilshere would be an asset toward securing it.

That means that these next two months take on even greater significance.

Arsenal currently hold a three-point advantage in the league table over fifth-place Chelsea, who have just undergone a managerial change. Never mind that the new manager is Andre Villas-Boas' second-in-command Roberto di Matteo. It will take time to get rid of the bad taste at Stamford Bridge.

Sixth-place Newcastle are two points removed from the Blues and could make a run during the latter stages of the season.

If Arsenal can get a good run of momentum going and create some distance between those two sides in particular (Liverpool has drifted out of range for now after last weekend's result), Wilshere won't need to be rushed back.

And at this point, that seems like the best option for all concerned parties.