Arsene Wenger's Faith in Jack Wilshere Is Costing Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has always been a manager defined by the tremendous faith he has in his players, almost to a fault. But the Frenchman's fervent belief that brittle Jack Wilshere is a key cog in his team is costing Arsenal this season.

The Gunners' recent 2-0 defeat at Chelsea was another big game that saw another tame performance from Wilshere. Daily Star writer David Woods summed up Wilshere's feeble showing:

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Wilshere wilted in the west London sunshine, along with the rest of the Arsenal team, to extend Jose Mourinho's hoodoo over Arsene Wenger to 12 matches.

Wilshere, to his credit, is tough on himself and the moment that will haunt him came in the 30th minute.

A ball to his feet inside the box from Alexis Sanchez was perfect for him to control and test Petr Cech, who had only just come on for his first taste of action this season due to Thibaut Courtois' head injury.

But just when Arsenal needed Jack to be nimble and Jack to be quick, he was neither.

His first touch was heavy and his reaction to it slow, allowing Cech to gather with the minimum of fuss. ...

[It] is hardly fair to say time is running out for Wilshere, but the midfielder, who turns 23 on New Year's Day, needs to start taking some key games by the scruff of the neck if he is to become the star turn we hoped he would when he emerged aged just 16.

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Woods' summary could be read as a time capsule for Wilshere's stuttering career development, as well as a symbol of Arsenal's current struggles. Every Gunners fan knows of the mysterious ankle injury that robbed Wilshere of close to 16 months just after he had flourished during the 2010/11 season.

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However, he returned on the final day of October 2012. Almost two years later, he should be doing better than he is, just like Arsenal ought to be performing at a higher level.

One reason the Gunners are struggling for consistency is because Wenger is counting on players who are doing the same. Wilshere is the prime example.

A big part of the problem is the lack of an obvious position. Is Wilshere a No. 10 like it says on the back of his shirt? His lack of goals and habit of constantly over-hitting through passes would suggest no.

Is he a box-to-box dynamo capable of transitioning defence to attack as a vital link player in the middle? Given his skill running with the ball and going past defenders, maybe the answer is yes.

However, that's a role that belongs to Aaron Ramsey. He's better at it than Wilshere because he consistently offers more end product.

Perhaps Wilshere is most at home in a deeper role, one where his limited, but certainly steady distribution can be an asset? That's something Hodgson and England have tried, per Express writer Charles Perrin.

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Unfortunately, Wenger disagrees. He believes restricting Wilshere to more defensive areas wastes his talent going forward, according to Daily Mail writer Henry Swarbrick:

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I personally prefer Jack Wilshere in a more advanced position than in a deep-lying role as a midfielder.

If it works [playing deeper], it works and I am very happy for him but I think he is a guy capable of creating danger in the final third. He is provocative in his dribbling and I would like to use this quality.

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Of course, having to ask this many questions about a player is a problem in itself. It speaks to the fact that there's no obvious place for Wilshere in this season's strongest starting 11.

Wenger tried to circumvent this issue by altering last season's 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-4-1 structure. Being able to get Wilshere on the field with the likes of Ramsey and Mesut Ozil was a clear motivation behind this change.

Sadly, it is coming at the expense of better players and greater balance. The latter is always going to be difficult to achieve with the most unbalanced squad in the Premier League.

However, Wenger came close to the right formula in the 4-1 UEFA Champions League win over Galatasaray. His midfield group consisted of Santi Cazorla, Mathieu Flamini and Ozil.

But it was up front where omitting Wilshere yielded the most positive impact. Wenger flanked centre-forward Danny Welbeck with Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

This forward line had pace and symmetry. Specifically, Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain also offered natural width on both sides.

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It certainly suited Sanchez, the team's best attacking threat, as he revealed to Sky Sports (h/t London24.com writer Brad Pinard): "I love playing in any of these positions, I feel more comfortable down the left as I can run at people and go inside on my right foot."

But that balance was ruined as Oxlade-Chamberlain made way for Wilshere for the trip to Stamford Bridge. That meant the more centralised (at least in his own mind) Ozil was put back on the flank.

When Wenger flanks Welbeck with natural width and more pace, Arsenal boasts a forward line that should be feared. Adding one more central player to the mix wrecks that dynamic.

But altering the forward line isn't the only problem that comes from putting Wilshere on the field. Along with the 3-0 away win over Aston Villa, the performance against Galatasaray was the best of the season.

It's no coincidence that Wilshere didn't start either match. Without him, the Gunners play a quicker, more incisive and direct game.

Wilshere slows down the play because he doesn't spot passes as quickly as Ozil, and he can't split lines the way Cazorla can. Instead, he plays at closer quarters in a style leaning on square passing and patient buildup.

That mode of play wastes Arsenal's pace in attack. The whole idea should be to get the ball quickly up to Welbeck, Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain and eventually Theo Walcott.

That demands decisive, accelerated passing. The lightning exchange that created Ozil's goal at Villa Park should be the template for this season's attack.

Of course, many will reference Wilshere's goal against Norwich City last season as a rebuttal to the argument that he slows things down. But that was a goal worked much closer in.

It relied on playing off a static target man like Olivier Giroud, a route to goal more suited to Wilshere's steady game. Even with that goal on his resume, it's easy to lose track of the number of times Wilshere appears clueless in possession.

It's common to see him look up, scan the field for a pass, then give up, put his head down and run. That process is repeated throughout games.

It's an individualist streak that hardly belongs in Wenger's intricate, team game. It also speaks to how often Wilshere struggles to see a forward, incisive pass.

That's why it's galling that his inclusion has often come at the expense of the mercurial Cazorla this season. The Spanish mini marvel is blessed with a knack for moving the ball forward quickly.

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He tricks his way past defenders, but his subtle range of passing is his greatest asset. Whether advanced or deep, Cazorla's distribution offers more to this team.

The ex-Villarreal and Malaga man showed what he can do in a deeper role against Galatasaray, although London Evening Standard writer Giuseppe Muro still questioned his suitability for the position:

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Without Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta, both injured in Saturday's north London derby against Tottenham, and Jack Wilshere started on the bench as a precaution, Wenger was forced to play Cazorla alongside Mathieu Flamini in front of the back four.

The Spaniard did little wrong as Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 win against Galatasaray, but it will be a different story against Chelsea on Sunday. Cazorla is a wonderfully gifted player and, while he helped dictate play from a deep-lying position, he does not have the defensive discipline or awareness required to play the position.

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The report missed the point. Yes, Cazorla is not a defensive stalwart, but neither is Wilshere. Cazorla will certainly do more with the ball.

As stated in this previous article, Arsenal's insistence on trying to play with a defensive midfielder without the suitable players is pointless. But that doesn't mean a crafty passer like Cazorla should be left off the team sheet.

He certainly shouldn't be omitted—as he was for Arsenal's 1-1 north London derby draw with Tottenham Hotspur—in favour of Wilshere. The latter is not offering enough going forward, or defensively to merit being an ever-present.

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Without the performances to justify his selection, Wilshere only gives Arsenal graft and determination. He mostly embodies both qualities, but neither is enough to win the tough games against the strongest teams.

Wilshere certainly has talent, but he hasn't done enough to refine it. He hasn't dedicated himself to a set role or worked on improving his end product.

He puts Wenger in a bind. Not playing Wilshere takes away the chance of ever finding out how far his talent could develop. Yet playing him in a team in which he has no obvious place leaves Arsenal dangerously unbalanced.

Rolling the dice that Wilshere's talent will show the more he sees the field is a transition the eighth-placed Gunners have little time for this season.