Why the 2015/16 Season Is Make or Break for Arsenal's Jack Wilshere

In front of the Emirates stadium last Sunday, following an open-top bus parade to celebrate Arsenal’s FA Cup success, Jack Wilshere took hold of a microphone to address the thousands of fans gathered below him.

He used his moment to ask for these fans' disparaging views about Tottenham Hotspur, and to gloat over their north London rivals, who had endured yet another trophyless season.

As reported by the Guardian, Wilshere then finished by orchestrating the crowd in a chant of “We hate Tottenham, and we hate Tottenham…we are the Tottenham haters.”

The Football Association have since charged Wilshere with misconduct, which seems rather unnecessary and heavy handed.

It is also inconsistent, for they failed to sanction him when he did something similar during Arsenal’s FA Cup celebrations last year.

Understandably, Arsenal fans loved Wilshere’s antics, for it appealed to their tribalism, and showed him to be one of them, a fan fortunate enough to play for the team.

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But to this neutral observer, Wilshere’s chant lacked class, and it seemed to be embarrassingly small time and petty.

Did he even have the right to goad Tottenham? After all, what had Wilshere actually contributed to Arsenal’s FA Cup success?

Wilshere scored no goals, provided no assists, and didn’t even start a single game. In fact his entire contribution was a 13-minute cameo in the final. 

The Arsenal man was goading Tottenham from a position of weakness, not strength, for their triumph had very little to do with him.

Can you imagine Lionel Messi or Neymar, who in contrast played a central role in Barcelona’s success this season, goading Real Madrid fans in the wake of winning the Champions League and completing the Treble?

They don’t need to, for their immense talents and haul of medals loudly speak for themselves. Why would they demean their moment with such pettiness?

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And then you have Wilshere, getting a little too excited about a mere FA Cup win he had very little to do with.

Wilshere quickly issued a personal apology on Twitter, and herein lies the problem.

Last season he actually issued more apologies than scored goals for Arsenal. The final score was Apologies three, Goals two.

On top of the anti-Tottenham chants, Wilshere also had to apologise in July for being caught appearing to smoke on holiday in Las Vegas, and then in February had to apologise once again when he was photographed in a club smoking from a Shisha pipe.

These are all low-level, relatively harmless mistakes, but taken together a pattern emerges of a supremely talented, but easily led player, marring his career with poor decisions.

You can state without fear of contradiction that Jack Wilshere, at 23 years of age, is not the player he should be.

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And for the moment, almost seven years after his first-team debut, Wilshere remains a frustrating study in unfulfilled potential.

It was in March last year that Paul Scholes said on Sky Sports, via the Daily Mail, “Jack Wilshere came on the scene and looked a top young player but he has never really gone on…He doesn’t look any better player now that he did when he was 17.”

Fourteen months later, Scholes’ words continue to have the ring of truth, and nothing has really changed for Wilshere.

The midfielder has all the components to be a leading player for club and country; he is technically brilliant, quick, combative, can pick a pass, and is able to surge past opponents.

But he is hampered by inconsistent form, and an inability to impose himself on games. How many games has he ever truly dominated?

And he keeps picking up injuries that bring his career to a juddering halt, including last November against Manchester United when an ankle injury kept him out for the following six months.

It should concern Wilshere that while on the sidelines he was never really missed by Arsenal, and without him they rallied from their season-lowest position of eighth to finish third, and make it all the way to Wembley for the FA Cup final.

In their absences, players can often look better, but the truth is Wilshere’s reputation remained stalled. He is loved and popular with the fans, but on the pitch, few pined for him last season. 

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Arsenal have a deep roster of midfielders, including Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Mesut Ozil, and so with each injury lay-off Wilshere keeps getting pushed further and further to near the back of the queue.

Wilshere is a creative attacking player, rather than a holding player because he doesn’t possess enough discipline to tackle, hold his position and give the ball to others to launch attacks.

It should concern him Arsenal fan and legend Ian Wright, while commenting on his performance for England at the weekend on ITV, via the Daily Mail, declared he had already lost too much pace and should no longer be considered as an attacking player.

But time remains on his side, and there is a feeling he simply has too much ability to fail, but next season will be crucial for him.

In April this year, Arsene Wenger was talking about the potential of Wilshere, and as reported by the Express, declared, “A Player becomes a player at 23 or 24.”

Wilshere is currently 23 and will turn 24 halfway through next season; it is high time he becomes that player.