Arsenal FC: Jack Wilshere's Determination Is Sorely Missed

Had someone told an Arsenal fan that seven games into the new season, Queens Park Rangers, Norwich and Swansea would all be above Arsenal in the table, they simply wouldn't have believed them.

Yet, that is the situation the Gunners find themselves facing. The statistics in the league table is not a happy read for fans at the moment: won two, drawn two, lost four and conceded 16.

Both the Manchester clubs have scored over twice as many goals, and only Bolton and Blackburn have conceded more goals—both of whom are in the relegation positions.

Fans knew that things would be tough without Nasri and Fabregas, but no one could have thought that things would have turned out this bad. The Gunner’s only victories so far have come against a Bolton Wanderers side which have massively dipped in form and a worryingly narrow one-nil victory over newly promoted Swansea City.

That latter victory was only decided by a hugely fortunate back pass error by the Swansea defence that Arshavin thankfully converted to a badly needed three points. The fact that an Arsenal side were incapable of creating enough chances against a team—one that is finding out what Premier League life is all about for the first time—is absolutely dire.

Arsenal’s performance against Tottenham last Sunday showed many weaknesses, but, above all, it showed that they are missing Jack Wilshere’s tenacity, determination and never-say-die attitude.

Hard to believe that all of these aforementioned traits reside in only one member of the squad (with possible exceptions being Robin van Persie and, to a lesser extent, Emmanuel Frimpong), one who is just 19 years old. When Wilshere plays well it shows, because he makes positive and meaningful contributions to the team. The same cannot be said of Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Abou Diaby and Andrey Arshavin.

You only have to look at Wilshere’s performances across the two legs of last year’s Champions League quarterfinal between Barcelona and Arsenal to see that we need him playing right now.

It would be unfair to say that no one on the pitch at White Hart Lane tried their best to put things right before the whistle, as Mikel Arteta, van Persie and Alex Song did just that. However, it’s no good if three players on the team are pouring their heart and soul into their performance. The whole team need to pull themselves together and work on turning around a result together. Their heads must not drop when they go a goal down.  

After the game, Arsene Wenger said that he felt the team were “playing with the handbrake on.” This must have infuriated fans all the more. Why on earth were the team holding themselves back against their bitter rivals, at a time when three points against them would do so much for their confidence?

Sunderland, Stoke and Chelsea are the next three league games for Wenger’s men. Fans will hope that by the Chelsea game, the squad will have realised just how much more effort they need to put in to get those three points.