My Arsenal Blog

I don’t know about anybody else, but I have been very concerned recently about the Arsenal talisman and England’s great hope for the future, Jack Wilshere. An originally not too serious looking injury led to nearly six weeks out of the game. The main worry, for me, was not so much that Arsenal need him badly at this crucial stage of the season, but more concern for his future career.

The Gunners have had some terrible luck with injuries recently, most notably with Abou Diaby and Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman finally seems to be regaining the form that has our mouths watering before one of Stoke’s resident thugs, Ryan Shawcross, smashed his leg to pieces with a tackle that would have definitely ended his career a few years ago.

It is with great relief then, that the reason for Wilshere’s recent problem has been revealed. Arsene Wenger has not been very forthcoming. The manager has said that Jack was not suffering from a major problem and that the club were just being cautious but we have heard that sort of thing before about Diaby and then he has been out for months. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a bit more informative.

“The news is not too bad,” said the Ox. “He’s just getting a bot of pain in his ankle from a few screws.

“If you can bounce back from what he did, you can bounce back from anything.”

So the pain and inflammation is caused by some of the pins used in his previous operation. He may have to have minor surgery in the summer to sort this out, but at least there is nothing for Arsenal fans to worry about.

For weeks Arsene Wenger has been saying that he would not rush Jack Wilshere back into the Arsenal team until he is 100 percent sure that the England international is ready. Despite Arsenal being in a tough battle for a top four finish, which is crucial to our future success, most Gooners were perfectly content with this policy.

Jack is our star, the player we are relying on to make us great again. Every time he gets fouled and clutches his knee or ankle, every Arsenal fan watching holds their breath and hopes that he gets up and shrugs it off, as he normally does.

So I was furious today when Wenger admitted that starting him for the game against Norwich was a bad move and that Jack was not quite ready. What the *~’k were you thinking, Arsene? It is just lucky that the 21-year old didn’t suffer further injury.

“I rushed Jack back a bit, he was not completely ready,” admitted Wenger.

“How careful have I to be? To listen well to the medical advice and that is what I have to do. Use him when everything is alright and listen to him as well, how he feels.”

It’s not exactly rocket science is it? You have a player who has spent lots of time on the sidelines through injury and he has been out for the last six weeks. The medical staff tell you he’s not quite match fit, so what do you do? Start him obviously. Doh!

Jack thinks that he will soon be back to where he was, but he should not start tonight against Everton, no matter how big a game it is. There are five more games after tonight and we will need him fully fir for those.

Arsene Wenger saw his young prodigy Jack Wilshere take a lot of stick in Arsenal’s game against Sunderland this weekend (and Stoke the week before!), but he doesn’t think that the midfielder needs to get extra protection from referees, he simply needs to watch Lionel Messi to see the way that re rides his tackles, and then gets up and gets on with the game!

We could perhaps say that the physical defenders in the Premier League are more likely to give out more punishment than in La Liga, but Messi takes it all and you rarely even see him complain.

Wenger wants Wilshere to take a leaf out of his book. The Frenchman said: “I think he can handle that rough treatment,” .

“I don’t want to talk too much about being singled out as I don’t want to transform the player to a paranoia attitude.

“Just be natural and play your game and it is down to the referees to protect him when it is needed.

“The way he plays must take a toll, but it’s his game and he has to take that gamble. His game is to take the ball and go at people. Messi does that as well and he plays without being injured.

“You can only make a career with the string aspect of your game and that’s his strength.”

Jack not only needs to ride the tackles but he also needs to learn to control his temper. That’s another thing that Messi does so well. It would be great for Arsenal to have their very own Messi, but I think Jack needs to mature a bit more before he becomes the complete player…..

One day eh?

Nuri Sahin to Arsenal?  by KJ

There have been some interesting developments in today’s news. Both Marca and the Daily Mail have reported that Arsenal have signed Turkish international Nuri Sahin. The news is surprising to say the least. To my knowledge, we haven’t expressed any interest in Sahin whatsoever this summer, and yet out of the blue we’re about to loan him?

The Turk is a class player. He used to be one of the best in the world in his postion – deep lying playmaker. After leaving Dortmund for Madrid, his career really has regressed with only 4 appearances last season.

However, the kid is still a quality player and, at only 23 years old, he has the world as his oyster even though his career has stalled at Madrid.

The news was that Jose Mourinho had told Sahin that he would again not play a big role for Madrid this season. More as a bit part player. Even worse, if they secure the signing of Modric, he’ll have no say on the pitch for Madrid. He recommended that he would go on loan this season and come back as the successor to Xabi Alonso.

Many clubs have expressed an interest in him with Man Utd and Tottenham also looking at the midfielder. Apparently, Madrid offered Sahin to Tottenham as a makeweight for the Modric deal but they refused. Man Utd could be a real threat to our chances as they are in dire need of a deep lying midfielder.

All in all, I am a bit sceptical of the rumours. Not only does it sound too good to be true, but could it also spell a bad omen for Wilshere? Maybe Wenger is not leaving it to chance this time round and hence is preparing for any setbacks to Wilshere’s predicament.

Overall, I’d be majorly impressed if this loan goes through. However, I have my doubts regarding it. It just seems too good to be true. I just hope Wenger proves me wrong.

Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger claims that nothing will motivate him to force Wilshere into a speedy comeback, after the English midfielder was out for the whole length of last season with a recurring injury to his ankle.

“It is impossible to set a concrete deadline at the moment,” Wenger told the club’s official website.

“But it is all OK. He is as quick as we expected him to be. His ankle is good and his knee is good. There is no setback.”

“It difficult to say ‘it will be this week in September or October’ when he is back in training. He has been out for a year and I don’t want to put any pressure on him.”

The Frenchman believes that Arsenal will have a strong side for their travels to Asia where the Gunners will play their pre-season games.

“Some players like Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain, they travel. Song, Diaby, Vermaelen, Santos, Gibbs, Szczesny, they will all travel,” said Wenger.

“So will Gervinho – we have a very strong team out there. Rosicky is injured. Apart from that I think everybody travels.”

“Emmanuel (Frimpong) is doing very well. It will be the end of September or perhaps into October for him.”

According to Wenger, full-back Backary Sagna is also likely to join the team at the end of August once he has recovered from the broken leg injury he suffered at the end of the season.

“He is doing very well. There are no problems there. But it will be the end of August for him.”

Arsenal will probably look a lot better this season than they have recently now that they will recover the likes of Sagna and Wilshere and they also bought Podolski and Giroud. Arsene Wenger is now focusing in bringing at least another midfielder, but if Robin Van Persie chooses to leave the Frenchman will have to face a whole new set of problems.

Goodish news is coming from Arsenal, as the most loved Gunner of the moment, Jack Wilshere, has had a successful surgery and is now (again) on the road to recovery.

Jack didn’t have the best of seasons, being out ever since the preseason with an ankle stress fracture. Unfortunately, even though he was expected to be back on the pitch in February, setbacks kept the 20-year-old away from the pitch and in the recovery room all season long.

Even though it’s been almost a year since Wilshere sustained the first injury, the attacking midfielder has yet recovered and he recently suffered another injury to his knee, even though it was a minor one.

The operation seems to have gone well for the Gunner who will now take the recovery period from the top, trying to get ready for action in a timely manner for this summer’s Olympics, although the latest reports are saying that he will out for two or three months during this recovery period.

“Surgery went well… up and about already,”, said Wilshere on his Twitter account.

Jack’s return will surely be greeted loudly next time he’ll be on the pitch for the Gunners, and everybody wants to see him back in action as soon as possible, especially given Arsenal’s immense need of an attacking midfielder.

Don’t panic! Arsenal are sending Jack Wilshere to Sweden for medical attention. Arsene Wenger is desperate to get the talented youngster back and fully fit for the start of next season. Wilshere, voted Arsenal’s player of the season last year, has failed to feature this season and he would be like a new signing if we could get him back.

Arsenal have released a statement which tells us, “Jack Wilshere is continuing to recover very well from the injury to his right ankle. However, his rehabilitation has seen a long-standing slight issue with his Patella tendon in his left knee flare up.

As a result, Jack will travel to Sweden for a minor procedure on his left knee in the next few days. This procedure is not expected to significantly affect Jack’s comeback ahead of next season”

We certainly hope not, but it may stop Wilshere featuring in Team GB’s Olympic campaign. This might not be a bad thing as he will have more recovery time. On the other hand, maybe some competitive games could be just what he needs. Only time will tell.

There has been much talk about Jack Wilshere possibly joining the Team GB at the Olympics after Stuart Pearce admitted that the Arsenal youngster was “on his shortlist”, but Arsene Wenger is very wary of setting Jack any targets that may not be met, therefore knocking his confidence back once again.

“He (Jack) makes slow progress and at the moment is still in our rehab centre,” Wenger said. “We take time, we are patient with him. He makes progress, but slow progress.

“His focus is to get back on the football pitch and play, there is not one specific target like the Olympics or the European Championships, although he is out of that. His main priority is to get out on the pitch and play football.

“Nothing is definitely set at the moment, because we are in a slow progress world where we go step by step. If we start pre-season at the beginning of July and he is completely fit to join in normal training, then we will see about the Olympics. But let’s not forget he has not played for a whole year. To be competitive at the top level it will take him some time to come back and we have to give him that time.

“I am cautious with him,” Wenger continued. “Imagine you are 20 years old and you play in the national team. You prepare and suddenly, nothing at all.

“You get the first knock, the second knock, you think ‘OK, at least I will be ready for the Euro.’ Then you have to convince him, ‘look my friend, it will not work for the Euros.’ You knock him down again. Then, you set him another target. If he doesn’t make it, he will lose a complete appetite for rehab because it’s difficult.

“You must work every day out there, not knowing when you come back. If you say, ‘you can go to the Olympics’ and he doesn’t make it, what do you give him after? Let’s take our time and not set any specific targets. The most important thing for him is to focus on day-to-day work and see if he can get better.”

“I do not want to set the Olympics as a target for him because I do not know whether he will be fit to start at the beginning of the season,” he said. “It is just our target to get him to improve.

“When we start on July 9, if he can join in then we have won the battle, but that is not guaranteed.”

As Arsenal fans we are used to players taking a lot longer to recover than at other clubs, but is Wenger being extra-slow with Wilshere to protect him from playing in the Summer internationals?

The Arsenal wonderkid Jack Wilshere sent out a emotional message to Arsenal’s fans speaking about how much it hurts him not being able to be a part of the season’s fight to keep a hold of the third spot, and also play in the summer Euro 2012 championship in the England team.

The young midfielder, who has been out all season spoke to the Arsenal fans on his official Twitter page about the burden it is for him to miss the Euros.

“Gutted, sad, devastated..its been a test mentally for me this season and it will continue to be tough until I am back out on the pitch,”

“My ankle is good, I just have a few niggles and having been out so long I will not be fit enough for the Euros!

“I hope England can do well and bring home the cup! I will be watching and cheering the boys on like a proper England fan!

“The hardest thing is being away from the game that I love and not being able to help my team mates get third place! I will be in all summer trying to get fit so I can help the team next season! No holidays, I just want to play and show AFC fans what I can do!”

Wilshere’s presence on the field this season could have made a very big difference at times given Wenger’s usual injury crises in the middle of the park. His return combined with a couple of possible big-name transfers might change Arsenal’s face altogether next season, especially in midfield.

Lets hope he finds his previous form quickly after such a long absence.

The injury situation at Arsenal is currently better than it ever was this season as those who have been injured throughout the season and had to undergo a lengthy recovery like Santos, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Sagna and a few others are now fully fit and ready to go. However, it’s still not everything good at Arsenal as the all-important young midfielder Jack Wilshere is still not ready to go yet.

Having picked up an injury in a preseason match, Wilshere has been nothing more than a fan for the Gunners throughout the season and despite his initial injury assessment was placing his return in early February, unfortunately the young Englishman has yet made an appearance this season.

A series of setbacks delayed his injury one month and then another, and with the season virtually over for Arsenal, Wenger decided not to risk another major setback and pace the midfielder.

“He is making slow progress,” Wenger said. “We will have to monitor the situation. The next three weeks would be decisive. I will not take any risk with him.”

Wilshere’s big EURO 2012 championship participation dream might be as good as done for after this recent statement because it’s basically impossible to return in full form before the EURO and he’s certainly not going to be a part of the English team despite helping them throughout the qualifying process.