Jack Wilshere’s injury hampered career

Jack Wilshere was at one stage in his  career considered to be the top young English player there was, a future England captain and star, Arsene Wenger and Arsenal had similar hopes for the talented midfielder but they had little idea of how injury prone his career was going to be.

Wilshere has been ruled out for three months with an ankle injury suffered in the defeat to Manchester United last Saturday evening, another ankle injury to add to the long list of injuries that have seen him only play 95 games in the past five years.

Ankle injuries alone have seen Wilshere injured for a total of 112 weeks, a staggering amount of time for a player who is still only twenty-two and has many years of his career ahead of him.

For such a young man the constant process of being injured is sure to have a negative effect on him, he has looked in recent times a player who was lacking confidence and as that confidence was beginning to come back this injury has hit and set him back once again.

The dilemma for Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson for England is that Wilshere thrives in an attacking role in the midfield but is also open to harder tackles in that advanced position of the pitch whereas he is a perfectly capable deep lying midfielder, a position where he is less open to tough tackles but not as effective as when he plays in his attacking role.

It may be a case in the future of having no choice but to play him in a less effective position in order to keep his career going because regardless of where he plays he is still an extremely talented player, one of few technically brilliant players produced in England.

It really is a shame for such a great young talent to have his career so badly affected by injury after injury. From being a man that some pundits thought could someday play for the likes of Barcelona with his agile passing style he is now looking like never really fulfilling the potential he had promised as a youngster.

photo credit: Kieran Clarke via photopin cc