The Daily Mail’s headline reads: Wilshere in danger of missing Euro 2012 as injury setback rocks Arsenal. Plucky little Dorset Business go for: ‘Little setback’ for Wilshere. But as things stand there’s no way we can know for sure whether the Daily Mail have fallen over themselves with their hyperbole or whether the Dorset Business have betrayed the truth with an unduly optimistic attitude.
Jack has been out of action since fracturing his right ankle in a pre-season friendly against the New York Red Bulls, has undergone an operation and has what Wenger called an ‘exceptionally good’ scan, but is now on the sidelines once more for an indeterminate period of time.
As Wilshere himself told his Twitter followers:
“I can’t tell you how long I have been set back because I don’t know!”
There’s no way of knowing as yet when we’ll see Jack back in an Arsenal shirt and there’s little use in relying on the medical team’s prognosis because they don’t really appear to have had a good handle on what’s wrong or exactly how severe Wilshere’s injury is.
However, it is typical of the Mail to be more concerned about Jack’s Euro 2012 chances rather than the plight of your everyday Arsenal fan who have yet to see the 20-year-old make a single appearance this season. The adverse-effect that his absence has had on the team is incalculable, but there’s little doubt that the Gunner’s would be in a better position than they are now had he been fit all season.
Wenger too has had his say on Wilshere’s new injury development:
“Wilshere had a little setback. We don’t know how bad it is. Jack is gutted. It is a massive disappointment, but I am really disappointed for him as well because he is a football animal. I am so sad that at that age you have to be out for such a long time with not any obvious reason. If you had told me that Jack would not have played one game by February, I would have said ‘that is impossible’. We miss that little burst from Jack. Let’s hope it goes well and we have good news from the specialists.”
Whilst it’s pleasing to see the injury described as a ‘little setback’, the fact that Wenger’s now worrying about whether he’ll be available this summer is a worry in itself. Every football animal needs his football fix and it’s not clear when Jack will get his next.
Looking for positives in a pretty dire situation: this may force Wenger’s hand in the transfer market. Arsenal have struggled without Wilshere and could do with some reinforcements. Now that Wenger doesn’t know when Jack will be back surely he has to act? This is Wenger we’re talking about however, so we’ll wait and see.
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