241
THE number of Premier
League games Wilshere has
missed since his debut in 2008.37
WILSHERE is making 37 fewer
passes per game on average this
season compared to his peak in
2010-11. He made 54.4 passes per game
then but this season just 17.1
WILSHERE has only scored one
goal in his last 62 Premier
League appearances.WILSHERE’S
ON THE WANE
THE VERDICT: PREMIER LEAGUE
T
o SAY there was great
expectation when
Jack Wilshere signed
as a West Ham player
last year would
be something of an
understatement.
Mario Husillos, the club’s direc-
tor of football, said as much at the
time. ‘Manuel Pellegrini and I
identified him as a target as soon
as we joined the club and we are
delighted to have succeeded in
securing Jack’s signature above a
number of other teams,’ he said.
Husillos would go on to talk
about Wilshere’s ‘game-changing
abilities’ and his ‘creativity and
intelligence to make a real
difference to our squad’.
The reality looks very different.
Injuries have — as they probably
always will — prevented
Wilshere from having a pro-
longed spell in the team,
but even when the 27-year-
old does play, there is no
evidence of the qualities
West Ham hoped he
would provide.
In Saturday’s draw at
Brighton, where Javier(^) Hernandez’s opener was
equalised four minutes later
by Leandro Trossard
(right), Wilshere disap-
pointed again.
Twice Wilshere has
started this season
and twice he has been brought off
before the hour. on Saturday, he
was replaced at half-time.
Pellegrini is clearly trying to bring
him back up to speed after missing
so many matches following an
ankle injury last December, but
what use is a player when he
can’t fulfil the role expected
of him?
Alongside Declan Rice in a
two-man midfield, Wilshere’s
job is to move the ball
quickly and connect midfield
and attack.
It is a crucial role, but here
he was too ponderous,
showing that when
Dale Stephens
caught him daw-
dling on the
ball in his own
half and took it off him. ‘Maybe
today he was not comfortable,’ Pel-
legrini said. ‘He couldn’t do it but it
is normal in a player who is coming
back from injury after so many
months without play but I am
absolutely sure that he will have an
important role in our team.’
But how long do you give it? How
long until he is ready to contribute?
That is another problem. Wilshere
made only 10 passes in the
45 minutes he played, while Rice
made 50 over the entire 90. Rice
not only had to try to cover ground
and intercept play, but he also had
to do Wilshere’s work for him. In
no way is that helpful to Rice, or
West Ham.
It’s a big contrast to Wilshere’s
early years at Arsenal, where he
averaged more than 50 passes a
game. In 2011, as a 19-year-old, he
bossed a Barcelona midfield
including Xavi and Andres Iniesta
in a famous performance.
As injuries set in and he became
less mobile, his numbers began to
drop off: 38 passes on average per
game in the 2014-2015 season,
before 28 the next campaign.
Wilshere found form again at
Arsenal after a loan spell with
Bournemouth, getting back to 40
passes per game. Last season,
though, he returned to 28. It is 17 for
this term. Perhaps Pellegrini is right
and Wilshere will become the player
West Ham hoped they were getting.
Until that happens, then Arsenal’s
decision to let him leave appears
a shrewd one.
BRIGHTON (5-4-1): Ryan 6; Montoya 6.5,
Duffy 7, Dunk 7, BURN 8, March 6.5;
Gross 7 (Maupay 67min, 6.5), Stephens 6.5,
Propper 6.5, Trossard 7.5 (Mooy 85);
Murray 6.5 (Andone 74). Subs not
used: Button, Bernardo, Webster,
Locadia. Scorer: Trossard 65. Booked: None.
Manager: Graham Potter 7.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Fredericks 6,
Ogbonna 6, Diop 5.5, Masuaku 6; Wilshere 5
(Antonio 46, 6), Rice 6.5; Snodgrass 6, Lanzini 6.5,
Fornals 6 (Yarmolenko 77); Hernandez 7
(Sanchez 83). Subs not used: Roberto,
Zabaleta, Balbuena, Ajeti. Booked: Masuaku,
Rice. Scorer: Hernandez 61.
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 6.5.
Referee: Anthony Taylor 6.
Attendance: 30,459.
Woeful Wilshere looks so off pace it’s
hard to see him getting back on track
WHAT’S THE DEAL WI
1
1
Hernandez 61
WEST HAM
Trossard 65
BRIGHTON
TOM
FARMERY
at the Amex
Stadium
Arsenal fans better get used to...
FoUR minutes into his
debut, David Luiz decided
to properly introduce
himself to the Emirates
faithful, leaving hearts in
mouths and some
supporters perhaps
hoping Arsenal had kept
hold of their receipt.
The £8million signing from
Chelsea, after mis-controlling a
ball and in a bid to avoid
conceding a corner, played a
sharp pass across the face of his
own goal line. The ball flew
tantalisingly out of the reach of
Ashley Barnes and pinged into
the feet of Luiz’s fellow centre-
half Sokratis. Arsenal then
played the ball out of defence.
‘Yikes,’ was the general
consensus of the crowd, yet that
is what Luiz will bring to Arsenal.
The Brazilian will inject a much-
needed arrogance into this
defence.
He will be bold, and the big men
of Burnley got as good as they
gave on Saturday. Luiz and
Barnes barged shoulders so
often, it was a wonder the ‘Visit
Rwanda’ logo on the Arsenal
man’s sleeve did not rub off.
Amid all the excitement
surrounding Dani Ceballos —
and what a ridiculously good
performance it was in central
midfield from the Real Madrid
loanee — Luiz’s debut may have
gone overlooked. The 32-year-old
was cool in possession and,
playing alongside Sokratis for
the first time, they limited a
Burnley side that tried to hurt
them from set-pieces.
Luiz stopped in the mixed zone
afterwards to explain why he
chose Arsenal, rather than live
the easy life of a substitute at
Chelsea or move to China.
‘I am a guy with ambition and
that is why I moved,’ Luiz said,
who had an honest talk with
Chelsea manager Frank
Lampard. ‘I could choose a
comfortable zone and get money
and be cool and that is it.
‘But I like a new challenge and
new things in my life. This is
what gives me oxygen and gives
me motivation. one day football
will finish. I am trying to be
honest with my heart. Everyone
knows I was so happy in Chelsea.
I won many trophies there and
had a real honest conversation
with Lamps, and Lamps had
different ideas for his plans for
the year.
‘So the best way for me to
respect the club was to move on
and try a new challenge, and
give him the opportunity to do
his job. This is a big club and I
want to be here and see it shine.
‘This is my motivation every day.
That is why I left my family when
I was 14 to try to do something
around the world. I’m going to
try to do my best here.’
He may make mistakes. Barnes
equalised after a fortunate
deflection carried the ball to him
on the edge of the six-yard box
and it was Luiz who played the
striker onside.
Arsenal needed a new central
defender in the summer and they
got one for £8m, while
Manchester United got Harry
Maguire for £80m.
They will have to take the rough
with the smooth.
‘In life you have to believe,’ Luiz
continued. ‘My philosophy on life
is to be positive and to be a
dreamer. But understand, to
dream is one thing and to
achieve your dream, you have a
lot to do. I have my health, I can
dream and we can fight for
something big.’
It was the usual suspects who
scored at the Emirates Stadium,
with Alexandre Lacazette and
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
helping themselves to goals in
either half.
Until Kieran Tierney beat him by
1cm, Aubameyang held the
record for the highest standing
jump at Arsenal.
The striker is looking to reach
new heights on the pitch
OF DAVID LUIZ
ARSENAL
BURNLEY
KIERAN GILL
at the Emirates Stadium
instead. After scoring the only
goal of the game at Newcastle
last week, his winner on
Saturday ensured Arsenal
opened a season with two
victories for the first time
since 2009-10.
Another game, another goal.
Aubameyang looked in
Thierry Henry mode towards
the end of last season, and his
latest strike would not look
amiss in a video montage of the
Frenchman’s career.
Aubameyang is the closest
Arsenal have had to Henry.
If he can grab the goals and Luiz
can help keep them out, there
will be more cheer than fear at
the Emirates this season.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 6.5; Maitland-Niles 6,
Luiz 6.5, Sokratis 6.5, Monreal 6.5;
CEBALLOS 8 (Torreira 83min), Guendouzi 6.5;
Nelson 6.5 (Pepe 46, 6), Willock 7,
Aubameyang 7.5; Lacazette 7.5 (Kolasinac
71, 6). Subs not used: Martinez, Mkhitaryan,
Chambers, Martinelli.
Scorers:
Lacazette 13,
Aubameyang
64.
Booked:
Aubameyang, Luiz.
Manager:
Unai Emery 7.5.
BURNLEY (4-4-2):
Pope 6.5; Lowton 6,
Tarkowski 6, Mee 6,
Pieters 5;
Gudmundsson 6
(Lennon 72, 6),
Cork 6, Westwood 5.5,
McNeil 6; Wood 6
(Rodriguez 61, 6),
Barnes 6.5. Subs not
used: Hart, Taylor, Hendrick,
Gibson, Bardsley.
Scorer: Barnes 43.
Booked: Barnes.
Manager: Sean Dyche 6.
Referee: Mike Dean 6. Attendance: 60,214.
THRILLS AND SPILLS
2
1