Thursday 15 September 2016

Will Jack Wilshere start against City?

It was Eddie Howe being his enigmatic self in leaving jack Wilshere out of the side to play WBA last weekend from the start. The world's media was queueing up to take snaps of Jack and while they got their reward in the end, they had to wait to see Jack in the second half. Now we ask, did Jack make enough of a difference in this match to get a start in the next game?

Eddie Howe said his plan was always to give Jack just 30 minutes against Albion and it worked out that way. Jack looked in good form and was finding space in behind Callum Wilson in the number 10 role. I was less keen on seeing him move out wide right as further changes took place, but when he is threatening the goal and being creative just in and around the box he is a very dangerous player and that brings extra defenders towards him, thus creating space for others.
Jack may just have to be patient.
While it is tempting to keep Jack playing as many minutes as AFCB can get out of him, it is important to protect Jack with his injury record. Whether that takes two or three games before he is ready to start is something that Eddie Howe will have to judge. With Man City coming up next, it may be more important to let the team have its hard running central midfielders in place from the start to quell the potency of the City attack. That could mean a three man central midfield with Gosling, Surman and Arter beginning the game, while Wilshire might be best suited to again getting minutes in the second half, when AFCB will hopefully still be in the game and will be needing to try and get hold of more possession.

What AFCB don't won't is an early burnout for Wilshere. If that means resting him for minutes against Man City so that he can play a full 90 minutes say against Everton, I think most fans would be happy with that. Wilshire is in the end an asset and he is an asset for some 30 games or more that AFCB can use, but it is not doing anyone any favours if he is rushed into playing too many minutes too quickly.


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