Jack Wilshere as deep midfielder...

An article on Wilsheres performances at deep midfield as double pivot..

http://wearethenorthbank.com/talented-mr-wilshere/

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some interesting facts...

Wilshere plays #$%$.He doesn’t understand the positioning and constantly drift in the middle, hold up ball for long period, not good at passing, his assist and goal scoring rate is abysmal. His defensive record is also poor, he doesn’t track back and the number of tackles won by him is very low. Lets consider the facts: 1) Last season, When he was absent for last 10 PL matches, Arsenal won 9 and drawn 1 match. 2) when he played against Bayern at Emirates, Arsenal lost by 3-1, but without him, Arsenal won by 2-0 at Allianz. 3) Similarly, Arsenal lost to Borussia Dortmund at Home when Wilshere played by 1-2. Without him, Arsenal becomes the first English team to beat BD at their home ground. 4) At Emirates against Liverpool this season, When Arsenal totally outplayed Liverpool, Wilshere didn’t played. At Anfield every knows what happened when he played. 5) At Manchester city this season which is worst match for arsenal, no prize for guessing,he played for entire duration. If you consider him as attacking midfielder then his Assist/ Goal score rate is low. If you consider him as defensive midfielder then his number of successful tackles and duel won is very low. And if you consider him as playmaker, his passing percentage, work rate and number of key passes in final third is low. He is a good player but should not be a starter in critical matches.

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nice article.. although the author is quite harsh on Wilshere.. but most of them are very valid points..
Wilshere is still yet to find his best position at Arsenal..

Wilshere started his first team career as deep midfielder partnering Song at 18 and destroying Barca attacks.. it was such an amazing season.. but we had Cesc, Nasri and Walcott in front 3 and Wilshere didnt have to drive forward or create.. and he didnt have his injury problems also..

but since then.. whenever he started in deep midfield problems have always happened especially against big teams.. he is capable of providing the forward drive as b2b player.. and he is good at 1v1 defending too.. but the problem is his positional awareness and intelligence.. how often we have seen his pivot partner exposed alone.. fails to reduce the gap in the midfield.. and once he goes forward in an attack, or he loses the ball trying to dribble through, he doesnt recover fast enough and we are in deep trouble.. and to make things worse, he loses his temper frequently and starts making needless fouls..

this season he has increased his assists and goals.. looked very good going forward.. yes, eventhough he lacks the pace and crossing of a winger, his best performances have come cutting in from the RW.. and i think he should be played in the front 3 than in deep midfield.. still the potential CAM..

he is rightly talented for this deep midfield role.. but he has been clearly inferior to Ramsey and Arteta in doing his duties.. and i hope injury problems have not affected his engine.. but these problems get only corrected by experience and playing more in this position..

and i guess these are the problems Ox will face too.. it is not that easy to convert attacking players to defensive players and maintain their attacking spark and instincts..

and performances against Liverpool and Manu underline these problems...

What? Wilshere was one of perhaps 3 Arsenal players who could have come away from Anfield with even a modicum of self-respect (AOC and Szcz being the others). He was the ONLY Arsenal midfielder actually running, pressing, and generally working in the first half while his teammates did their best Christian Poulsen impressions. He did threaten to lose his head more than once, but I'd rather see that from a player than the utter disappearing act that Arteta, Cazorla, and Ozil pulled for 60 minutes.

I agree with the author on most parts, Wilshere is not a deep lying midfielder (what Wenger said). I feel for him because he doesn't want to play there either much like Ramsey didn't want to play as a winger. And the worst yet is Oxlade-Chamberlain having the future as a CM . If Ferguson had Oxlade-Chamberlain, with his style of play he would try to make him a CR7 kind of player, not ANOTHER CM.

Btw I completely disagree with the other part you posted on quotes. What a load of SHIT. Wilshere wasn't the reason we lost those games and if you say "Wilshere has poor assist/goal rate", look at them when he's played further up the pitch and you'll be surprised.

His best position is without a doubt CAM or in a 4-3-3 "The Iniesta". But because we have Özil and we don't play a 4-3-3, he can play the same role as Cazorla but on the other side.

goals and assist aside, there were definitely change after his big injury just like one with Eduardo and I'm talking about his personal play, not positional or tactical.

Pre injury, he always knew what to do with the ball on his feet, calm and composed. The trait we saw the best in that Barca game, always knew when to pass and when to dribble. And he was a true battling midfield.

Post injury though, he sometimes misjudge all of those and fell down from slightest touch.

Willing to give him sometimes though since I attribute it mostly to his injury. And he won't be CAM for a while now with Ozil here so DPL or box to box is what he will be molded to be.

Wilshere, at this point, needs some careful nurturing. There's no mistaking the talent he has, but I do feel that his concentration can waver a little easily at times, and it effects his performances.

It's not surprising that it does because of how often he's fouled and hurt, and how he just has so much desire to do well. The problem is that he responds by trying a bit too hard, and so the mistakes start creeping into his game; his passes go adrift, he runs into dead ends, and he continually pushes forward trying to make something happen, but at the expense of leaving his midfield partner on his own.

Frequent spells on the sidelines doesn't help with his consistency issues, either.

Blaming for certain defeats is total nonsense. The article mentions the 3-1 defeat against Bayern last season, but if I remember correctly the one Arsenal player who turned up that night was Wilshere. Similarly, recently against Liverpool, the one player putting an effort in, along with a couple others, was Wilshere, even if a lot of it translated into fouls and turnovers.

I fear now that Arsenal fans are turning him into the new scapegoat. Ramsey ended up proving everyone wrong, so can't Wilshere do the same? The circumstances between them are so similar. Ramsey, too, had a period where he didn't have a role in the side; where he ended up behind the striker, on the right, left, central midfield, holding midfield, even right back. But he's found where he's best after some patience. The same needs to happen with Wilshere.

I see his best role being a CM in a three, with one holding player and one b2b player. In other words, I see him and Ramsey being a very good partnership provided they've got a good anchor man with them. In that set-up, he doesn't need to be as defensively responsible as he has to be in a double pivot behind Ozil. But accomplishing that now is difficult when you've got Ozil and Cazorla to fit in as well, unless we start playing a x-mas tree formation or something.

Our best XI right now probably doesn't have Wilshere in it. I think he needs to be rotated more, and yes, I do agree that right now he may be better of being a super-sub in the bigger matches. But at the same time, he's 21 years old, and still has plenty of time to mature and find his niche. It just needs some patience.

GoonerJay29 wrote:Wilshere, at this point, needs some careful nurturing. There's no mistaking the talent he has, but I do feel that his concentration can waver a little easily at times, and it effects his performances.

It's not surprising that it does because of how often he's fouled and hurt, and how he just has so much desire to do well. The problem is that he responds by trying a bit too hard, and so the mistakes start creeping into his game; his passes go adrift, he runs into dead ends, and he continually pushes forward trying to make something happen, but at the expense of leaving his midfield partner on his own.

Frequent spells on the sidelines doesn't help with his consistency issues, either.

Blaming for certain defeats is total nonsense. The article mentions the 3-1 defeat against Bayern last season, but if I remember correctly the one Arsenal player who turned up that night was Wilshere. Similarly, recently against Liverpool, the one player putting an effort in, along with a couple others, was Wilshere, even if a lot of it translated into fouls and turnovers.

I fear now that Arsenal fans are turning him into the new scapegoat. Ramsey ended up proving everyone wrong, so can't Wilshere do the same? The circumstances between them are so similar. Ramsey, too, had a period where he didn't have a role in the side; where he ended up behind the striker, on the right, left, central midfield, holding midfield, even right back. But he's found where he's best after some patience. The same needs to happen with Wilshere.

I see his best role being a CM in a three, with one holding player and one b2b player. In other words, I see him and Ramsey being a very good partnership provided they've got a good anchor man with them. In that set-up, he doesn't need to be as defensively responsible as he has to be in a double pivot behind Ozil. But accomplishing that now is difficult when you've got Ozil and Cazorla to fit in as well, unless we start playing a x-mas tree formation or something.

Our best XI right now probably doesn't have Wilshere in it. I think he needs to be rotated more, and yes, I do agree that right now he may be better of being a super-sub in the bigger matches. But at the same time, he's 21 years old, and still has plenty of time to mature and find his niche. It just needs some patience.

Excellent post.

Wilshere's problem has always been the lack of consistency due to his frequent injuries. Before his last injury, he was playing really really well and often outperforming Ozil even. Then he got a setback and he was back to square one.

He also tends to over dribble at times which he needs to improve. His first instinct at every touch is to dribble. He is a fantastic dribbler but he needs to pick his moments. Which is why I have said in the past he needs to watch more of Iniesta and Messi. He shares the same traits as them but he is nowhere near in terms of decision making.

Regarding his best position. He is in a limbo. He isn't a DM, and neither he is a B2B. His best performances have come as an attacking midfielder or at RW. People forget how young he is and he has a lot of time to make a position his.

Wilshere was actually awful against Liverpool, RedOranje. There was at least one time I remember clearly when he gave the ball away, the guy who got it off of him stopped to look for a pass and was vulnerable to be challenged, but instead of making up for his error, Wilshere just turned his back to the game and bitched. He's got a terrible attitude at times and he definitely lets it affect his performance. Every time he is targetted by the other team with challenges, which he basically always is now, he becomes 1/2 the player he is capable of.

I am not saying that he is crap or shouldn't be involved in the team because he clearly is very talented and I expect him to become great, but right now he does not merit a place in the team. We cannot forget his good performances because he has been MOTM in a few games this season, but sometimes he disrupts our play.

It is hard to rate Jack with the way the team is currently. Artetta has shown some deficits in his game lately. We have not got a goal from Guroud since November. With Walcott out and not playing Podolski we have no wings. So what we really have is Artetta or Flamini trying to play with 4 other midfielders trying to occupy the same position and space with a cf that currently is bringing nothing to help.

Wilshere wasn't good against Liverpool, absolutely. But then no Arsenal player was. He was, relatively speaking, still one of Arsenal's better players though. He clearly outperformed Cazorla, Ozil, and Arteta simply by virtue of TRYING to be involved, while they all just tried to fade into the turf for much of the match.

The issue with many, many EPL midfielders is that they lack tactical awareness... which is a sin as a CM.  Effort is seen as more important than positioning.  Wilshere falls into that category.

As a CM, your first responsibilities are flow management to the forwards and defensive cover for the defense.  When i see a CM throw himself into tackles defensively, i cringe.  It's a massive mistake since you're out of play if you miss.  When i see a CM dribble away and move into wrong positions, i cring also...  your job is to move the ball and provide ball support.

EPL has always been a very poor league in terms of midfield play and i blame the managers tbh...  but Wenger was one of the exceptions.  That's why i'm shocked that Wilshere is not trained better.  With more good foreign managers coming into the EPL... i think the midfield play will continue to improve however.

But Wilshere needs to model himself on the great CMs in world football.  Great talent.  Don't like his footy intelligence right now...

But of course Wilshere is not 100% well schooled in defensive positioning and moving the ball quickly in midfield, he grew up playing a different position. His instinct often overrides what he has been taught and his instinct is linked to his attitude which is obvious to see, is about giving everything and laying it all on the line.

Yeah but you need to overcome that Dani... it's been long enough. Or if he just can't overcome those instincts he developed as a non-CM in his youth, then he just shouldn't be played there.

Right now, Arsenal don't have a DM. So it's even more critical that every mid plays smart and doesn't get caught making bad decisions.

I think the truth is, he shouldnt play there. At least not with Ozil or another CAM.

The responsibility is too much, I think Wenger is making the mistake here.

But I also think again, when you play Arteta or someone like him, you will have these problems because he is afraid to come up with Wilshere because the space he leaves behind, he cant recover into. Obviously also the defence must come too, but this shouldnt be a guessing game...either you all come or you all dont, not half of each.

And Arsenal are doing very well defensively minus these incredible blow out games...so it makes it even more bizarre.

When Arsenal were at their best, they had Flamini-Arteta-Ramsey imo...  it gave the best balance to the midfield and allowed players to play naturally.  Wilshere in the Ramsey role is obviously fine too since they're both very similar.

Two things have messed things up a bit:
-  Cazorla coming back.  Wenger wants to play Ozil and Cazorla both.  Well you can't do that in a 433 because then you have 2 AMs that like to come inside play the wing positions.  They're no fast either, so you have no width.  As a result, Wenger is literally playing a 4231 now.  But a Arteta-Wilshere double pivot is nothing short of crazy imo.
-  Losing Walcott.  He brought speed and goalscoring to the attack.  Without him, Arsenal are very predictable.  It's not that Walcott is that great... it's that he bring a different skillset.  Right now, you have too many similar players on the pitch + only one score and that scorer is in bad form right now (Giroud).

Wilshere was actually very disciplined when he first broke through. He often allowed Song to go forward while he stayed back. That's what made most of us believe he could be a great CM.

But after losing 2 years of football and when he came back, he somehow lost that. My reason for it is that when he was young he was eager to break through and wanted to do everything to start every match. Which meant he was willing to stay that way.

He is a very clever footballer so it's strange to see his tactical sense this bad but Dani is right about his position. It's definitely not going to be at CM with Arteta next to him. He would work next to someone like Busquets or De Rossi or Lars very well. But with Ozil upfront and a regressed Arteta. Wilshere is going to be bad in a pivot.

The article is very selective and dismissive of a number of things. First and foremost he was the only player against Bayern who looked comfortable with the ball, the goals came about collectively dreadful defending. The away leg we sucker punched them, had them where we wanted them and had 10 days off. Was it Wilshere's fault for the counter attack goal at the end or first one where Ramsey was caught in position. Lest we forget if our goal wasn't in beast mode in Dortmund along with the CB's the game would be vastly different. To blame a defeat(s) on one player or suggest he is the trend is laughable and says to me the author of this "blog" does not understand the vairiables and mechanics of football.

Jack Wilshere this season has only had two full dreadful 90 minutes this season and they were the two previous games.

Those who remember the City game vividly will note that Wilshere was instrumental in creating a number of real chances at the most important period of the game the 50-65th minute. Had a better finisher than Giroud e.g. Bendtner Arsenal could have drawn level, in that period our attacking potency was insane, 4 great opportunities were created including the Zabeleta handball, pass by Wilshere and the peach of a cross that Giroud missed, only one was scored.

I do feel like I'm repeating myself as I say this but the trajectory Ramsey and Wilshere are having is mirror like. A better finisher and this question of his performance and assist rate would not even be questioned. That Bergakmp esque ball to Giroud against WBA at 1-1, was genius. Similar to Ramsey in 2011/12, 2012/13 he did the same things he does now but there is more authority and composure in his play.

Only player for me who is redundant or needs reinvention in midfield is Arteta, Ramsey covers his lack of athelticism and his lack of ability to carry the ball, these two things have not been picked up by others in Ramsey's absence, and that has been Arsenal's biggest problem.

For me Wilshere-Flamini-Ramsey would be the best midfield, he can play that role he did in 2010/11 with an orthodox DM playing behind him, with Ramsey coming back I'd play Rosicky alongside Wilshere a player who shares a similar way of playing. Wishere's best position is deep CM, alongside an out and out DM, the current components of the system are not showcasing his true ability, but even in different positions the guy still shows moments of true class.

Finally the guy is 22, tactically he is not going to be a Guillit or Matthaus at that age for crying out loud. Next year like will be his year, if Arsenal get a proper finisher there'll be no need for any scapegoats.

Wilson37 wrote:
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some interesting facts...

Wilshere plays #$%$.He doesn’t understand the positioning and constantly drift in the middle, hold up ball for long period, not good at passing, his assist and goal scoring rate is abysmal. His defensive record is also poor, he doesn’t track back and the number of tackles won by him is very low. Lets consider the facts: 1) Last season, When he was absent for last 10 PL matches, Arsenal won 9 and drawn 1 match. 2) when he played against Bayern at Emirates, Arsenal lost by 3-1, but without him, Arsenal won by 2-0 at Allianz. 3) Similarly, Arsenal lost to Borussia Dortmund at Home when Wilshere played by 1-2. Without him, Arsenal becomes the first English team to beat BD at their home ground. 4) At Emirates against Liverpool this season, When Arsenal totally outplayed Liverpool, Wilshere didn’t played. At Anfield every knows what happened when he played. 5) At Manchester city this season which is worst match for arsenal, no prize for guessing,he played for entire duration. If you consider him as attacking midfielder then his Assist/ Goal score rate is low. If you consider him as defensive midfielder then his number of successful tackles and duel won is very low. And if you consider him as playmaker, his passing percentage, work rate and number of key passes in final third is low. He is a good player but should not be a starter in critical matches.

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Sigh, selectively using facts to paint the picture you want is about the most annoying bogus argument style there is. You can do that to discredit anyone no matter how great they are to support whatever wild conclusion your trying to make. I could select facts that make arsenal sound rubbish without wilshere, and leave out all the facts that suggest the opposite. Even the "facts" used there aren't even indicative of the point he's trying to make. Selectively using facts AND interpreting those facts like a moron. When the person arguing is such a massive idiot it's difficult to take them seriously, even though there are valid points to be made.

As for wilshere playing as a CM, he doesn't look capable right now of playing at the speed he used to and that affects a lot of the things he does. When you combine that with the fact that arsenal don't have a defensive midfielder, but a very slow CM who reads the game, it's obviously a disaster waiting to happen. We are just going to have to be patient with wilshere