This season has been a successful one for Arsenal as a club, but not so much for some of the players. Laurent Koscienly has struggled to find the form he displayed last season and Nacho Monreal has found himself in and out of the first team, and as a result of Jack Wilshere being pushed out into a wider position than he’s used to he has found himself at the centre of criticism. Last night, however, the England international silenced the doubters as he put in a sterling performance against Marseille in the Champions League.
The Gunners made it four wins from five in Europe with a relatively easy 2-0 victory, and it was largely thanks to Wilshere opening the scoring after just 30 seconds. It allowed the north London side to dictate the game at their tempo – they made more than double the passes of their Ligue 1 opponents and ran the game for the entire 90 minutes. Wilshere was at the heart of that, despite starting in a wide role.
Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey occupied the central positions from the get-go and Wilshere was out of the right. He completed 38/47 of his passes, won both of his take ons and made two tackles. Naturally he drifted into the central areas and linked up nicely with his team-mates, and it was from the middle where his second goal came from.
Wilshere showed that he is the real deal, despite the early criticism.