Wenger’s Wilshere fitness worry

Wilshere’s creativity for Arsenal this season

Jack Wilshere has long been heralded as the future of English football and never more so now Roy Hodgson is in charge of the National team. However, with the Arsenal midfielder having only just recovered from a long and frustrating injury layoff this season Arsene Wenger has stressed the importance of him not being overused on the Arsenal Official Website.

Arsenal supporters share the very same worry with Wilshere being a pivotal member of the Arsenal midfield and after being substituted in the 1-0 victory over Sunderland last weekend, Wenger is incredibly cautious as to whether he should risk Wilshere in Arsenal’s must win FA Cup tie with Blackburn this weekend.

Arsenal also have the added pressure of a European Cup tie with Bayern Munich at the Emirates on Tuesday evening which Wenger will definitely need Jack Wilshere fit for. It will a game where a strong midfield will be necessary against the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez and the craft and guile of Toni Kroos in order for Arsenal to stand a fighting chance of progression heading into Bavaria for the second leg.

Wenger’s recent worries over Wilshere’s fitness were compounded somewhat by Roy Hodgson’s decision to play Wilshere for the full 90 minutes in last week’s friendly against Brazil at Wembley. Whether this was agreed prior to the fixture with Wenger we do not know however, it seems unlikely when you look at Wilshere’s recent battles with injury.

With Arsenal playing Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates on Saturday it is expected that Wilshere will miss out, this has all but been confirmed by Arsene Wenger in his pre-match press conference this morning when the experienced Frenchman stated “I will not take a risk.” You would expect the Arsenal side to have more than enough quality to overcome Rovers at home and have enough options left for Tuesday’s behemoth tie with Bayern.

The European Cup will in all likelihood sit higher on Arsene Wenger’s priorities list than the FA Cup despite the quality of the teams left in the competition in comparison to Arsenal’s and with no risks being taken on Wilshere’s fitness this weekend it is expected he will be ushered straight back into the starting line-up on Tuesday in a game where Arsenal simply must take a lead back to Germany.