OPINION
There have been a few lights amongst the darkness for West Ham so far this season, but midfielder Jack Wilshere has certainly not been one of them.
The form of Marko Arnautovic and Felipe Anderson has been encouraging, but other than that there are no real highlights for the Hammers. And former Arsenal man Wilshere has been one of those most culpable for the team’s dismal start to the season.
The 26-year-old, reportedly on £100k-a-week, has been a passenger in the middle of midfield, and looks increasingly lost. He will occasionally produce some nice touches, but most of the time he’s either embarking on a mazy run that will inevitably see him tackled or he’s being bypassed by the opposition’s more powerful players.
This is not the man West Ham fans thought they were getting. Wilshere, while not amazing, had a decent season for the Gunners last year, and he’s shown in the past that he is capable of brilliance.
He was waylaid by injuries at the Emirates Stadium, of course, but when fit he generally looked to be a pretty good player. That is not what we have seen in East London so far.
For someone who is still young, and who hasn’t played an excessive amount of football in his career, his legs look gone. He was overrun by Liverpool’s midfield trio on the opening day, and he didn’t look up to it against Bournemouth or Wolves either.
He’s been so poor that journalist Dave Kidd in the Sun openly wondered if he would be off to the MLS in a year’s time. While he might not be trying to make it in America that soon, it’s the sort of trajectory he’s on.
Hammers fans thought they had a steal when they brought the 34-cap England international in this summer. He was a free transfer and all they had to do was get him back to pre injury form, but it’s simply not happened.
Manuel Pellegrini must drop him for their game against Everton after the international break; he’s simply not performing. Pedro Obiang needs to be instated into the starting line up now, as Wilshere and Carlos Sanchez have shown they’re not up to task.
The club clearly failed to reinforce the centre of midfield this summer. They obviously tried with the Wilshere and Sanchez signings, but those aren’t working out. Pellegrini needs to rethink the middle of the park immediately.
Whether it’s Obiang, Mark Noble when he’s back from injury or Declan Rice, it doesn’t matter. Wilshere must be axed if the Hammers are to fix their disastrous start to the season.
