OPINION
Dean Saunders remarked on players such as West Ham midfielder Jack Wilshere and Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish being criticised and he will surely make their critics re-think.
The retired attacker commented on the Premier League duo being judged after the first two league games after the Daily Mail published a piece questioning Wilshere, while also publishing a piece which highlighted Grealish’s losing streak with Villa in England’s top-flight.
Saunders explained that he would understand if Grealish or Wilshere were the type of players who could be considered “wasters” by delivering poor results due to not caring, but he pointed out that both clearly want to win for their sides.
“If you show signs of not caring about the result or the performance then you deserve to be hammered but Jack Grealish wants to win, Jack Wilshere, when he plays want to win,” said Saunders on talkSPORT (09:27am, Monday, August 19th).
“That’s what I can see.
“They’re not wasters.”
It’s easy to see where Saunders is coming from, as first and foremost all you really want to see from a player is that they are giving their best.
And would any West Ham fan really question Wilshere’s desire to want to deliver match-winning performances? Surely not.
After all the 27-year-old is personally paying for a private physiotherapist to fly over from Ireland twice a week in an effort to keep himself fit this season, as per the Daily Mail, in a bid to keep fit this season.
Wilshere also kept training hard during the off-season earlier in the summer as he put posts up on his personal Instagram on multiple occasions to highlight that he was putting in the work and this shows how determined he is to make an impact this season.
While there’s no denying that the 27-year-old struggled in the Hammers’ 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday, as he managed to only touch the ball 15 times before being benched at half-time, as per WhoScored, causing some fans to fume over his display on social media, given the work he is putting in, surely it will work out for him soon enough.
Wilshere should receive the full support of everyone associated with the Hammers as clearly the 27-year-old is doing all he can to prove his worth to Pellegrini’s side, and that’s something that warrants him being given the benefit of the doubt.
