talkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham has slaughtered West Ham United midfielder Jack Wilshere for his performance against Oxford United on Wednesday night.
The England international was part of the Hammers team that were humiliated 4-0 by a much-changed League One outfit, and Durham believes he was particularly culpable.
“Jack Wilshere – should he not be grabbing hold of a game like that?,” he said on talkSPORT [26/09; 16:28]. “He plays like he did last night, nobody’s going to want to go near him.
“He’s better than that.”
OPINION
There’s no doubt that Wilshere is a lot better than what he showed on Wednesday night. He’s got 34 England caps for a reason and was a long-time Arsenal player for a reason. As Durham says, he should be taking a game like this by the scruff of the neck and showing that he is head and shoulders above his League One opponents. The statistics demonstrate that Wilshere was neat and tidy at the Kassam Stadium, without ever influencing the game in any meaningful way. As per WhoScored.com, he had one shot on target and won an aerial duel. He also had an impressive 88.1% pass success rate. However all that statistic shows is that he was playing it too safe. He had 50 touches and 42 passes, but not enough aggression in his intentions. The fact that he failed to produce a key pass on Wednesday is inexcusable for a player of his ability. Defensively, one tackle and one block isn’t enough as the sum total of his defensive contribution. Plus, he committed two pointless fouls. His WhoScored rating of 6.48 tells you that this was as middling an effort as possible from the 27-year-old.
