Ever since he broke into the first team at the age of 16, a lot has been expected of our youth team product, Jack Wilshere.
Wilshere seemed like he would become a true star of the game ever since he made his competitive Premier League debut back in the 2008/09 season. However, injuries have curtailed his development and it seems he's actually gotten worse. But do the statistics tell the same story?
Since 2010/11, when Wilshere became a regular starter at our club, Jack has achieved a pass completion rate of 86.1% (10/11), 86.2% (12/13), 86.1% (13/14) and 83% this season (he was injured for the whole 2011/12 season). So his passing stats seem to have remained relatively similar and he has appeared to retain good averages throughout his short career.
In 2010/11, Wilshire completed 1.7 dribbles per game, which rose to 2.2 dribbles per game in 2012/13 and then fell to 1.9 dribbles per game last season. He also completed 1.7, 1.3 and 1.3 tackles per game in those respective seasons.
One area where he seems to have done worse in is his ability to intercept the ball. He completed 1.5 per game in 2010/11, 1.0 per game in 2012/13 and only 0.4 per game last season. One possible reason for this is possibly that he's afraid to push himself into challenges due to the fear of getting injured again after he suffered a fracture to his metatarsal in the 2011/12 season.
Another explanation may be that he has tamed his tendency to commit fouls and has tried to remain disciplined. In 2010/11, he committed three fouls per game and that dropped to 0.9 per game in 2012/13 and 1.2 per game last season.
Essentially, Jack Wilshire is the same player, but is still dealing with the demons brought about by his injury four seasons ago. However, he has kept relatively consistent in terms of statistics. He may have been overshadowed by Aaron Ramsey recently, but he is still in his early twenties and will have lots of time to work on several aspects of his game that need improvement.
