Bandwagon Jack?

Starting this blog thing again, as I find myself writing multiple tweets (@GAV_GWA peeps!) to make my point. Maybe I tweet too much, but some people need to be educated!

Anyway, seems like I've got a sparring partner on twitter - a diehard gooner - and getting him to see any inkling of negative in his club is like flogging a dead horse...so to speak.

I'm in daily contact with my fellow benchers, two of which are gooners, so I know the mood. I know the fears. I know the disappointment. I know the frustrations...

Anyway the subject of the day is Jack Wilshere aka Average Jack aka Bandwagon Jack aka Bowlegged Jack.

Gooners love him - make out he's world class. Make out he could walk into any team in England.

I'm to be convinced.  Don't get me wrong, he's a decent enough player. But as good as gooners make out? I don't think so.

First of all, world class, is Xavi, Iniesta, Scholes in his day, as to show I'm not completely biased, Arsenal men like Cesc, Ozil, Viera in his day, Petit - they're world class.  Jacky boy is nowhere near that level.  In this respect, those players have beaten the boss, Jack hasn't even started the game...

As I said, Jack is decent - the club he is at dictates this to a certain extent. The hype of an Englishman able to pass and move, is borne from the media, and the country craving such a player to save the national team from the doldrums. As his exertions against Ukraine show, there's a bit of work for Young Jack in that respect.  We better get used to waiting...

So, some facts and opinions:
If Jack was a young Spanish player nobody would blink an eyelid - certainly there would be no hype
He's played the equivalent of 2 full seasons out of 4
He is injury prone (how many times has his defence been "he's not fully fit"?)
He's got decent technique, but nowhere near world class
He's not a goalscoring midfielder
He's not a defensive midfielder
He's not even in the top 3 midfielders at his club.
He's been unfairly hyped as being something special, so I feel for the lad.

Anyway time to go. Maybe I'll blog again soon.