West Ham’s Wilshere out six weeks with ankle surgery
By Adam Smith
Off the back of West Ham’s statement win at Everton, the Hammers received news that Jack Wilshere would require surgery on his ankle for an existing injury. The recovery and rehabilitation are expected to take up to six weeks.
I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised about this one, should we? As confirmed by the club in an official press statement, Wilshere’s operation happened on Monday morning and was “a straightforward procedure” that was successfully completed.
Wilshere’s injury record has been a major strike against him in his career culminating in his departure from his club this summer after Arsene Wenger left Arsenal. Despite two years of relative health, Wilshere will again now miss substantial time leaving him out of the West Ham line up until the beginning of November.
light. Related Story. With Wilshere out who starts in midfield for West Ham?
From a supporter’s perspective, this is a massive blow as Wilshere showed promise as West Ham’s midfield leader this season. The results were not there for West Ham with Wilshere in the lineup but the poor performances couldn’t really be hung on his head. The team was underperforming but the midfield maestro looked settled in his holding midfield role.
The main benefactors in this situation are the three midfielders who just put in an absolute shift against Everton. Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang, and Declan Rice performed admirably in West Ham’s 3-1 win at Everton, clogging up the midfield in defense of the backline and jumping up in attack to give the front three more passing options. Rather than those three players fight for one or two positions (depending on formation) they will slot in as a starting triumvirate in West Ham’s next month and a half of matches.
Wilshere injury jokes aside, the mundane nature of the article published on whufc.com does suggest that this was more of a maintenance procedure rather than a concerning operation. As reported in the article Wilshere has “a short period of rest before undertaking his rehabilitation” which again is telling in regard to the severity of the procedure.
Next. West Ham’s key man doubt for home derby against Chelsea. dark
After procuring a starting position under a top-class manager on his childhood team, following a full season without injury things were starting to line up for a Wilshere comeback. Instead, injury rears it’s ugly head again and sidelines a player who has yet to reach his true potential for circumstances outside of his control.
Get well soon, Jack! See you back on the pitch soon!