Wenger backs Wilshere to get back to best 
Jack Wilshere hasn’t played since Nov. 22 but Arsene Wenger believes he’ll get back to his best before long.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has every confidence that midfielder Jack Wilshere will return to fulfil his potential after another frustrating, injury-hit season.
Wilshere, 23, has been on the bench in recent weeks after finally recovering first from ankle ligament damage following a tackle by Manchester United defender Paddy McNair on Nov. 22, and then minor surgery to remove some studs on the pins in the bone. It is the latest in a long line of setbacks for the England international, who missed the whole of the 2011-12 campaign following ankle trouble picked up in a preseason game.
Wenger, though, is in no doubt Wilshere can continue his development with a solid run of good health.
“Jack is in front of what we expected him to be,” Wenger said. “What takes a long time and what people underestimate a little bit is that to get back to be capable to play is one thing, but to be back and be capable to be sharp and efficient takes a bit longer.
“Even the players, from the moment they train again fully and the moment they are really back to their level, they are impatient, but it takes much longer than they think to get sharp again.
“In the Premier League it is a fraction of a second that makes you efficient or not.”
Wenger continued: “Jack plays with freedom as soon as he is back, so I don’t think on that front it will be a problem. But he needs now one or two years without problems to really get the full confidence and belief back, and I don’t see why it shouldn’t happen.”
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A lack of regular first-team action has led to suggestions Wilshere could be tempted away in the summer, with Manchester City reported to be ready to come in with a big-money offer. Yet Wenger has no interest in any sales talk.
“Jack is an Arsenal player. I believe the success of the club in the future years will depend on how well the young players educated here will do, and he is part of that,” Wenger said.
Fellow England internationals Danny Welbeck, Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott also were named among the substitutes against Chelsea last weekend. Wenger accepts he now has “25 that are desperate” to play, but that competition for places is now more fierce than ever.
He said: “It is difficult to get in this team, I don’t deny that. If you consider any individual case you can say you are sorry that he doesn’t play.”
Arsenal head to Hull on Monday night looking to keep up the pressure in the battle with Manchester City and Manchester United for second place in the Premier League.
With the FA Cup final at Wembley against Aston Villa also on the horizon, there could yet be a silver end to the Gunners’ campaign.
Wenger, though, is not about to worry himself over analysing whether the season as a whole can be viewed as a success.
“At my age I am not on an ego trip. I just want to do well for my club and go home and think I have given absolutely everything to do well, and after that everyone has to the right to have an opinion,” the 65-year-old said.
“After every game we have a tribunal and you have to face the court, and it is [thumbs] up or down, like in Roman times.
“We have to live with that, but at the end of the day, continuity is still important.”
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