Wilshire must prove a point says Keown: ‘He has to play like his life depends on it’

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown says that Jack Wilshere must play like his life depends on it when he faces his former club on Saturday. 

Wilshere has been lauded throughout his career, drawing comparisons with some of the best players to have played in his position in midfield.

Former Barcelona full-back Dani Alves said he had the potential to become as good as Ander Iniesta and Xavi, while former German international Bastian Schweinsteiger said Wilshere is “one of the best players there are [in his position]” and Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus described the Englishman as a “perfect player.”

However, Wilshere’s career has been blighted by a series of injuries that has seen him appear in only 25 games in the Premier League over the last three seasons.

Arsenal finally decided to cut their losses and allowed the England international to leave the club during the summer. The 26-year-old midfielder headed down the road to West Ham on a three-year contract, and Keown says he will be hoping to make a name for himself when he faces his former club on Saturday.

“He will be very clear in his mind that he is going back to Arsenal to prove to them that they were wrong to let him go,” Keown told the Mail.

“Jack has to go to the Emirates and play like his life depends on it. He wanted to stay at Arsenal but the club he loved the most did not want him anymore.

 

“It will be a strange, almost sad feeling for him. He is going to a ground where he has a better understanding of the opposition than his new West Ham team-mates.

“He will look at 19-year-old Matteo Guendouzi in the Arsenal midfield and feel that should be him. It is a big game but he must remain focused and prove why it was wrong for Arsenal to let him leave.”

Both sides will go into Saturday’s match without earning any points from their first two league games, with the pressure mounting on new managers Manuel Pellegrini and Unai Emery to turn their club’s fortunes around.

West Ham are not expected to do well at the Emirates on Saturday and the East Londoners’ season gets even tougher after that. In their next four Premier League games, they face Wolves, Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United.

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