Still amazed that you are both a Mariners AND an Arsenal fan Doc. I thought I was the only one on the planet.

 "By my count, Wilshere is Arsenal's 10th-best player"

 I really can't let this pass...you can't be serious can you? Jack has been arguably the best player on the pitch for the past month or so. He's been man of the match three times and has carried the play in the center of the pitch. I know it's not glamorous work but it's worth paying attention to what he's done and this makes no mention of his age!

What's the timestamp of the original post?  :- )

It was February 12, for those just joining us.  Wilshere is improving on a game-by-game basis.  He learns visibly.

One of the shocking things I've seen in sports, how good Jack Wilshere has gotten, how fast.  Early this term, I thought Wilshere was the following:

• An above-average midfielder in the EPL, at only 19
• A very low-error passer, superb for efficiency if not for creativity
  
• A high-workrate teenager who could go 12 km without breaking a sweat
  
• A hard-nosed tackler who has been key to Arsenal shedding their soft personality
• An alert-but-not-genius passer who kept the midfield fluid with his peppery 10-yarders, Makelele style
  
• A youngster who sensibly funnelled the game through Fabregas
  

And I was delighted to see the resilience that he gave to the Gunners, especially compared to players like Rosicky, Flamini and other mids who'd tried to play with Fabregas.

Before his plateau leap, the part of Wilshere's game that we enjoyed, was the 15-yard dribble runs followed by a deft little pass to Fabregas in space...  the ideal supporting cast mate for Cesc the Fab...

.....................

But over the last six-eight games, all competitions, Wilshere has seemingly added a showstopping element to his game each week out:

• He has taken to, twice a game, dribbling the ball through crowds like Nasri
• He has increased his ambition on the one-touch passes, as the mind-blowing touch he gave to Fabregas on the Arshavin goal v. Barca
• He has begun directing his teammates around the pitch, managing the tempo
  

Up to a month or two ago, Wilshere showed me much less ambition on his passing than did a player like Arshavin or Fabregas.  But during the Barcelona game, the announcers had the audacity to state that Wilshere would have not looked about of place alongside Xavi and Ianesta...

Wilshere has expanded his game the way that I wish Justin Smoak had:  he started off by doing things he knew he could do, and he gradually stepped up his attack as he got his feet under him more and more. 

This was precisely what Ken Griffey Jr. did in 1989, 1990, and 1991.  The truly masterful young talent has a sense of danger, a feel for what can go wrong, and he lengthens the backswing on his driver only after he has a few par's on the scorecard.  Wilshere has precisely this good judgment.

......................

Last term, I was disgusted by Arsenal's soft character.  I thought that Tomas Rosicky was the quintessential Wenger player:  a little Smurf with speed, twinkle feet and magical creativity in the attack ... and who couldn't be breathed on without spending another six weeks in the training room.

It turns out the the prototype Wenger player now is Samir Nasri, a player who is also dazzling on the ball, but also a man who grew up flickknife-fighting, as it were, on the mean streets of Albania...

Wilshere is absolutely part of that personality transplant.

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Part 2