Eddie Howe has admitted that they are having to manage Jack Wilshere to ensure that he doesn’t suffer any more injury problems which would, of course, negate the entire point of his loan.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of the Cherries game against West Brom this weekend, when Wilshere is expected to make his debut, Howe said, “He has not completed all of the training.
“We have had to manage his training time on the pitch to make sure we get the balance right between getting him fitter and making sure he does not break down.
“There are certain players who have had serious injuries in their careers that we have to manage. We have to fine-tune the workload that they get.”
There have been significant doubts raised over Wilshere’s ability to ever truly get over the ankle problems that have plagued him so far in his young career and this is certainly not the most reassuring thing to hear.
A few seasons ago we were told by someone who knows Jack that his ankles will likely never be right, and while we dismissed it at the time, it becomes harder to do so the longer his problems persist.
Of course, many of the problems that Wilshere has suffered have been inflicted on him by incredibly poor challenges, many of which that went unpunished, but the length of time it often takes him to recover hints at an underlying problem.
That being said, he does, at least, seem to be at a club with a manager who is prepared to look after him rather than run him into the ground in order to get the maximum out of him before sending him back to Arsenal in pieces.