If anyone wants to know why club managers hate international friendlies, then look at what happened to Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere last night while playing for England.
Twelve minutes into the game, Wilshere got crushed by Liverpool and Denmark defender Daniel Agger. Wilshere appeared to be in tears at the injury and the stretcher was called for. But after some treatment from the England physic, Wilshere was sent back onto the pitch, where he stayed until the 59th minute. Keep in mind that this was not a competitive game. It was a friendly.
Well Wilshere returned to Arsenal today where they x-rayed his foot and found a crack to a small bone in Wilshere’s left foot.
A statement on the Arsenal web site announced the injury and also their displeasure at Wilshere not being substituted:
Jack Wilshere has sustained a hairline fracture to the navicular bone in his left foot.
Wilshere suffered the injury during England’s international match with Denmark on Wednesday night at Wembley Stadium, in which he played 59 minutes.Following initial scans carried out by the FA on Wednesday night, further investigation by Arsenal’s medical team has discovered a crack to a small bone in Jack’s left foot – the navicular, an area of his foot which has not been previously injured.
Jack will now require a period of approximately six weeks’ rehabilitation, before starting to regain his match fitness.
Wilshere is expected to now miss the following games for the Gunners:
- March 8 Everton (H) – FA Cup Sixth Round
- March 11 Bayern Munich (A) – Champions League Last 16, second leg
- March 16 Tottenham (A)
- March 22 Chelsea (A)
- March 25 Swansea City (H)
- March 29 Manchester City (H)
- April 6 Everton (A)
- April 13 West Ham (H)
Arsenal are four points behind league leaders Chelsea with 10 games to go in the season. To lose one of their most influential players for six of those games is a massive blow to Arsenal’s title hopes.
And for what? What did Roy Hodgson gain by keeping an injured Wilshere on the pitch for an extra 47 minutes?
