The memories stir with the headlines. England, World Cup, The Hope Of A Nation Rests On A Metatarsal; it’s all very familiar. Indeed, reading reports of Jack’s hairline fracture, playing through gritted teeth, the bulldog spirit if you like; memories do indeed come flooding back. Jack Wilshere is Foffo Spearjig: he felt nowt.

Were he several decades older, I am sure that Wilshere would have played through an FA Cup Final with every bone in his body broken making Bert Trautmann’s heroics seem like attention seeking. Older than that and he would have been the band member on The Titanic who played on and berated passengers for losing their calm. The Bulldog spirit is not some psychological condition induced by nationality, it is Jack Wilshere’s blood and sweat, collected and bottled by faeries in Albion’s fields. There are no tears because he is too hard.

And therein seems to be the perceived problem: Jack’s pain threshold is apparently too high, he is too heroic. It is easy to criticise for playing on through pain but I think the bigger issue is that we didn’t want him to play on through pain for England in a meaningless friendly. Had it been an Arsenal match, ire would not have been raised at the player for this but at the culprit; Daniel Agger is no doubt concerned by an online petition which wants someone to tell him off for being a naughty boy.

For Arsenal, the bigger issue is the impact on the squad. It is ludicrous to claim that Wilshere’s form is such that he won’t be missed whilst he is out. He will; form is transient and capable of changing within the course of a game let alone six weeks. That is before you consider the impact on the player(s) drafted in to replace him; it means fewer opportunities to compensate for other injuries if they occur. Hopes in some quarters that Aaron Ramsey’s return will more than make up for this miss the point. He is still talking in terms of weeks about his recovery and match fitness, which Wilshere has, will take longer to recover beyond that.

Arsène is not down to his last midfielder, any combination of Rosicky, Flamini, Gnabry and Oxlade-Chamberlain can compensate in central midfield or on the right whilst there is an argument that with a variation on formation, Podolski can be accommodated to extend options. The injury is just something which should have been avoided in the first place and for that Roy Hodgson must shoulder some of the blame; that is after all the name of the game.

Marked out as an international week, Hodgson and his employers are under no obligation to play a match for footballing reasons. Indeed, footballing reasons provide the best rationale for not playing this week with the season beginning with the League Cup final, the FA Cup Quarter-Finals, Champions and Europa League knockout phases in full flow, alongside the Premier League. In short, a number of Hodgson’s squad are playing twice each week between now and the end of the season. A week of training at St George’s Park would have been more beneficial, certainly better for the players than a friendly which had no value beyond confirming the paucity of England’s performance.

Arguably the cause of international football as a product would be better served by missing a friendly against the Danes than playing the match such has the condemnation of England been. The problem is that the Football Association are so in hock over Wembley’s renovation that even in a World Cup year, their most financially rewarding spell, that they have to raise the revenues somehow. A crowd of 65k suggests it has been relatively successful in that respect. Reports suggest their profit margins are going be hit with Arsenal preparing to charge them two month’s of the player’s salary. The club bean counters will be lifted by that, every cloud has a silver lining seems to be true.

At a time when the governing bodies and national associations criticise the clubs for the number of games they play, for putting profits before player health, injuries to high-profile players in meaningless friendlies condemn them with their own words. The problem is an unwillingness on anyone’s part to find a solution which avoids a week during the season where internationals can scupper challenges for silverware. It isn’t beyond the wit of man to do so; with commercial and broadcast revenues continuing to rise, the time is ripe for a fundamental overview of the game in such a way that protects that aspect as a base point whilst enhancing the ‘product’ for sale. Self-interest in protecting the status quo of twenty top-flight teams may be holding back the game as a whole.

’til Tomorrow

I never really thought about it before but working for the club magazine or website must be quite a tricky job, staying on-message even though you may disagree. Then you have to interview a manager who sets the tone for an interview in the opening sentence. For example, Arsène observing that “we always take the [FA Cup] seriously“, pretty much tells you that it is going to be a whimsical chat, one where his impishness with the media will shines through. Always taking it seriously *shakes head with grin on his face*

Well, he will have that chance this weekend with Everton arriving in town on Saturday. Will the midweek trip to Munich influence his selection? I hope not, he has two injury scares from last night’s internationals but they should be the only distraction. As much as the Champions League is a trophy he strongly desires to win, realistically it isn’t going to happen this season. Rotating Saturday’s squad with that in mind is surely folly; the Bayern squad is the one he should be bringing in fringe players for not the other way around. And I think that is how Arsène will see it as well. The position this season is no different to last, the margin of defeat at The Emirates in the first leg was sufficient to render progress to the next round as extremely difficult and as such a shift in priorities for the rest of the season; Europe has slipped from second to last in the remaining three competitions.

Wenger hints at agreeing with that, admitting he took his eye off the ball with Blackburn’s visit ahead of the Champions League meeting with Bayern last season. It was a flaccid affair, Arsenal livened up with a triple substitution and promptly conceded the game’s only goal. I thought that was a good opportunity to progress last time and whilst Everton represent a solid obstacle to overcome, the home draw hands an advantage to Arsenal who begin the game as favourites. This despite the visitor’s good performance at The Emirates before Christmas when they were good value for a point in the Premier League. The shifting priorities shows how the delicacy of the balancing act Wenger has to manage; by the end of next week, he could be working a trip to Wembley into the fixture list as easily as only having the Premier League to think about until May.

Injuries will obviously influence his outlook, whether that be those returning to action or limping back through the door of London Colney following midweek exertions. Jack’s back with knack, the time-honoured tradition of running off a knock has apparently not done any lasting damage whilst Laurent’s twang may have stopped reverberating long enough for him to play. Some like Tomas Rosicky, enjoyed the international break. He found his scoring boots having lost them for a while whilst Mesut Özil gave an answer to his critics with an assist in Germany’s win. Surprisingly, Olivier Giroud was playing away from home and didn’t score.

Form, I hope, is the key to his selection for the match. We were awful at Stoke, quite a few players did not turn up despite being on the pitch and to some extent, Arsène shoulders some of the blame for that. As much as the media like to stereotype the players as “not liking it up ‘em“, the trip to The Britannia – as with The Reebok – gets inside his head as well. You can understand that with some of the horror shows he has witnessed at both grounds. As much as he may find the style of play distasteful, it is nothing new for him to deal with but it always seems to bring the worst performances out of him tactically. Everton’s more refined style will be more to his liking and perhaps Jack’s ankle knack offers him a reason to juggle the midfield around. As if he needed one. The extent of injuries will be clearer today and I am sure Arsène is relishing tomorrow’s press conference, wondering which garden path he will be led down.

It is the first of an Everton double-header at The Emirates, Saturday’s match is followed on Monday by the FA Youth Cup clash between the two sides with tickets at £4 per adult, £2 for kids which offers a good opportunity for those locally based supporters to support the youngsters. More details here.

’til Tomorrow.