Jack Wilshere Is A PIMP Who Plays Football In His Stocking Feet

(I don't really know that much about Aidan Gibson except that he writes about Arsenal for The Short Fuse, his twitter feed amuses me, and he loves Jack Wilshere.)

With the likelihood that Arsenal go trophyless again, perhaps the best thing from this season is the emergence of Jack Wilshere. For those of us who saw him dominate against Real Madrid in the Emirates Cup in 2008, as a 16 year old, it is no surprise to see young midfielder come through, but he still has been a revelation this season. And while he has picked up somewhat of a dodgy reputation (Jackie, while I condone abusing of Spurs fans, the fact that he's a taxi driver doesn't make it ok), you can't help but love him: He could fit into my pocket, and he's got a brilliant Twitter feed. He's committed to the club, and in short (no pun intended) he's everything you would want from a club captain (ahem Cesc).

All of this without even mentioning his style of play, which, as someone who's been at the club since he was 9, is Arsenal through and through. As Gunnerblog said, he's got the left foot of Liam Brady, the stamina of Ray Parlour, the brains of Dennis Bergkamp and the heart of Tony Adams. The mention of all of those previous players (and I'm not even mentioning Le Bob) is enough to get a tear in an Arsenal fan's eye; that Wilshere quite legitimately has all of those attributes is enough to make Arsenal fans get excited at the prospect of a Wilshere-Ramsey-Song midfield in years to come.

That's not the only reason Arsenal fans love Wilshere, though. He's the first player since Ashley Cole to come through the Arsenal youth system (and we try to forget him), and everything about Wilshere's play represents the style that Arsene Wenger implemented at the club: He's young, he's an excellent footballer, he's intelligent and, perhaps most importantly for the media, he's not some fancy-dan foreigner, but, a full England international. Perhaps, though, his most lovable feature is that he looks like a kid when he plays, which is a rarity for those used to the aggro-Wayne Rooney style of teenage English footballers now a days. Against Ipswich in the Carling Cup, he smiled gleefully as he jinked past a couple of defenders, even though his shot was well wide. Also, on a team noted for its proneness to hard tackles, Wilshere always seems to get up, no matter how hard the tackle is. Several times this year I've feared for his well being, only to see him dust himself up, roll his socks down (He has the rolled down socks like Cruyff) and get on with it. That shouldn't surprise anyone though; at heart, Wilshere is just a kid playing in the park, smiling away.