He was set back a good year by his injury and has had to slowly get his game back. He's as good as any of those Arsenal players you've named, by the way, he simply lacks having the London press as his cheerleaders.
Off the top of my head, I think he was one of the top scorers during the Next Gen series and considering he achieved that as a midfield player in a tournament featuring the cream of Europe's youngsters is no mean feat.
I think GG must have been shattered last season when you consider all the games he played for the club (and Coventry !) . He's going to be a top player. Hopefully he will follow Gabby's example and aim to be a one club man, winning trophies for the club.
Thats a massive shout fella to say he's as good as Wilshire, potentially i think he could be on a par but at the moment he's nowhere near.
It'll come tho, im sure of it.
I'm not so sure it's a massive shout to be honest. Wilshere and Arsenal have superb media and PR links down there in London and the lad has received an awful lot of hype. Don't get me wrong, of course he is a very good player, but, as an example, is he a player deserving of being featured on the packaging of FIFA whatever it was? The hype really cranked up when he scored a couple of goals in a pre-season tournament for Arsenal and it's been an endless stream of over the top nonsense ever since.
Who can remember the headlines when he scored his first senior goal for Arsenal versus us? Did we see similar stories for any of our youngsters when they scored their first goals for Villa? The ironic thing is Ciaran Clark scored two from midfield that day versus Arsenal and not one word did it get in the national press. Not one bit of recognition did Clarky (a defender playing in midfield) get for his performance and goals v Arsenal. It's total media spin and bull.
It's a game Arsenal are very good at playing: they sell off their star names and then seem to calm the fans down by blitzing the media with stories about a world class youngster that they are going to build the club around.
People will point to how well Wilshere played in a match v Barcelona as some form of proof that he is something special. So what - all youngsters can raise their games under such circumstances. I remember Paul Birch twenty odd years ago totally snuffing out Lothar Matthaus at Villa Park and I cannot recall the London media praising him to all and sundry...
Yep, Wilshere is good but there is a whole lot of hype surrounding him that has to be taken with a huge pinch of salt. I'm pretty sure we produce players that match and are superior to those hyped by London journalists. Our lads don't get written about because journalists are more than happy to write lazy, easy copy about the clubs on their doorsteps be they London or the North West.
One of the reasons why I'm so looking forward to this season is to see how our youngsters all get on. As a club we have received so little coverage (compared to Wilshere/Arsenal, for example) about the youngsters we have been blooding these past two years that I really hope it all just gels together and gives the bookies and journalists a huge bloody nose.
Cant argue with any of that chief...great post!