Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has argued that Arsene Wenger can only do so much, pointing the finger of blame at the players.
The 25-year-old is currently on loan at Bournemouth this season, and has been speaking about how painful it has been to watch his parent club struggle.
With Arsenal at real risk of missing out on the Premier League top four, coupled with their disappointment in the Champions League again, the FA Cup remains their only real hope of winning silverware.
That simply isn’t enough anymore for the majority of the club’s supporters, with a growing number protesting against Wenger staying at the club beyond this season.
However, Wilshere has defended the man who gave him his chance at Arsenal, and has risked incurring the wrath of his Arsenal teammates by suggesting that they have to stand up and take responsibility too.
“It hurts me to see Arsenal faltering, I wouldn’t say it hurts me to see Tottenham rise. They’ve always been there or thereabouts,” Wilshere told Sky Sports.
“He [Wenger] stuck with me and showed faith in me. So for me he’s great and I can’t imagine Arsenal without him. He has been great for me and that’s all I can say.
“Sometimes a manager can only do so much, as in prepare a team and then the team have to go out there and perform.”
The England international remains unsure over his long-term future at the Emirates as he’ll return at the end of the season with just 12 months remaining on his contract.
It would be a surprise not to see him sign a new deal, but time will tell if he has a big role to play for Arsenal moving forward, with or without Wenger at the helm.
However, while he makes a valid point and certain Arsenal players have themselves come out and conceded that they need to do more, it’s a risk for him to suggest that from the outside looking in and it could lead to some unhappy teammates when reading what he has had to say on the matter.