Irons midfielder: Lockdown came at a good time for me

Jack Wilshere is enjoying being back in training and having the opportunity to impress West ham boss David Moyes.

Few would disagree that at his best the midfielder is a top player but it’s been a very long time since he’s been anywhere near his best.

And his appearance record at west Ham is dreadful with just 14 Premier League appearances in  the near two seasons he has been with us.

However, he’s been training well and doing things he’s never done before – like 5k and 10k runs as he attempts to show the manager that he’s a player who must come into his reckoning when the season kicks off again.

The reality – almost certainly – is that he is unlikely to be called on to any great extent given the number of games we face in such a short space of time.

But that intensity on every player may give him occasions here and there to make an impression off the bench with no player probably back to their peak.

Discussing his situation at https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/june/05-june/jack-wilshere-im-fit-eager-impress-david-moyes-and-desperate-play he said: “First of all, it’s nice to finally get in front of the manager.

When he first came, I had a few conversations with him and I got the feeling from him that he rated me, but I was still six weeks away from being able to get in front of him and show him what I can do.

“I know he’s been around for years and I’ve been around for years, so he sort of has an idea, but he’s never worked with me so it’s important I show him what I’m about, how I train and what I can bring to the team.”

“Lockdown came at a good time for me in a way, as I thought of it as a positive in a way, as I was able to concentrate  on my fitness work, and that’s something you never get as a footballer, because the pressures in the Premier League mean, when you’re injured, you need to get back as soon as possible and help the team, and you probably miss that little bit of fitness work.

“I was using it for that and doing things I’d never done before like going on 5k and 10k runs and I actually enjoyed it. Then obviously we came back and we were in twos, then fives, and we did some good work and we feel like we’re at a decent level.

“Of course, when you haven’t played games you haven’t got that match sharpness, but you can still get pretty sharp in training. You need the matches for that extra ten or 15 per cent, but the training has been good and you can tell every day that everyone is getting that little bit sharper and little bit more confident.

“We’ve got two and a half weeks left. We had a game at the weekend and I’m sure we’ll play a few more games and we’ll be ready.

“I didn’t have that. I had time to focus on my fitness and getting to a level where I know I can survive in training and look good in training.

“That was important to me, because I wanted to give a good first impression to the manager. I know he would probably understand if I came back and was a bit rusty but you don’t want that in his head. You want to be sharp, you want to look like you’re fit and not look like you’re struggling.

“We did a lot of running when we came back and that was important. I knew that would be the case because this is pre-season and I didn’t want to be coming last. I wanted to be up the top and showing him I’ve got the hunger to be the best I can be.”