Jack Wilshere impresses and scores in first start for new club Bournemouth

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Former Arsenal and England star Jack Wilshere is finally back playing football again and recently earned his first start for new club Bournemouth in a 2-1 FA Cup victory against Crawley on Tuesday.

Following a spell with West Ham, Wilshere was released from his contract with the Hammers in October of 2020, leaving him searching for a new club.

He would eventually find one as he was given a contract with Bournemouth, having trained with the club to maintain his fitness.

After appearing off the bench versus Derby in his debut, he was given his first start in football in five months when he started for Bournemouth against Crawley.

How did Wilshere perform?

Bournemouth naturally dominated possession against the League Two side, enjoying 66% of the ball throughout the 90 minutes.

Key to them controlling the game was the presence of Wilshere, as he completed an impressive 35/37 attempted passes during his 67 minutes of game time, for a completion rate of 95%.

Plenty of the passes were positive, too, as 13 were sent into the final third.

He won half of his duels (3/6).

– ’24 – Wilshere would ultimately open the scoring in the game, drifting into a position on the edge of the box to guide a lovely finish into the right corner following the pass from Josh King.

It was Wilshere’s first goal in 518 days.

Thereafter, his tail was up and the confidence grew as he began to dictate things in the middle of the park before eventually being substituted.

What next?

Quite simply, playing football. The talent of Wilshere has always been undeniable but with a career ravaged by injuries so far, he has some way to go to rebuild his reputation as an exciting playmaker.

He is arguably at the perfect place to do that, away from the limelight down at Bournemouth where he can regain fitness and potentially become a key player in their pursuit of promotion.

A place in the playoffs is looking more likely for the Cherries at the moment, but with just five points between themselves in sixth and Watford in second, they will still fancy their chances of gaining automatic promotion back to the Premier League – where Wilshere has previously said he belongs.