Jack Wilshere deserves to be jeered by Tottenham fans
When midfielder Jack Wilshere went down with an injury at White Hart Lane, Tottenham fans predictably chose to reign cheers down on the brittle Arsenal star. Just as predictably, a variety of pundits and teammates have hit out at Spurs fans for their actions.
The criticism of the Tottenham fan base is woefully misplaced. While I wouldn’t have personally cheered Wilshere’s injury, I can’t criticize any Spurs fan who made that choice. Wilshere’s past behaviour has made him a target. He has to understand those past decisions have repercussions.
I’m not going to bother listing every negative comment Wilshere has made about Spurs, but when you choose to sing anti-Spurs songs from the top of an open bus on a microphone it’s safe to say you’ve made a series of poor choices. If Wilshere wanted to remain relatively anonymous in the rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham, he had every opportunity to do so.
Just consider how things would have been different if another Arsenal player went down at White Hart Lane. Outside of perhaps Theo Walcott (who has his own list of anti-Tottenham offenses) there’s no Gunners star that would have received the same treatment. If Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were on loan at Bournemouth and went down injured, the grounds would have gone largely quiet. Sure, a few bad eggs may have hurled abuse towards him, but it wouldn’t have been widespread.
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Wilshere got abuse because he’s asked for it over and over again. His idiotic behavior caused him to give up certain rights that most professionals enjoy. Essentially, he tried to make himself a cult hero for Arsenal by abusing Spurs. By doing so, he gave up his rights to be treated with normal disdain by Tottenham fans.
It was a choice that Wilshere made. It wasn’t a very wise decision, but few have ever accused him of being the most intelligent or mature player in the Premier League. It might have been ugly behavior to cheer his injury at White Hart Lane, but it was a well-deserved response.
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Jack Wilshere gets no quarter from Tottenham fans and shouldn’t get any sympathy from journalists who didn’t like how Spurs fans treated him this week. It was all a simple product of Wilshere’s abhorrent behavior towards Tottenham in the past.