Arsene Wenger insists Jack Wilshere silenced his critics by inspiring Arsenal’s fightback against Manchester City.
Former England and Manchester United star Paul Scholes has been the most outspoken in questioning why Wilshere’s development has stalled since making his debut in 2008.
The 22-year-old issued the perfect response against the English Premier League champions, reacting to Sergio Aguero’s opener by lobbing Joe Hart before teeing up a sublime volley for Alexis Sanchez.
Martin Demichelis’ late header salvaged a 2-2 draw for City, but it was the dynamic Wilshere who really caught the eye.
“The best place to answer critics is on the pitch,” said Wenger, who was forced to defend the unimpressive Mesut Ozil once again.
“That’s what Jack did, but I don’t believe we can explain his good performance through the criticism of Paul Scholes.
“But you have to respond to critics when you’re in a public job. You have accept criticism, go on the pitch and show you have the talent.
“The most important thing is to go show how good you are.
“Jack finished with his right foot and chipped a goalkeeper who knows him well. I’m very happy with that way he finished.
“He looked dangerous in the first half as well because he has found his pace again. I’m very happy.”
Debate has raged over Wilshere’s best position with Scholes highlighting the uncertainty before Saturday’s Emirates Stadium showdown in his role as analyst for BT Sport.
But Scholes was greeted by an irrepressible display that argued a watertight case for being involved in the advanced role favoured by Wilshere and Wenger.
England coach Roy Hodgson has used him more defensively, but Wenger believes his strengths demand a different approach.
“Jack was always a boy who was at his most dangerous in the final third. That’s why I prefer him to play higher up the pitch,” Wenger said.
“One of his qualities is penetrating in the final third, but I’m not against him being defensive. He can do both because he is a good footballer.
“For a long time he didn’t kick the ball well because of his ankle injury.
“The big difference now is that he stays on the feet, whereas before for a while when he was not as confident to push on his ankle he would go down.
“Now he has that solid aspect to the game he had before he was injured.”
Wilshere took the diplomatic line by stating he is happy in either midfield role, but his words also made his preference clear.
“Naturally I want to go forward more. In Arsenal’s formation it’s nice to play forward and in the England one it’s different. I’m happy to play either way,” Wilshere said.
It was Wilshere’s first goal since January and the Arsenal academy product admits he needs to be more prolific.
“I want to score more goals and my goalscoring record hasn’t been good enough,” Wilshere added.
“In the formation we play I should be scoring more goals. We play with one holding and two going forward and I’m the one who gets forward.
“I’ve had a few chances already this season and I should be scoring more. Hopefully that will be one of many.”
Wilshere highlighted the new found spirit that ensured Arsenal would not fold after slipping a goal behind and City captain Vincent Kompany was impressed by what he saw.
“They have definitely made progress. They are a better side. They have more quality all over the pitch,” Kompany said.
“Obviously they played well but they didn’t have too many clear-cut chances.
“They didn’t need too many to score twice, which is the sign of a strong team.”
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Avatar%3A%20The%20Way%20of%20Water
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Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The%20Beekeeper
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Company%20Profile
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight (Wednesday), BeIN Sports
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1
Alonso (62')
Huddersfield Town 1
Depoitre (50')
Company%20Profile
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The specs: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo/GranCabrio
Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)
Engine 4.7L V8
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich 1
Kimmich (27')
Real Madrid 2
Marcelo (43'), Asensio (56')
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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VERSTAPPEN'S FIRSTS
Youngest F1 driver (17 years 3 days Japan 2014)
Youngest driver to start an F1 race (17 years 166 days – Australia 2015)
Youngest F1 driver to score points (17 years 180 days - Malaysia 2015)
Youngest driver to lead an F1 race (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest driver to set an F1 fastest lap (19 years 44 days – Brazil 2016)
Youngest on F1 podium finish (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest F1 winner (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest multiple F1 race winner (Mexico 2017/18)
Youngest F1 driver to win the same race (Mexico 2017/18)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.