Arsène Wenger – arguably the master at developing youth talent – is treating 16 year old Jack Wilshere just like any other player in his squad, and although he gave the Luton born play-maker some special praise after the Burgenland fixture, he is keen to lower expectations on his young shoulders.
Wilshere has seen his stock rise considerably in the past 12 months, going from Under 16’s captain to a regular in the first team’s pre-season, and naturally after such a huge leap, the fans have been enchanted and excited about his potential. Wenger took time in his after-match press conference to pay tribute to Jack, but seemed cautious to put any firm expectations on him.
“He is 16-years old and he has the qualities a lot of young players have,” “The team played well and I would not like to pick out one player.”
“But the fact that Jack is with us tells you I rate him highly. He is the only 16 year-old player I have brought here.”
Wenger has been working closely with Liam Brady and David Court to help over see his development, and it seems the Gunners are implementing the “Carrot & Stick method” with Jack being rewarded for his talents, but then quickly brought back down to earth, in recognition that he is still a mere youngster.
After his stunning end to the season with the Under 18’s and eventually Reserves, he was promoted to the first team on a regular basis for training, but to bring him back down, Wilshere was sent with the Under 16’s to complete in the Atalanta Cup. Whilst he won the player-of-the-tournament, and was the star performer for the Gunners, he learnt the importance of appreciating every opportunity given to him.
Forums and Blogs alike are alive with talk with of Jack’s potential and abilities, with many already considering him ready enough to be a first team player. I believe it is important we all follow the manager in his expectations of Wilshere, and treat him no differently to any other 16 year old at the club or elsewhere.
High expectations at such an incredibly young age do not help anybody.
Article By – J.Sanderson
He’s not ready yet. Let’s not overhype a player.
Its difficult not to get excited about such a talent, but we saw what effect it had on Walcott.
It seems the most important attribute for a young player to have is to be mentally strong and level headed, we have seen hype destroy so many potential new ‘maradonas’.
Amen. Except, JS, do you not think that league appearances of the bench might be important for his continued development? Rationally speaking, he looks well ahead of the other reserve teamers, but he’s certainly too young to go on loan. Apart from the Carling Cup, don’t you think he’s going to need to be playing at a challenging level more often?
goos shout.
“off the bench”, not “of the bench”
Spot On mate. He wil fantastic once he has grown physically and also developed his defensive game. Coz if he is thrown into the deep end of EPL right away, the same “fans” who are clamouring for his inclusion in the first team will call for his head.
That was me lowering expectations….
The Guy is very exciting, im sure arsene will bring him thru gently.What a prospect though. Im very happy with the academy(and your excellent site)
CG
if walcott is going to be future RM, where is wilshere going to play in the future. hes much better on the right when he cuts in sooo….. i dnt get it. :o
The problem is, with his talent he is already to good for the Reserve League, yes it’ll do him some good to come up agaisnt the physical challenge but football wise he is already on the Arsenal wavelength much more than somebody like Theo.
The kid should only be held back if he isn’t good enough and his pre-season form shows he is extremely close.
He’s truly an amazing talent, but I agree that it’s important that we try to make sure it doesn’t get to his head. That could be a real minus for an otherwise very gifted player. He’s not the finished product yet though, and should be given time before he’s brought into the first team squad on a regular basis. Last thing we want is for his obvious talents and the hype surrounding him to get to his head.
I hope we’ll see Wilshere in Arsenal for many many years to come. He could definatelly be one of the future greats if he keeps a level head and keeps on developing.
Completely agree…..spot on mate !!
OK. He’s total crap and will nver make it at Arsenal.He’ll be loaned to Birmingham then sold a year later for 2m. 2 years after that Spurs will buy him for 65m and we will recieve 40% sell on fee which goes towards paying off the remaining stadium debt.
Hope that helps in lowering the expectations.
He’s already caught the eye of some premiership teams, west brom have been linked with a loan move for him. At his age I think going on loan will be a hindrance, we don’t want him picking up bad habits from players of a lower technical standard.
J.S., Are you Arsene Wenger in disguise?
Your articles are always spot-on, and now this article is like wenger’s own..
JS could be Wenger, who knows! If not Wenger, an insider :-)
What you said is obsolutely correct though and I agree.
I very much like what I have seen of Wilshere so far, and I think he will follow a path similar to that of Fab14 in development, remember how Fabregas was slowly brought into the 1at team at such a young age?
Didnt I see some crazy headline that Chelsea were going to offer him 30k a week…LOL I love it.
One thing is for certain, Jack should continue to train with the first team, considering we will have 7 subs next season, i suspect he will get to watch from the bench often and maybe get the odd minute. I expect he will play all the carling cup, but I would love to see him stake a claim ahead of Eboue!!! Which isnt too diffcult (if Cesc could do it to Viera at 16, why cant Jack)
Oh damn i was meant to lower expectations not hype him up more, but i just cant!
I hear people say Wilshere looks too good for reserves or maybe Merida and Barazite included but what about Randall and Gibbs. They are pushing for first team but they are seen to have less potential than those mentioned.
Also, I mentioned this in the comments section of the ‘Jibril’ article. But could you please maybe do an article of the training methods used by Arsenal for any level at any period of the season. Thanks.
The best 16 year old I’ve seen since Rooney.
Hype will attract other clubs to his signature, either on loan or otherwise. It’s best we treat him more like Barazite who we all know is amazing, but he not talked about so much so nobody really knows much about him outside of Arsenal.
I think wengers got it right. He should treat him like he treats any other player, but yet give him the oppertunities that he needs to forfill his development.
I think the fact that hes taken him to Austria and thats the first 16 yr old ever to be taken on a pre-season tour to play and train with the first team says it all. Wenger rates him highly, and is giving him the chances that his performances merit, but at the same time doesnt want to push him too far too early.
My view is simple, Wenger need to keep him on an even keel because it will be a shame to lose such a talent but the FACT is, out of the level of competition that he has played against so far, he has shown to be way ahead of it therefore the only way left is upwards towards 1st team games either “bench or start” in [CC<FA<PL/CL].
I think its media’s hype that Wenger is more worried about.
kenyagunner – Haha thank you, I’m glad most Gooners are sensible enough to not expect too much a youngster, although he is excellent.
If he’s that great already than surely he will break into the squad coming season… if we have a season like last season with injury’s etc I can see him getting some games! Ofcourse he doesn’t have te deliver immediatly for Wenger, but if he does put in a good perfermance it would be great!
As for whether other clubs will manage to pinch him, i dnt think so, Wenger will fight tooth and nail to keep him here just like he would for Merida, Barazite, Randall, Gibbs, Landsbury or nordtveit and any of the other Reserve top performers.
“but what about Randall and Gibbs. They are pushing for first team but they are seen to have less potential than those mentioned.”
I cnt agree with that because they both perform very well for the Reserves and both have done very well when ever given chances in the first team.
JS, I’m sure Clubs will be aware of him because of his talent rather than chatter on Arsenal forums. Wenger’s comments were natural to play the kid down but as he himself said, he’s the only 16 year old there and there must be a reason for that.
Incidentally, do you know why Nacer wanst taken with First team, i guess we just had enough forward players avaliable?
Finally an English lad who will play for Arsenal. Not that I particularly care whether our boys are English or not, but at least the press will lay off us for a change.
Does anyone else think Wilshere should be more utilized on the left of midfield to aid his development?
JS – Barazite got the stick when they send him back to play/train with the reserves, do you think that is the case?!! Or is he still in Wenger’s first team plans, a loan is looking more probably now I though he would be a bencher and CC/FA player?!!
If u stand out technically in a physical league then u are a good player. That’s why I think the youngsters should go to Championship rather than the more technical Segunda. However a chance to play Primera would be even better.
I have to say I dont think Randall will make it. He really is nothing special, and in the Austria game, Arsenals game went backwards after Randall came in. I may be a bit harsh but some players have that something extra and some (talented they may be) dont
very good dave.
How old was Rooney when he broke into the first team at Everton?
16
I think he could play a few games for us. There are plenty of players in the squad better than him. If they were injured or suspended he should play.
The question for Wenger is what is the best route for him to develop?
No point playing in the championship as he will be swamped by the pyhiscal part of the game. so a few reserve games, CC games and the odd bench spot should provide him the route to improve.
I think the boy can play on both wings, but coming in from the right and giving those through balls like Messi does is what he really does great. It’s just that he needs to get more diversity in his game! Cause he can’t be doing the same thing all over. Switching him to the left would make his game more divers but I prefer to see those runs and through balls when he cuts inside from the right :D
all over = all the time
I think he will get to play a few times in the Carling Cup, and maybe 1 or 2 in the prem and Fa cup…….
I suspect Barazite will go on loan…to Ajax, DB10 has said he would be interested in some loands, can you imagine Nacer after a years tutelage under the Iceman!!!! Hot enough to give you the shivers :)
Amazing how the talk on Barazite has dropped since Ramsey, Vela and Wilshire have played.
He must be given a chance as he is just as old as these three guys.
This is a bigger step than many believe though. Playing so much in the pre-season. And normally jr. players seem kinda out of place, and lost when playing their first senior games. This guy seems like it’s just another days work in the office.
Frichie I can tell you it won’t happen. First of all they have a lot of attackers/attacking midfielders and they recently bought Ismail Aissati to play behind the striker. But it’s certainly not going to happen because they already have their on youth and they will want to give them a chance than help Arsenal develop their youth.
J when does Wilshire turn 17 and allowed to sign Profressional terms? Is he a life long Arsenal fan?
a friend of mine told me that JS is actually Arsene Wengers son. Confirmation anyone?
From what ive seen of Ramsey and Barazite i rate Barazite higher than Ramsey. I know alot of people are treatin Ramsey as a 17 yr old messiah (not on here so much i might add) but i think hes far from a complete first team quality player. Obviously ive seen alot more of Barazite than Ramsey thou so Ramsey still has time to impress (and he has already).
Vela is different cuz hes 19, and far more experianced in first team football, even an international now, so there far higher short term expectations.
Johnny, you need to avoid rating one player higher than another when they in different positions. Ramsey oozes class in midfield and Barazite has loads of quality upfront. They both very good link up players too
Barazite, I thought he was mainly a CM or AM? Everyone seems to be talking about him as a striker though.
It could be beneficial to loan Wilshere to a french first divison team once he turns 17. There he can play at a high level away from the media glare and in a league that is less physical then the Prem or Championship. If I remember correctly Bentley was sent to France for one season.
yeh i remember a couple of stories about some extremely talented young players one from some club in scotland i think and one from ajax who retired before they were 18 because of the pressure and expectation put on them was too much! what a waste it would be if the happened to wilshere but i doubt it would.
love all the comments made by all fans.
really lets all be sincere i think JACK WILSHERE shud be given an invitation to play first team football.
this guy plays like LIONEL MESSI is a reborn of MESSI for the English national team.
we can hide this BOY from ravaging WOLVES like CHELSEA.MADRID.MILAN who may want to take advantage of this lad AND may want to pay his 120k pounds pay week, these WOLVES are wicked and we all can testify to this attitude of the BIG WOLVES.
uP GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOners.
cann’t wait fro the season to start.
The difference between Wilkshire and Barazite is Wilkshire is English, so he’s going to attract that media attention that Barazite won’t.
I understand what you mean but Cesc Fabregas was only 16 when he was thrown into first team action.
Jack reminds me of a young Cesc when he first burst onto the scene. He has that special touch and vision that you don’t expect anyone so young to have.
Of the 10 goals we scored the other night he was directly involed in HALF of them!!
He was direct and clinical in his actions and movements.
He could be England’s Cesc Fabregas and that is worth getting excited about.
He’s with Wenger too so lets hope he delivers us an English Arsenal player we can be proud of.
I personally think that it is a bit late in the day to be deliberately underating him because genie out of the bottle and you cannot halt his progress now just because he is getting a few headlines in the news papers, the truth is if Jack Wilshere is going to become the player we all hope he will then he will have to start to learn to live with the pressure because it is not going to stop now IMO
i think he ready for first team. fabregas make it at the age of 16 and he not as athletic as wilshere + he play in center midfield where fierce battle always took place. wenger said players with great football sense don’t need superhuman body to make it at the top level. fabregas is the best example. so don’t rule out wilshere play important part in first team this season.
I think Wenger just doesn’t want alot of media attention on him cause that can work against his development. But he looks really promising for us and dare i say England but I couldn’t care less about Eng i just hope he becomes the new Brady or a better Hleb for us.
A nice sensible article Jamie!Good work.
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