Written by Daniel Blazer for FootballFancast.com: ‘Destined for greatness’ and the ‘World at his feet’, perhaps have become over used in today’s beautiful game, however, when talking about Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere these clichés are verging on fact. The talents of Jack Wilshere shouldn’t be undersold; he has stood ‘toe to toe’ with football talents all across the globe and has come out on top, even outshining his World Cup winning team captain Cesc Fabregas and ousting Frank Lampard from the middle of England’s midfield with his consistent performances.
Wilshere though, like many modern footballers in their younger days, enjoys the lifestyle that fortune and fame brings, and who can blame him? Nonetheless, Wilshere does need to understand that he has become a high profile name and a role model to many out there, with the inevitable intense scrutiny that this brings.
Arsene Wenger arrived in the autumn of 1996 and made radical changes to the Arsenal set-up, including banning alcohol from the bar where players meet their families and friends after games. Wenger’s policy on alcohol hasn’t swayed; which is why, before Wilshere set off to link up with the Three Lion’s squad, Wenger hauled Wilshere into his office and read him the riot act.
Wenger is not only a manager, but in a way a surrogate father to many of the players coming through the ranks at Arsenal. The youth development policy implemented by Wenger when he joined the club has players being trained the ‘Wenger way’, and Wilshere was no different when he joined the club in October 2001 as a nine year old. Wenger’s eye for up-and-coming talent is the best in the game, he recognises Wilshere’s potential and doesn’t want him to throw away a wonderful career he could have with club and country. However, if you ignore the young Englishman’s career and potential, viewing him as the 19 year old lad he is; getting into scuffles outside nightclubs and confronting taxi drivers who refuse to take him drunk is unacceptable, from the point of view of a manager or a father; and Wenger has taken the correct course of action to ‘nip it in the bud’.
You have to ask yourself whether, without someone like Wenger watching over Jack Wilshere, he would become another Lee Bowyer, Jermaine Pennant or Craig Bellamy; players who promised so much but, despite having delivered to a certain extent, have never escaped earlier unwanted headlines. Wenger’s intervention is key in keeping Wilshere on the path for greatness and has been timed to perfection by ‘Le Professeur’, as Wilshere will now be away on an international break to gather his thoughts away from the public eye; as the limelight is sure to surround Capello, Ferdinand and Terry in England’s latest captaincy farce.
Wenger will be more than aware that fans and pundits alike do not want to be saying to Jack Wilshere at thirty ‘You could have been great.’
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Wilshere should take heed of what’s being said to him by his club manager, he has the world at his feet but could so easily throw it all away with his behaviour off the pitch. He either needs to choose his friends very carefully, because obviously they’re not earning half as much as him and they’re relying on him to spend and get drunk to keep up with them, but he should look at the likes of George Best and Gascoigne and see where they ended up and then think to himself, do I want to end up like them, and then say no and stick to it. I’m not saying he shouldn’t go out and enjoy himself, but think do I need to get so drunk I become obnoxious to others.
Wilshere should take heed of what’s being said to him by his club manager, he has the world at his feet but could so easily throw it all away with his behaviour off the pitch. He either needs to choose his friends very carefully, because obviously they’re not earning half as much as him and they’re relying on him to spend and get drunk to keep up with them, but he should look at the likes of George Best and Gascoigne and see where they ended up and then think to himself, do I want to end up like them, and then say no and stick to it. I’m not saying he shouldn’t go out and enjoy himself, but think do I need to get so drunk I become obnoxious to others.
Wilshere should take heed of what’s being said to him by his club manager, he has the world at his feet but could so easily throw it all away with his behaviour off the pitch. He either needs to choose his friends very carefully, because obviously they’re not earning half as much as him and they’re relying on him to spend and get drunk to keep up with them, but he should look at the likes of George Best and Gascoigne and see where they ended up and then think to himself, do I want to end up like them, and then say no and stick to it. I’m not saying he shouldn’t go out and enjoy himself, but think do I need to get so drunk I become obnoxious to others.