Jack Wilshere

I was watching Arsenal play Real Madrid last night and they sent on a 16 year old I’d never heard of named Jack Wilshere at the same time as they introduced a 17 year old I had heard a lot about – Aaron Ramsey (bought from Cardiff for £5 million this summer).

Wilshere caught my eye when he got the ball on the left wing and dismissed the Real Madrid right back with ease before providing a beautiful cross Bendtner couldn’t convert. He also played well against Juventus on Saturday. I didn’t see that game, but according to an Arsenal blog, he was “arguably Arsenal’s Man-Of-The-Match”. He scored against Stuttgart earlier this week and he scored two goals when Arsenal won 10-2 against a bunch of nobodies (Burgenland XI) earlier this summer.

I was wondering who this kid was, so I looked him up on Wikipedia. He doesn’t have an article there yet! As most 2nd division players have Wikipedia articles, I thought this was a bit curious for a 16 year old who’s good enough to play for Arsenal against Real Madrid. At the rate he’s making a name for himself this preseason, it will not be long before the world’s biggest encyclopedia has another new article.

Here’s a clip of him playing in a reserve game against West Ham. He’s #10. First he sets up a goal with a nice run and an excellent pass, then he curls a shot into the top left hand corner from just outside the box.

Wilshere is English, left footed and will be allowed to “develop at his own pace” – Arsene Wenger style. This probably means we’ll see him in the league cup this year and start seeing him in the Premier League in a year or two. If he can keep his head on straight and work hard, I’m sure we’ll hear much more about him in the future.

Explore posts in the same categories: Players

Tags: Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal, Jack Wilshere, Juventus, Nicklas Bendtner, Real Madrid, West Ham

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.