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Jack Wilshere

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Jack Wilshere
Wilshere in a friendly against Barnet in 2009
Personal information
Full name Jack Andrew G. Wilshere
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 19
Youth career
2001–2008 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008– Arsenal 11 (0)
2009–2010 → Bolton Wanderers (loan) 14 (1)
International career‡
2006–2007 England U16 2 (0)
2007–2009 England U17 10 (1)
2009– England U19 1 (0)
2009– England U21 7 (0)
2010– England 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:22, 16 October 2010 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 07:47, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

Jack Andrew G. Wilshere[2] (born 1 January 1992) is an English footballer who plays for Arsenal as a midfielder. He is a product of the Arsenal Academy who came to prominence in the 2008–09 season. Wilshere made his debut for the senior England national team in a friendly against Hungary at Wembley Stadium on 11 August 2010.

Early and personal life

Wilshere was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire[2] and currently lives in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He grew up in Hitchin, attending Whitehill Primary School and The Priory School.[3] He captained The Priory School Year 9 Football team to County Cup, District Cup and semi-finals of the National Cup, scoring up to 38 goals on the way.

Club career

Youth and Reserves

Wilshere joined the Arsenal Academy in October 2001 at the age of nine, after spending two months with Luton Town.[4][5]. He rose through the ranks, and at the age of 15 was named the captain of the Under-16s; he also made a few appearances for the Under-18s. In the summer of 2007 Wilshere featured in the Champions Youth Cup and upon his return to England, Arsenal Academy coach Steve Bould gave him a start for the Under-18s first game against the Chelsea Under-18 team.[6] He scored his first goal against Aston Villa Under-18s in a 4–1 win.[7] He then scored a hat-trick against Watford Under-18s, helping his side to an Academy Group A title.[8]

In February 2008, he made his debut for Arsenal Reserves against Reading, and scored Arsenal's only goal of the match even though they went on to lose the match to a Simon Church goal.[9] He played in the Under-16s victory in the Atalanta Cup, being named as player of the tournament.[10] He played an important role in Arsenal's 2009 FA Youth Cup win, scoring goals in the semi final[11] and producing a man-of-the-match display in the first leg of the final against Liverpool, assisting 2 goals and scoring himself.[12]

Wilshere warming up before a game against West Bromwich Albion

2008–09 season

In July 2008, Wilshere was selected in the first team for the pre-season friendlies. He made his first team debut against Barnet as a half-time substitute for Henri Lansbury, setting up a goal for Jay Simpson.[13] Wilshere scored his first two goals for Arsenal in a 10–2 win against a Burgenland XI, and again two days later in a friendly against Stuttgart.

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger gave Wilshere a place in Arsenal's first team squad for the 2008–09 season,[14] and he was given the number 19 shirt. He made his competitive debut in a Premier League match against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in September 2008, as an 84th-minute substitute for Robin van Persie.[15] At the age of 16 years and 256 days, he was Arsenal's youngest-ever league debutante, a record previously held by Cesc Fàbregas.[16] Ten days later, on 23 September, Wilshere scored his first competitive Arsenal goal in a 6–0 victory against Sheffield United in the Football League Cup.[17] On 25 November 2008, Wilshere came on as a substitute in a UEFA Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv, becoming the fifth sixteen-year-old to ever play in the Champions League.[18] In January 2009 Wilshere signed his first professional contract,[19] extending it in July the same year.[20]

Wilshere in pre-season training

2009–10 season

In the preparation for the 2009–10 season, Wilshere scored twice and was twice awarded Man of the Match as Arsenal regained the friendly tournament, the Emirates Cup.[21] On 22 September 2009, he started for Arsenal in their 2–0 Football League Cup win over West Bromwich Albion. In the 37th minute of the match, he was involved in a controversial incident with Jerome Thomas as Thomas pushed Wilshere's face and was shown a red card.[22] After the event, West Brom's manager, Roberto Di Matteo, accused Wilshere of insulting Thomas and overreacting to the push.[23]

Loan to Bolton Wanderers

On 29 January 2010, Wilshere joined Premier League side Bolton Wanderers on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season.[24] He made his first league start in the away game at Manchester City on 9 February, and scored his first Bolton goal, his first in the Premier League, on 6 March 2010 in the 2–1 victory at West Ham United.[25]

2010–11 season

On 15 August 2010, Wilshere made his first start in the Premier League for Arsenal against Liverpool at Anfield. He followed that up with another start the next weekend against Blackpool contributing with an assist. On 15 September 2010, Wilshere started his first Champions League game of the season providing an assist along with an impressive performance, he has now started 7 out of 9 of Arsenal's games so far this season.[26] Wilshere was named Arsenal's Player of The Month for September 2010.[27] On 16 October 2010, Wilshere received his first straight red card in first-team football in a Premier League match against Birmingham City for a mistimed challenge on Nikola Žigić.[28] On 19 October 2010, Wilshere scored his first Champions League goal with a lovely chip over Andriy Pyatov at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal in a 5-1 thrashing in the group stage of Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Style of play

Wilshere is a player known for his passing, dribbling, vision, movement and combination play.[29][30][31] More recently, Owen Coyle, manager of Bolton during Wilshere's loan spell, praised his ability to "tackle and take a knock", despite his lack of height. However, Arsenal head of youth development Liam Brady noted that Wilshere had problems with his temper early on in his career.[32]

Wilshere has been used in a number of positions, including attacking midfielder, winger, and most recently deep-lying central midfielder, where he has played in all but one of Arsenal's matches during the 2010-11 season. In Wenger's words: 'He's a box-to-box player, more than just a holding midfielder. But to be honest he can play in any position across the midfield. He can play behind the striker because he can penetrate."

International career

Wilshere and Bobby Zamora making their debuts for England against Hungary, 11 August 2010.

Since 2006, the England national football team have decided to play Wilshere in an age group above his age. When he was only 15, he played for the England national under-17 football team. Wilshere was also 14 when he played for the England national under-16 football team in 2006. He was then named in the squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in May, starting the first two games, particularly impressing in the 2nd game against Germany before going off with an injury which kept him out of the final game.[33][34] After the tournament, he was named among the 10 future stars from the tournament.[35]

He has also been praised by England manager Fabio Capello, who indicated there was a chance that he would include the young midfielder in his 2010 FIFA World Cup squad,[36] though this did not happen. He also came on as substitute for his England U-21 debut against the Netherlands.[37]

On 7 August 2010, Wilshere was called up to the Senior squad for the first time for their friendly against Hungary on 11 August.[38] He made his full England debut on 11 August 2010, coming on as a 83rd minute substitute for Steven Gerrard against Hungary.[39] This makes him England's 10th youngest all time.[40]

Career statistics

(correct as of 20 October 2010)[41]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Arsenal 2008–09 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 1 2 0 0 8 1 1
2009–10 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 7 0 0
Bolton Wanderers (loan) 2009–10 14 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1 1
Arsenal 2010–11 8 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 1 2 12 1 7
Arsenal total 10 0 3 3 0 0 6 1 3 8 1 2 27 2 8
Career total 24 1 4 3 0 0 6 1 3 8 1 2 41 3 9

Honours

Arsenal

International

References

  1. ^ http://blog.livefootballtickets.com/?tag=/Jack+Wilshere
  2. ^ a b "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Find My Past. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
  3. ^ Wyett, Charlie (2008-11-13). "Hero Jack still has time for his pals". The Sun. London. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  4. ^ "Sowing the seeds". Football-League.co.uk. 2008-11-26.
  5. ^ "The next Gazza? Why 16-year-old Jack is the talk of football". The Independent. London. 2008-11-13.
  6. ^ "Academy League: Arsenal 3–1 Chelsea". Arsenal.com. 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  7. ^ "Academy: Arsenal 4–1 Aston Villa". Arsenal.com. 2007-09-03. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  8. ^ "Academy: Watford 1–7 Arsenal — Report". Arsenal.com. 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  9. ^ "Match Report". Arsenal.com. 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  10. ^ "Arsenal Under 16's Beat Juventus To Win Atalanta Cup". Youngguns.Wordpress.com. 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  11. ^ "Youth Cup: Arsenal 4–1 Man City — Report | Fixtures & Reports | Fixtures". Arsenal.com. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  12. ^ Lawrence, Amy (2009-05-23). "FA Youth Cup final, first leg: Jack Wilshere orchestrates young Gunners' thrashing of Liverpool". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  13. ^ "Match Report". Arsenal.com. 2008-07-19. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  14. ^ "Wilshere named in Arsenal's first-team squad". Arsenal.com. 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2008-08-05. [dead link]
  15. ^ Lyon, Sam (13 September 2008). "Blackburn 0–4 Arsenal". BBC Sport. British Boradcasting Corp. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  16. ^ Castles, Duncan (2008-09-14). "Walcott sets up another rout". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  17. ^ "Arsenal 6–0 Sheffield United Match Report". Arsenal.com. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  18. ^ "Minute-by-minute". UEFA.com. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  19. ^ "Arsenal's Wilshere signs pro deal". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corp. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  20. ^ "Wilshere extends Arsenal contract". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corp. 2009-07-02. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  21. ^ "Arsenal teenager Jack Wilshere impresses in pre-season play". peoplestar.co.uk. 2009-08-03.
  22. ^ "Arsenal star Jack Wilshere in red card storm". MirrorFootball.co.uk. 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2009-22-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  23. ^ "Wilshere criticised over conduct". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corp. 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  24. ^ "Jack Wilshere joins Bolton Wanders on loan". Arsenal.com. 29 January 2010.
  25. ^ Cox, Gerry (2010-03-07). "West Ham United 1 Bolton Wanderers 2: match report". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-05-05. [dead link]
  26. ^ Clarke, Richard (16 August 2010). "Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal". Arsenal.com. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  27. ^ Arsenal.com (11 October 2010). "Wilshere - It was a great month for me". Arsenal.com. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  28. ^ Template:Cite news On 16 October, Wilshere received first red card of career.
  29. ^ Emirates experience leaves me jealous, bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  30. ^ Comment: Forget Joe Cole - In Jack Wilshere, Arsenal Have England's Finest Young Talent, yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  31. ^ The team showed desire, energy and quality, arsenal.com. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  32. ^ Ornstein, David (1 October 2010). "Jack Wilshere ready to shine for Arsenal and England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  33. ^ "Pezzaiuli: We could have won by more". UEFA.com. Retrieved 11 September 2009. [dead link]
  34. ^ "Euro U17 Championships: Germany 4–0 England". MirrorFootball.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  35. ^ "Ten future stars from 2009 finals". UEFA.com. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  36. ^ "Jack Wilshere: a prodigious talent". The Times. London. Retrieved 2009-08-03. [dead link]
  37. ^ "New-look Under-21s draw comfort in Holland". TheFa.com. Retrieved 2009-09-11. [dead link]
  38. ^ "Capello calls up Wilshere, Gibbs and Zamora for England". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corp. 2010-08-07. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  39. ^ "Gerrard brace saves England blushes". ESPN Soccernet. 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  40. ^ "Gibbs and Wilshere make senior England debuts". Arsenal.com. 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  41. ^ "Statistics". Soccernet. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
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