Skip to main content

Jack Wilshere Reveals How New Position on the Pitch Has Rejuvenated His Arsenal Career

  • Author:
  • Publish date:

Jack Wilshere has revealed how a change in starting position for him in Arsenal's lineup has helped him revitalise his Gunners career.

The midfielder's future in still up in the air with no new contract talks in the offing ahead of current deal expiring next summer.

Despite not knowing where his future lies, however, Wilshere has muscled his way back into manager Arsene Wenger's thinking in recent times and, in an interview with the club's in-house TV channel, explained how a slight tweak to his playing position has helped him come in from the cold.

59dc6c872b3a7eba70000001.jpg

He said: “I can play in the deeper midfield role, which I did against Doncaster, and then I went and played on the left.

“I say on the left, but the boss told me before the game that he wanted me to come inside, get in the pockets [of space]. He didn’t want me to play as a left winger. It’s almost like a No 10 position if you like.

“You can come into that position, and me and Theo were switching in the game. I’m enjoying both roles to be honest and looking forward to getting more minutes in both."

Wilshere suffered a torn calf injury whilst on a season-long loan at Bournemouth last season and, after slowly falling out of favour at the Vitality stadium following a promising start on the south coast, appeared an unwanted man in the UK.

The 25-year-old has since turned his form around, however, and has completed 90 minutes in two of Arsenal's last four matches.

The Gunners are currently in the midst of a seven match unbeaten run since the 4-0 drubbing at Liverpool, and Wilshere stated that a change of formation and tactics by Wenger late last term - the Frenchman adopting a 3-4-3 system - is now paying dividends for the current FA Cup holders.

59dc6cb92b3a7e4783000001.jpg

He added: “The boss decided to change the shape last year, it worked well and he’s stuck with it.

“We’ve improved defensively as a team. In that transition when we lose the ball, we want to win it back quickly, like the best Arsenal teams over the years.

“The Invincibles were great at it because they’d lose the ball but then win it higher up and we’d be in a dangerous position. That’s probably the best change [I have seen].”