Jack Wilshere gave his views on a wide range of topics on Goals on Sunday
Sunday 25 October 2015 13:27, UK
Jack Wilshere was on Goals on Sunday and spoke openly about Arsene Wenger, his favourite position and Arsenal's title chances amongst other things. Read on to see what he had to say...
On Arsene Wenger…
"He's been great for me. People have criticised him in the past but for me, he's been fantastic. I've had a lot of injuries but he's stood by me. It was 16 months out at one point and that is tough for a player mentally.
"I played a few games in the reserves and then he put me straight back in. He's always stuck by me, we've got a great working relationship and we talk about my injury, football, life in general - he's a good person and all I can do is thank him. I want to see him at Arsenal forever."
On injuries…
"I want to play every week and be fit for every game possible but if I don't play the way I play then I'm not going to be the same player. Maybe in training you can be not as mad and not go in for stupid tackles but when it comes to a game, when I cross that line I want to win.
"I do find it hard not to go in 100%, the manager always says you have to train how you play but maybe in training I do have to calm down a little bit.
"I think this one was mentally the toughest to take. Last season I started the season well, got injured and missed most of the season, came back towards the end, got back in the England team, had a good game with England and then I only took two weeks off in the summer because I wanted to go back early and get fit, which I did.
"Pre-season I didn't have any muscle injuries or anything like that, it was just a freak incident in training. It is tough but I've got good people around me, family and friends and they really help."
On beating Bayern…
"We beat, for me, one of the best teams in the world on Tuesday. The most important thing is we kept it going and we did that yesterday. [The atmosphere] was good, I think that is going to be our biggest challenge this season when teams come to the Emirates and they try and protect the result.
"We've got players like Mesut [Ozil] and Alexis [Sanchez] who can break teams down and we got the two goals. We seem to do that well when we get the first goal, we turn around quick and win the ball back high. We did that yesterday and the second half was a bit nervy but we got the win."
On winning the league…
"I wouldn't say it is too early [to start dreaming about the title] because that's what we all want to do - win the league. We feel week in, week out we get stronger and stronger. That's all we can do, we can take each game as it comes.
"We didn't start the Champions League well either but we got a big result in the week for that as well, we're still in that and things are going well at the moment.
"In past seasons we've struggled at the start of the season and then woken up in January when we've realised we need to get into the top four and finish in the Champions League.
"But this year I think we've continued with where we finished last season, we've got players in there that want to win now, fighting for each other, it's a great team spirit and if we can continue this then who knows?
"We've got to take each game as it comes but we're feeling good at the moment so everyone is confident."
On West Ham…
"We played them in the first game and they were amazing. Then they had a few disappointing results at home but they seem to have picked their home form up and I've got a lot of family who are West Ham fans.
"I was a West Ham fan as a kid and a lot of my family are still big West Ham fans so they're delighted. With players like [Dimitri] Payet, they're players you just want to see more of, they've got great quality. I think they'll be disappointed if they didn't get in the top ten."
On Chelsea…
"There is not really much talk about it, we're trying to focus on ourselves. Of course, going into the game yesterday we'd knew they'd lost the game and we're obviously delighted with them losing games like that because they're a big team and for me they're still not out of it.
"I'm not sure how many points they are behind but they still have great quality, great characters, great leaders [like] John Terry, Gary Cahill and players who won't settle for what is going on at the moment so I expect them to come back strong.
"I don't think [you could have predicted their start]. But I don't think they're out of it yet. I know they're struggling at the moment and they are a long way off but they still have great players, still have great qualities. They have players from last season who won the league, they definitely won't be happy with what is going on at the moment so it will be difficult for them but they have great quality."
His favoured position…
"I think it varies because we play differently with England than we do for Arsenal and also I think we have different types of players. If I had to say which one I prefer, I'd have to say the deeper one I play for England.
"I like to get on the ball and start off attack, receiving the ball from the defence and turning and facing the game and creating a picture. It's different with Arsenal because we play a different formation, with England we play 4-4-2 with a diamond whereas with Arsenal we play a 4-2-3-1. So ideally with Arsenal I'd like to play in one of the two deep-lying roles.
"With the boss the way he is, when he plays me on the right he always says 'if you want to come in and create things then you're more than welcome but when you lose the ball, that's your position, keep the shape and defend from there [the right]."
On making his debut…
"It is a long time ago but I remember it was five or six games into the season and I'd been with the first team in pre-season and had quite a good pre-season, then the season started and the boss gave me my first squad number, I was around the team and I was buzzing. But I still just wanted to play, I'd been on the bench a few times.
"Then we were 4-0 up against Blackburn and the boss put me on and it was a dream come true for me and my family. That is what I worked for, I used to go to training three times a week after school from when I was nine years old. To finally get out there, it was like the start of something. It was good."
On scoring goals…
"I remember when I was in the youth team I was an attacking midfielder and I was always top goalscorer at the end of the season but all of a sudden the goals dried up a little bit. I don't score many but when I do they are pretty good!"
