Arsenal's Jack Wilshere believes playing in different positions has helped him develop
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere claims that being deployed in a variety of positions has helped him improve his game.
The 18-year-old has played for the English Premier League club as an attacking midfielder and a winger, as well as a defensive central midfielder, the position he is presently occupying for the club.
The England international was best known as an attacker while rising through the ranks at the Gunners’ youth academy and, while his new role means that he is forced to suppress his attacking instincts, he is pleased to be able to develop his range of passing.
He told Arsenal’s official matchday programme, "I’ve been playing alongside Alex Song a lot and we just talk to each other — if he goes (forward) I stay, and if I go then he remains. (As for my passing game), I think the boss has said it too — it’s sometimes
better for me to come from deeper because I can see more of the game, see the passes from longer distance and things like that.
"I played centrally quite a lot when I went on loan to Bolton last season and I think he (Wenger) saw that, so I came back and started playing in the middle.
"Last year I was playing on the wing here, which is good for you because you learn what wide men have to do for the team. That makes it a little bit easier for you when you come back into the middle."
Wilshere made his first-team debut for Arsenal in July 2008 in a pre-season friendly, during which he set up a goal. His EPL debut came against Blackburn Rovers that September.
He has gone on to establish himself as a key player for the club, and has played in nine of the side’s EPL games this season.
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