News

Wilshere - I relax in front of goal now

Jack Wilshere believes his scoring form this season stems from learning to relax in front of goal.

The England international claimed a brace against Marseille on Tuesday night to take his total for the season to four.

The 21-year-old had only scored six times in his career prior to this campaign, and he puts his improvement down to his growing maturity.

"You grow up a little bit and you relax in front of goal. There's something that clicks when you grow and learn"

Jack Wilshere

“As you've seen with Aaron [Ramsey] this year, you grow up a little bit and you relax in front of goal,” Wilshere told Arsenal Player. “There's something that clicks when you grow and learn.

“When you're 19 and you're just getting into the team you want to do well and you're too busy trying to impress, to keep the ball, [to make sure you] don't lose the ball and trying to fit in the team.

“Once you get older and [more] comfortable, players around you trust you. You get a little bit fitter as well, you can get forward a bit more and when you’re in front of goal you've watched players in the past and you’ve learnt from your past mistakes. You relax and that's the only way you're going to do well.

“It's hard to put your finger on it but I've set myself a target of 10 goals this season and I'm only at four so hopefully I can keep going.”

Wilshere paid tribute to Bacary Sagna and Mesut Ozil for the part they played in his goals against Marseille.

“Bac’s been doing it all season,” he said. “He had another one with Theo at the end when he put him in as well. We could have scored a few goals from his crosses in Manchester, so hopefully he can keep that going for the rest of the season.

“[For the second goal] it was really unselfish from Mesut. Sometimes after a [missed] penalty you feel like you have to score. But the player he is, he's been in that situation before and he's unselfishly passed it across the goal and it was an easy tap-in for me.”

See Full List

Fixtures & Results

Premier League
Ticket Info