Wilshere - Walcott has shown me the way

By Declan Taylor
 
Theo Walcott’s words of wisdom have helped Jack Wilshere cope with this season’s intense introduction to life in the first team.
 
In February 2008, the Hertfordshire-born midfielder was making his first Reserve Team appearance while still a schoolboy. Yet within seven months he had made his debut for Arsène Wenger’s senior side aged just 16 years and 256 days. The ‘secret’ was out.
 
More glory was to come when Wilshere opened his goalscoring account with a fizzing long-range drive in Arsenal’s 6-0 victory over Sheffield United in the Carling Cup. In total, the midfielder appeared eight times in the first team alongside numerous outings for the Reserves and Under-18s.
 
One man who knows all about the journey from teenage wonderkid to first-team regular is Walcott. And for Wilshere, there could be no better mentor.
 
 “They all talk to me and tell me what it was like for them when they were young players,” he told Arsenal.com. “But Theo is the one who helped me especially in that area.
 
“When he was young he would play a game and then not play again for the next six months. That can be tough so he’s been giving me advice on that.
 
“It helps a lot. Maybe I am following the same path as him so it’s helpful to have him around. I want to do what he has done really, he’s now a proper member of the first XI really and that’s what I want to be.”
 
Walcott is also aware of the similar transition on the international stage. The rapid winger was a surprise inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England squad which was knocked out of World Cup 2006.
 
Walcott, who did not appear in Germany, has since become a regular feature for the Three Lions and completed 90 minutes in England’s 6-0 thrashing of Andorra on Wednesday.
 
Wilshere is at the forefront of a new wave of young homegrown talent throughout the Academy and he believes it can only benefit the Club.
 
“I’m proud that so many young English players have got this far,” Wilshere said. “We’ve got a mixed squad but it’s great to see them coming through.

”It’s good for all of us in the team and it keeps the spirit up. There are more even younger too - Benik [Afobe], Chuks [Aneke] people like that.
 
“The English players join the Club at a young age and keep working hard. That moves them up through the age groups and they’re there when they’re older.
 
“Hopefully they continue to do it in the future too.”

[Thursday, June 11, 2009]

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