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Wenger - Jack is sacrificing himself

Arsene Wenger says that Jack Wilshere is happy to play out of his normal position in order to help the team.

The England international has started games from the left this season since Mesut Ozil signed, with Aaron Ramsey occupying his more natural position at the heart of Arsenal's midfield.

Wenger hailed Wilshere's attitude as "absolutely fantastic" and still thinks the 21-year-old will get the freedom to roam inside.

"Jack is always ready to sacrifice himself for the team and that is absolutely fantastic," Wenger told Arsenal Player.

"It [the left flank] is not his best position, we all know that. But he has a lot of freedom to move inside and he plays a little bit in the Cazorla role. He does that well.

"I think he will benefit from that transitional period there and physically he will become much stronger. He needs that.

"Overall, he is very disciplined as well. He can do the physical job on the flanks. It's the hardest job today in the modern game and he does that very well. I'm very pleased with his performances.

With Mikel Arteta close to a return to action and Mathieu Flamini impressing since his return to the Club, Wenger has a plethora of options to choose from in midfield. But he insisted the most important thing is finding the right balance between attacking and defending in that area.

"When you win, you can only say you want to continue and persist with the attacking formula because only a result can judge if your balance is right," said Wenger. "At the moment I believe that it's a part of our philosophy as well.

"It's easier to get somebody who can attack to do a bit more defensive work, than to get somebody who is purely [defensive] to contribute to an attacking system. If the solidarity and the spirit to help each other is as it is, it's not a big gamble."

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