Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has now named one club legend as the best to ever do the job he did.
Jack Wilshere is still a key figure at Arsenal.
Having hung up his boots in 2022, the 32-year-old now coaches the Gunners’ under-18s as part of the Hale End academy system that he himself emerged through.
The 34-cap former England international is now charged with developing the youngsters who will hopefully eventually progress into Mikel Arteta’s first-team setup.
As a player, he burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2010 and quickly established himself as one of the most exciting talents in the Premier League. Then-manager Arsene Wenger showed great faith in the young Wilshere, which was rewarded with a litany of impressive performances from the youngster.
At that stage in his career, Wilshere played without fear, shining in the middle of the park with his tenacity, energy, and supreme technical ability. Wilshere had “something special” as a youngster.
Unfortunately, persistent injury issues robbed Wilshere of what ought to have been his peak years. However, he was still able to make almost 200 appearances for the club, across all competitions.
Jack Wilshere sets Arsene Wenger above the rest
He enjoyed a close relationship with Wenger. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Wilshere described the iconic French coach as being something of a father figure to him.
Later in that same interview, he was asked to pick “the greatest manager of all time.” Wilshere named Wenger as his answer, stating: “Listen, Sir Alex [Ferguson] and what Pep’s done at the minute has changed the game, everyone’s jumping on it and following, and he is amazing. But, no one is yet to go invincible. Obviously in Germany they’ve done it…but to do it in the Premier League, not to lose a game…that, to me, is credit to the manager.”
Wenger is a legendary figure at Arsenal, and has been honoured with a statue outside the Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger’s legacy at Arsenal
Undoubtedly, his greatest achievement as manager of the North London club came at the end of the 2003/04 season when his side were crowned Premier League champions without having lost a single game throughout the league campaign. That team were then immortalised as the Invincibles.
Wenger has recently revealed why he was so convinced that his Arsenal side were capable of pulling off such a feat in the first place.
In total, he won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups in his time as Arsenal manager. However, Jamie Carragher believes Jurgen Klopp to have been more successful than Wenger was due to his Champions League triumph with Liverpool.