Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has revealed that he is busy studying the games of Andrea Pirlo and Xabi Alonso as he aims to become one of the best centre-midfielders in world football.
The highly-rated youngster was predicted big things when he burst onto the scene when he was just 17-years-old, but after a serious ankle injury, ruling him out for 17-months overall, his career and development stalled and basically made him work from the beginning again.
Now, with a whole host of attacking options in the midfielder of Arsenal, Wilshere is learning how to become a more defensive-minded midfielder in order to fill the defensive midfielder role at the Emirates Stadium.
The 22-year-old is also being used as a holding-midfielder for England, and he has admitted that he studies Pirlo and Alonso hoping to emulate what they do from similar positions.
“He had a record number of passes on one game, 200 in a match, which is ridiculous,” says Wilshere with a certain awe of Alonso.
“Watching players like him and Pirlo you learn how clever they are, how intelligent they are on the ball.
“In that role it’s important to understand that if you lose the ball the opposition are in a dangerous position to counter-attack.
“Whereas if I was playing a little bit higher, on the edge of the box, you can lose it and you have players around who can get the ball back.”
He added: “You learn how they use the ball and you learn when it’s a good time to dribble or to pass. It’s about being intelligent on the ball.
“I get clips sent through to my iPad by the analysts. They highlight some of Alonso’s key points in about 20-35 minutes of video.
“There are times when he does things that I wouldn’t have thought of. That’s part and parcel of learning. Even when I watch my games back I think; ‘What am I doing now?’ and I should have done this instead.
“It was my second game in the role against San Marino. I thought that I had already improved, so there’s a lot more to come from me in that position. The more I watch players like that, the quicker I will learn.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
