MY ACCOUNT
Jack Wilshere’s long search for first-team football led him to Denmark earlier this year — and now he is urging English prospects to follow suit.
The 34-cap Three Lions international, 30, is back at former club Arsenal completing his coaching badges after helping AGF Aarhus secure survival in the Danish Superliga.
Prior to finding employment abroad, Wilshere spent eight months in the football wilderness following a spell at Bournemouth last year.
Making 14 appearances in Scandinavia after joining Aarhus on a short-term deal in February, the midfielder speaks in glowing terms about a league he had been unfamiliar with.
He said: “To be honest, before I went to Denmark, I didn’t know anything about the league. I was probably quite arrogant towards it.
“But it was something I had conversations about when I was over there after a few weeks — what a brilliant place it would be for young English lads to come out to on loan and gain experience.
“It is a good standard. You have work so hard and that brings an intensity to things. Every game was intense, you just had to be at it all the time.
“You get some big games, too. At Brondby, they have 30,000 fans in there and it is loud. Even we [Aarhus] were getting about 15,000 at home.
“They also have a great training ground. From the perspective of a young player at a bigger club going out there on loan, these details are so important.”
Different experience
While Aarhus endured a tough campaign on the field, Wilshere clearly enjoyed his time overseas.
Not only did he slot into day-to-day proceedings without any fanfare, he was also widely praised for his mentoring of the club’s emerging talent.
And he now strongly believes youngsters in Premier League academies could benefit from a leap abroad rather than a traditional trip through English football’s lower reaches.
He added: “You’re not always going to get that kind of experience dropping down to League One or League Two.
“I would definitely recommend a young player to go over to Denmark and try it there.
“When young guys drop down the leagues over here — and don’t get me wrong, there is a place for that — that kind of experience can quite easily eat a young player up.
“If they struggle to deal with things physically, they often end up on the bench. Suddenly, you’re not even getting in a League Two team and you’re thinking, ‘What’s going on here?’.
“In Denmark, there’s a bit more football being played. All the teams are trying to play good stuff so that helps if you have that technical ability.
“Then living away from England as a youngster, that helps you develop as a person. It makes you grow up.
“I would 100% recommend lads to go over there.”
Unclear future
Wilshere was speaking at a STATSports event at the Emirates, where youngsters who had recorded impressive fitness levels in the company’s high-tech vest had been invited for a trial to join Arsenal’s Hale End academy.
Sharing his words of wisdom with the hopefuls prior to their session, coaching appears certain to be part of the Stevenage native’s future.
But he is not ready to call time on his own career just yet after gaining precious match fitness and, most importantly, remaining injury-free during his recent return to action.
Whether that next step involves a return to Aarhus remains unclear, however.
Wilshere said: “I think the way we did it, surviving on the last day, there wasn’t really time for those conversations to take place and I think everyone just needed a few days to take a breath afterwards.
“The manager [David Neilsen] got sacked, so a new coach is going to be going in there next season.
“But if the new coach wanted me, I would have a chat with him — I really liked the city, liked the club.
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
