‘Jack Wilshere is an absolute blessing for Arsenal’ – Theo Walcott hails ‘brilliant’ team-mate

Jack Wilshere of Arsenal(Getty Images)

Related Links

Teams

Players

Arsenal’s Theo Walcott has heaped praise upon team-mate Jack Wilshere, describing him as “brilliant” for the club.

Wilshere has stood out for the Gunners this season and has thrust his way into the England squad with a series of composed displays.

“Jack is just brilliant,” Walcott told the FA website.

“He plays football with a smile on his face and enjoys it.

“He is an absolute blessing for Arsenal and just continues his form for England.

“Probably he has stamped his name as one of the first on the team sheet.

“He has a long career ahead of him. Hopefully I can be part of that.”

This season was a disappointing one for the Gunners after their trophy drought continued for another year, but Walcott is happy with his own contribution and feels it has been one of the best of his career as he scored 13 times in 38 games.

“I had the best season I’ve had in a long time,” he said.

“I have scored a lot of goals and got more assists.

“As a team we weren’t able to perform to our abilities in the last few games. We should have got third but it was just snatched away from us.

“We have only got ourselves to blame on that front. We have to win trophies but there have been signs there, and I think we can do it next season.”

Walcott is looking to feature against Switzerland on Saturday but he admits he never completely forgets about life at the Emirates.

“It will be massive to see the players who come in and the ones who go out,” he said.

“We will be ready. We have to show people and our fans especially that we want to win things.

“You have to do that a big club like Arsenal. It has been a long time since we won anything and we know how disappointing that is for the fans.”

The 22-year-old picked up an ankle injury during England’s Euro 2012 qualifier in Switzerland last September, something that could have been worse if his eagerness to return was not checked by physio Gary Lewin.

“I thought about playing on but Gary took my sock off and there was a big egg on my ankle so it was best not to,” said Walcott.

“Injuries are part and parcel of the game and I have had a lot in my career but it’s how you bounce back from them.

“I am more able to deal with those situations now. It was not as bad as it could have been didn’t affect me too much.”