Wilshere doesn't have any concerns about what League One has to offer
Former Arsenal midfielder is untested at the third tier of English football
Luton boss Jack Wilshere doesn’t have any concerns about taking his first venture into League One after being appointed in charge of the Hatters on Monday.
Having been with Town’s Centre of Excellence as a youngster, Wilshere was quickly whisked away by Premier League giants Arsenal where he learned his trade and spent almost 20 years in the top flight with the Gunners, playing in the Champions League and Europa League, winning 34 caps for England too. Wilshere did have a brief loan spell at Bolton Wanderers in the 2009-10 campaign, but the Trotters were also in the top tier as well then, meaning the lowest level he ever played at in England was a short spell at AFC Bournemouth in the 2020-21 season where he played 15 Championship matches, then heading to Denmark to finish his career in the Superliga for AGF.
After hanging his boots up, Wilshere spent just over two years with the academy at the Emirates Stadium, helping the U18s to the FA Youth Cup Final, leaving in October 2024 to take up a coaching role at second tier outfit Norwich City. He then had two matches in charge of the Canaries as an interim manager, but although he has yet to manage, or even play in League One, he believes his time in academy football can be beneficial.
He said: "I was saying to the guys the other day, when you’re working in U18s football, part of the job is to say yes, okay, Ethan Nwaneri is really good Myles Lewis-Skelly is really good, and go on, go to Mikel (Arteta), but actually the other players, it’s looking at them and going right, probably he’s going to end up in the Championship, he’s going to end up in League One, so you build an understanding over the years. Also how you coach, it’s important those players experience what a League One will bring, so I don’t have any concerns about the league or anything I don’t know about it, so I’m ready for that.”
Asked what he thought would be the main contrasts between what he has been used to and life in League One, he continued: “The difference for me is the quality. There’s things in the Premier League that you’ll see in League One that you have to do. You have to compete, you have to run, you have to fight, you have to win duels. We’re in League One, my job is to try and improve the players so we can add that quality as well, but there’s all the other stuff, all the intensity and then can we make them better as players to take to the next step, then we can get to that next step and then we can look at it again.
"I always said as I played against lower league teams in competitions, I played in the Championship as well, the difference for me is the speed of the game. If you give a League One player time and space he’s going to be able to turn, he’s going to be able to play a through ball, he’s going to be able to hurt people and for me it’s about being able to do that and create moments where we can practice, practice, practice that and keep adding the intensity that the Premier League will bring us eventually, or the Championship will bring. But we have to improve the quality, we have to improve on the ball and try and build from there.”
Although Wilshere’s main coaching background, bar his stint at Norwich, has been with the younger pros at Arsenal, he believes those senior players he will now be in charge of at Kenilworth Road have a huge role to play in his time with the Hatters, adding: “I made this clear in the process, I’ve been on courses, my A licence and my pro licence and when you’re in that environment, you’re made to think about who you are, what you are as a coach and that will then shape the way you coach and of course then the context is of the player, where the player’s at.
"(When taking a job) Number one is the alignment, number two is the family feel, but then number three is the players and what they can do, what I think they can do, whether we think we can get them to a level to be able to get out of this league. It’s the skill of the coach in my opinion to go in and first of all I believe in this group, I believe the players can do what we want them to do and what we’re going to ask them to do, but there’s so much more than that that comes with it. There’s the environment, and I’m completely comfortable with that.
"Age sometimes plays a factor and we have some older, more experienced players in this team and how important they are. They were excellent for me at Norwich when I got that job and I see it the same, the older players, they have to live and breathe and almost be your guy in the changing room who is demanding in the changing room, keeps standards high, keeps everyone connected to what we’re trying to achieve. I will be having conversations with those guys but I’ll be coaching them the same as the young lads.”