Why Jack Wilshere Can Be Arsenal's Answer to Andres Iniesta This Season

Despite the fact that he hasn’t kicked a competitive football in over a year, Jack Wilshere is never far from the thoughts of Arsenal fans.

The Gunners’ prospect is held in high regard at the Emirates Stadium and is regarded as one of England’s brightest prodigies in the modern era.

Wilshere suffered a stress fracture to his ankle in a preseason tournament before the start of the 2011-12 season and has suffered several setbacks in his recovery from the injury.

As is only natural for any prodigy, Wilshere has earned his fair share of comparisons over recent years, the most suitable of which would be to Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta.

While he might be young, the former PFA Young Footballer of the Year can live up to the standards of the Catalan maestro, and has the time to still do so this season.

The youngster is slated to make his return in October, and can still make the necessary impact on his side to earn what is a massive compliment.

Passing Vision

Perhaps the most valued commodity that either Jack Wilshere or Andres Iniesta possess is their passing ability.

The duo both act as the conduit between midfield and attack for their respective sides, opening up space for those around them so that their teammates might flourish.

Iniesta isn’t renowned for his goal-scoring talents, but more for the creation he brings to the table, much the same as his Arsenal counterpart.

The starlet simply sees passes that not everyone else can, and he has the ability to pull those passes off to boot.

One of, if not the biggest need for any central midfielder, Wilshere’s passing range and vision is the most synchronised of his attributes with Iniesta.  

Tactical Awareness

Of course, the majority of the passing brilliance alluded to in the previous slide may not be achievable unless the player in question can get the ball.

With that in mind, it’s Wilshere’s off the ball work that likens him to the Spanish maestro also.

Although the English international is never too far away from a scrap, he also has the intelligence to know when a challenge isn’t required in order to get into a more advantageous position.

When a pass is needed, Wilshere is usually one of those open for service, and if he isn’t, you can bet that he’ll be attempting to get away from any marker.

While possession play is massively important to any team, the work when a team does not have the ball can sometimes go undervalued.

Not to Jack Wilshere, however.

Homegrown Pride

In football, there’s few feelings more satisfactory than when a player starts his career with one club and goes on to enjoy a long and illustrious career in the very same surroundings.

Wilshere may have been born in Stevenage, but you can bet that the player’s heart is very much in Islington these days.

Like Wilshere, Iniesta wasn’t born in precisely the same province in which he plays, but the midfielder is still a hero in Catalonia.

Players that emerge through the youth academy of a club tend to command just slightly more admiration from the fans than any player that’s brought in from elsewhere.

So, if on the pitch talents weren’t enough to enamour Wilshere with the Emirates Stadium support, his homegrown roots certainly help his chances, just like Iniesta.

Positional Versatility

Although Jack Wilshere has asserted himself amongst the Arsenal elite, the youngster is still finding out where it is that he does his best work.

Whether in attacking midfielder or functioning as a deep-lying playmaker, Wilshere has proven himself to be a malleable asset.

Playing alongside Cesc Fabregas in the 2010-11 season, Wilshere actually succeeded in overcoming the man with whom he’s being compared to now, when Arsenal beat Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League encounter.

Also capable of functioning in wider areas, it’s this kind of versatility that is just another of the player’s best attributes, and one that he again shares with Iniesta.

Calm Under Pressure

Always the busiest area of the pitch, central midfield can be a pretty hairy place at times.

Usually speaking, players that succeed in center midfield are either one of two extremes, one end of the spectrum accounting for the more fiery and tenacious players while Wilshere and Iniesta would fall on the opposite side.

That isn’t to say that tempers don’t flare in the pair at times and Wilshere in particular is capable of at least a booking every now and then.

But when it comes to play on the ball, both players in question are cool characters that fail to panic in possession, allowing them to play to their optimum as a result.

Instead of sacrificing the ball for contentious passes, both Wilshere and Iniesta are far happier to hang onto possession and set the play in a slower manner than some may be willing to.

Spanish Technique

In reference to a comment made by Arsene Wenger following the aforementioned tie against Barcelona, even the players coach states that Wilshere has “Spanish technique, but an English heart.”

Speaking to Arsenal.com after his first leg Champions League win over Barça two season ago, Wenger stated:

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“He has Spanish technique certainly,” said Wenger. “But he has an English heart because he is an English boy. He just loves to win like all the other players in my team and he showed that on Wednesday night.

“What I like is that he takes everything with a cool head. When you are at his age, you want to play and to play again and show how good you are. He is not phased by the occasion and he is not inhibited. That is what is fantastic with him.”

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If Iniesta is one of those figures that embodies the Tiki-Taka style of play so promoted by the Spanish national team, then Wilshere isn’t far behind the Barcelona maestro.

While good passing ability doesn’t necessarily point straight towards the Spanish game, the nation are certainly near the pinnacle of that football aspect in the modern era.

As such, it’s a major compliment for the manager to pay his young prodigy, and links Wilshere to Iniesta in a more meaningful manner than simply playing style.