Former Arsenal star Jack Wilshere has now recalled an incident with one legend of the north London club which reduced him to tears.
Jack Wilshere was coached by Liam Brady as he came through the Arsenal academy system.
Brady is an icon at Arsenal. The Irish midfielder made 307 appearances for the Gunners, having come through the academy system himself, between 1973 and 1980. In his playing days at Highbury, the 72-cap Republic of Ireland international won an FA Cup in 1979.
Brady returned to Arsenal in 1996, becoming the director of the club’s youth academy. He remained in that role until 2014. In his time overseeing the academy, a litany of future Premier League stalwarts passed through the system under his watch, including the likes of Jermaine Pennant, Steve Sidwell, Francis Coquelin, and Wilshere himself.
How Liam Brady treated Jack Wilshere
Wilshere is now Arsenal under-18s manager and has shown that he has real potential as a coach, as he is guiding the next generation of future Arsenal stars in their path towards Mikel Arteta’s first-team. One of the young stars under his charge is Ethan Nwaneri. Nwaneri has been likened to Wilshere in terms of his style of play.
Wilshere was one of the most exciting prospects to ever emerge from the Gunners’ Hale End Academy system. He burst onto the scene as a teenager, and produced a number of magic moments for Arsene Wenger’s senior side very early on in his career.
Whilst the 32-year-old always had a feisty side to his game, his temper in his youth was a real problem.
Speaking on the Up Front with Simon Jordan podcast, the former England international has now told one story of some tough love he received from Brady which helped him realise he needed to change his ways.
Wilshere recalled, “I was 14 playing up in an under-15 competition against the best clubs in Europe. Liam Brady pulled me before the final and said ‘look, just stay on the pitch and you’re going to get player of the tournament.’ Well, ten minutes in against Inter Milan, someone trod on my foot and I just went bang – elbowed him. Sent off. That was a big moment for me. This is what I’m talking about now with academies. Now, there’s so much care, what would that look like? Well, when that happened to me, I walked off the pitch to Liam Brady and he hammered me, he battered me, to the point where I was in tears.”
The role Jack Wilshere now has at Arsenal
Such is the modern game, such behaviour from a coach to a youth player likely would not now be tolerated, which Wilshere understands. However, this story is a reminder of how demanding and intense life in a top level academy can be for players.
The vast majority of youngsters who make it even that far through the academy system, don’t make the grade at the top level in the senior game. Wilshere now has a huge role to play himself in helping to ensure that the current generation of Arsenal youth prospects are prepared for both the chance to star for Arteta’s side and the possibility that they could soon be out of football altogether.
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