• Premier League

Wilshere almost 'complete player', says Szczesny

Jack Wilshere is developing into the complete midfielder, according to his Arsenal team-mate Wojciech Szczesny.

Wilshere, 22, has been heavily criticised by the media for both his performances on the pitch and his attitude off of it, though has found form over the past month, scoring a fine goal in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

Szczesny feels Wilshere is now beginning to fulfil his huge potential, though admits there is still one area of his game that he needs to keep working on.

Jack Wilshere scored in the 2-2 draw against Manchester City © Getty Images

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"He has done well," Szczesny told Arsenal Player. "Obviously there is a lot of competition for his spot because you have Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey, plus Mikel [Arteta] and Mathieu [Flamini] playing that bit deeper.

"So it's hard for him but every time he has come in and got his chance he has done very well. He got a good goal against Man City - I'm not sure he meant that! - but I'm very happy with him.

"He can go past players in midfield, which is a very important quality. We are all about passing the ball and moving it quickly, but sometimes if you can get past players in midfield it gives us a massive advantage - and Jack is very comfortable doing that.

"That is one of his biggest qualities. If he can just add a few more goals to his game then he will be pretty much a complete player for us."

It has been speculated Wilshere should become a specialised defensive midfielder - a perceived weakness in the Arsenal side.

However, Szczesny believes the team will be best suited if Wilshere remains where he is.

"You don't get too many midfielders who are [just] central midfielders - they are either defensive or attacking midfielders," Szczesny added.

"Jack has a very good balance between the two. I don't think it is an argument whether he should be a defensive midfielder or a No.10. I am happy with him being very balanced between defending and attacking."

Meanwhile, Szczesny is confident that Arsenal can bounce back from their 2-0 loss at Chelsea - their first league defeat of the season - when they return to action after international duty.

Sunday's defeat at Stamford Bridge saw Arsenal slip to eighth place in the table, having won just two of their first seven matches.

"I thought it was a very even game," he added. "But Chelsea have an ability to keep clean sheets at home and I thought they were very good, they took their chances with two brilliant moments.

"One, the brilliant run from Hazard that led to the penalty. On the second goal, the ball from Cesc and the finish. Sometimes you've got to take your hat off to the brilliance of the opposition.

"We've had a tough run so far. But I'd like to think that our start has been solid, not as good as we expected from ourselves but I believe that, after the international break, we can push on and get more points.

"You can't say we've played badly against Chelsea, it's just that we've come up against a very strong side, probably the favourites to win the Premier League at this point."

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