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Jack Wilshere must 'master his life', says Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after shisha pipe incident... but the midfielder is sorry

Wenger said that the midfielder was 'not a smoker'

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Friday 06 February 2015 11:20 GMT
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Arsene Wenger (right) speaks with Jack Wilshere
Arsene Wenger (right) speaks with Jack Wilshere

Arsene Wenger revealed this morning that Jack Wilshere is “sorry” for being photographed with a shisha pipe, and defended him against accusations of unprofessionalism.

Wilshere has been reminded of his responsibilities by Wenger and assistant manager Steve Bould after his latest smoking indiscretion. In public, though, Wenger sounded a more supportive note at this morning’s press conference.

“I’ve spoken with him about that [smoking] and he’s not a smoker,” said Wenger. “He is of course sorry for what has happened.”

Wilshere has been photographed smoking cigarettes twice before and Wenger that said the 23-year-old was free to make his own decisions in his own time, even if he did not approve. “It’s down to him to master his life,” Wenger said. “He had the day off the next day and he went out to watch the Super Bowl.”

“When he’s here he has to follow the rules that we dictate here, when he’s out of his job it’s his own responsibility to behave like he wants to behave.”

Although this is not the first time Wilshere has been photographed doing something wrong, Wenger defended his professionalism. Wilshere, as he made clear, is back in full training next week after ankle surgery, ahead of schedule.

“I observe him and he behaves in a very professional way, I must say” Wenger said. “Every morning he's certainly one of the first in and every afternoon certainly the last out. He works very hard, he's gone through some bad spells in his career and always recovered. It would be wrong to give him that kind of reputation because he's a serious player and he works very hard.”

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