'It was about sending him off in the right way'

It was an emotional day on Sunday as Arsene Wenger waved goodbye to Emirates Stadium with a 5-0 win against Burnley.

Jack Wilshere spoke to the media after the game and stressed the hunger of the team to deliver a big performance - and this is what he said:

on whether the performance was fit for the boss… 

Yes, I think so. We wanted to send him off in the right way and unfortunately we couldn’t make the Europa League final, but we knew we had to win today and win in a good way. In the Arsenal way and we done that, we passed, we moved, we were aggressive in the press and we’re happy.

 

on whether it was different knowing it was his final home game… 

It was slightly. Me, I want to go out on a high as it’s the last home game of the season and we haven’t had a great season, but at home we’ve had a good season so we had to keep that going and we can give the fans some belief for next year. It’s a big year for us next year with a new manager, but it was about sending him off in the right way today. 

on the support of the fans… 

Over the years people have had their different opinions but at the end of the day everyone knows what [the boss has] done for this club. He’s built this club to where we are with the stadium, he’s done the transfer from Highbury successfully and we were in the Champions League for many years. Unfortunately we’ve slipped out of it again this year but we’re going to push for it next year.

on what the boss means to him…

I’ve said it before, he’s been like a father figure to me. I think I was 14 when I first met him and was introduced to him and I was a boy then and he’s changed me into a man, so I’ll be forever grateful to him and I wish him well in whatever he does next. 

on Per leaving… 

What a player, what a character. We’re going to miss him around the dressing room because he’s a big personality with us. He leads from the back, he wants everyone to do things right and we’re going to miss him, so I’m glad he got some minutes today. He deserved it, he works so hard in training even though he hasn’t really been in the team. He works so hard in training and pushes everyone and he’s on to the young players so he’s a great person to have around them. He’s not going to leave completely because he’s going to take up his role with the academy and from here we know what to do better.