Jack Wilshere says he’s still deciding on what Gideon Kodua best position is because he trusts the youngster so much that he can play in a variety of roles.
The 21-year-old has featured as a right wing-back for the last month, as part of a five-at-the-back formation.
But back on January 17, Kodua was on a four-game scoring streak of five goals, having been deployed in more attacking roles. That spree added to his earlier five-goal haul for the season, which included header on his League One debut for the Hatters. And all of that first quintet of goals had come in the 83rd minute or later of matches, earning him a reputation as a clutch marksman.
At the time of Kodua’s last strike, against Lincoln, it made him the team’s top scorer this term, but he has not scored in his last 13 appearances and midfielder Jordan Clark has since overtaken him with his career best campaign total of 11 goals, though four of those have come from the penalty spot.
Part of the reason for Kodua’s lack of goals over the last two months has been the role he’s often been required to play. The last time Kodua started in an advanced role was on February 21. More often than not in his last six outings, he’s been used as a wing back.
Asked if that’s the former West Ham youth captain’s best position, Wilshere said: “No.”
The manger added on the eve of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Stockport, in which Kodua started on the bench: “I only spoke to him today about it because a good place for any player to be, especially a young player to be, is have the trust of the manager and he has my trust.
“I trust him to fill into a place at right wing back, not fill in, because he can play there [but] he’s probably more of a winger profile.
“I always think when you play with a back five, there’s kind of a message in it if you play with, for example, Joe Johnson as a left wing back and Nigel [Lonwijk] as a right wing back. That’s a clear back five.
“Where if you play with Emilio [Lawrence] as a left-wing back and Gids as a right wing back, that’s a message and to say, ‘yeah, we’re back five, but we want to attack when we get the opportunity to do so’.”
“I’m not saying that that’s Gids’ best position or his favourite position, but he played there. I trust him so much defensively to come back, to track back, to defend his back post, which he’d done a few times, to not get beaten in one-v-one duels.
“It’s a good thing for Gids to be versatile because any young player needs to play. That’s the best place for them to develop.
“We can do everything in training, we can sit down and speak to him about certain things, but he needs to play. We’ve spoken about experiencing things before explanation so many times.”
There no question that increasing his defensive duties have dulled Kodua’s attacking output and Wilshere admitted: “I don’t know where his best position is.
“I liked him off the left earlier on in the season and then we put him inside into the pocket. And it’s good for him to develop in each position. Develop, but also deliver, which he has done. So, I’m happy with Gids. Happy with how he performed at right wing back. Is there more to come from him in other positions? Yeah, definitely.”
When asked if a central role could still be the best fit for the youngster, Wilshere said: “Yeah, 100 per cent.
“When I say I don’t know his best position, if I had to say one right now would probably be there, probably be inside.
“However, there’s a lot of competition in there. Jordan Clark, I think, has arguably been our best player, definitely our most consistent player, probably, and he can come up with goals. I think he’s got 10 goals this season.
“And Kasey [Palmer] has been playing in the opposite pocket, so there is competition in there as well. And that’s why I say about being in a good place where the manager trusts him [Kodua], the coaches trust him. And when we sit down and have conversations about the team, there is feeling of how can we get Gids in the team, because he can come up with goals and magic moments.
“It [goals] has probably dried up a little bit. Fine. He’s a young player. We spoke about that before, about going in that sort of dip and coming out by fighting, by playing a role in the team that you just have to do to be in the team and play minutes.
“But he’s coming out of that and he’s got his smile back in training. He’s got his bounce back in training. It won’t be long, in my opinion, before you see Gideon back on the scoresheet and in a position that he likes.”
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