Luton boss Jack Wilshere has praised Teden Mengi for his strength, leadership and attitude after the defender was subjected to racist abuse on social media.
The defender reported the abuse after the Hatters’ 4-3 FA Cup win over Forest Green Rovers and the club released a powerful statement, as they have before when other players have been subjected to racist messages on their social media pages.
Wilshere said the centre-back has set the standard for others with the way he has handled the situation and continued to lead on and off the pitch.
“I can’t even begin to think about people who do that type of thing and what goes on in their head,” the Town boss said. “All I can say is that Ted’s been outstanding — outstanding for me and someone who steps up, someone who cares, someone who leads by example, someone who holds people accountable in training.
“We spoke about it after on Monday, and I talk a lot about unity and unity as a family thing. And when someone attacks your family, we stick together and always, always we’ll be together with that type of stuff.
“Yeah, [it’s] really sad and I just hope that one day this type of stuff will go, but it probably won’t.
“Ted’s fine. He’s probably had it before and probably something that he’s experienced, which is not nice, and it doesn’t mean that we don’t check on Ted’s, but yeah, he was OK.”
Mengi, 23, has played in three of Wilshere’s four games in charge of the Hatters this season. Aside from the racist abuse, the defender took to Instagram after the cup win last week to apologise for his performance, as he was involved in two of Forest Green’s comeback goals.
Wilshere said: “He’s been excellent, and if we want a team and players that never make mistakes, we’d be in the Premier League and we’d be winning the Champions League.
“He didn’t have to apologise to anyone, he’s not let anyone down. If anything, he stepped up.
“It can happen where you miss a tackle, it goes through your legs, and you try and recover it and you give a penalty away. I think we’d much rather him run back as fast as he can to try and solve the situation.
“A mistake is feedback, and we try and help the players and try and make them better, but they can’t get better without making mistakes because that is getting better.”
Wilshere said he has been particularly impressed by how Mengi has adapted his game in recent weeks, taking tactical instruction on board while retaining his natural aggression and athleticism.
“In my first game, Ted’s played as left-side centre-back, and I thought he’d done OK,” the manager said. “We wanted to then see what Ted would be like on the right with someone left-footed next to him, to give you that balance when you’re stepping in.
“What I like about Ted is he takes on information and he tries — he’s trying things. Obviously, you can see he’s outstanding with his physical capabilities, he can cover spaces, he can defend behind.
“So we’re trying to help him just understand the timing to step in and be aggressive, but also then to protect the space behind. And yeah, I’ve really enjoyed his performances. I’ve really enjoyed working with him, and he’ll be important for us.”
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