Jack Wilshere has explained how Arsene Wenger's response to mistakes during his Arsenal career still influences the way he manages players today.
Jack Wilshere has revealed the Arsene Wenger lesson he now carries into management, more than a decade after his former Arsenal boss was forced to deal with some of the midfielder's mistakes away from the pitch.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Wilshere looked back at the criticism he received early in his career and the way Wenger handled him afterwards.
"Yes, I made mistakes, but I also reflect on that," Wilshere said. "I had a manager that had high standards and he let me know that he was disappointed, but he also gave me another chance."
In October 2013, Wilshere was photographed with a cigarette outside a London nightclub following Arsenal's Champions League victory over Napoli. Wenger said publicly that he "disagreed completely" with the behaviour and intended to speak directly to his midfielder.
Yet the same episode also showed the other side of their relationship. Wenger made clear that Wilshere remained an important part of his plans despite the injuries and other setbacks which had already interrupted a career carrying huge expectations.
Wilshere admitted he had made a mistake and stayed in the team. Less than a year later, another set of photographs emerged from a holiday in Las Vegas and he apologised again, describing the incident as unacceptable and saying he would learn from it.
The subject returned once more in 2015 when Wilshere was pictured holding a shisha pipe. Wenger's response was different in tone but consistent with what Wilshere now remembers about him.
"One second of your life does not define who you are," Wenger said.
Wilshere apologised, Wenger still expected better from him, and Arsenal moved on.
More than ten years on, Wilshere is now the one making those decisions. After retiring from playing, the former Gunners midfielder returned to Arsenal to coach the club's Under-18s, working with young players including Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman before moving into senior coaching at Norwich City, before eventually taking charge of League One side, Luton Town.
His own experiences have given him a clear reference point of the process to take when a young player gets something wrong.
"You educate them, you let them know there's a line and there's things they can't do," Wilshere told BBC Sport. "But also give them another chance. I believe in that."
Wilshere's half-time team talk when Luton trailed Reading 3-1 on the opening day of this season subsequently attracted attention after his side recovered to win 4-3. His message was forceful, but the way he speaks about management now is as much about building the relationship which allows those conversations to happen.
Wenger had been managing a similar balance with Wilshere years earlier. There were public reprimands when he thought his player had crossed the line, but they were not treated as relationship ending.
"You have to build that relationship with the players," Wilshere said. "Players also want to have high standards. They want to be held accountable."
That is close to the balance Wenger struck with Wilshere years earlier. The standards were clear and the criticism could be public, but mistakes were not automatically treated as the end of a player's opportunity at the Gunners.
Wilshere now finds himself responsible for making those calls. His own experiences under Wenger helping shape a fairly simple principle which he works from: tell players when they have fallen short, then give them the chance to show what they do next,
