Rhys Murphy made his professional debut and played 58 minutes for loan club Brentford this evening just hours after the ink dried on a three-month-loan switch to Griffin Park. The Bees went down 1-0 away to Wycombe but it could have been worse if it wasn’t for a second half penalty save from fellow loanee Wojciech Szczęsny, who played the full 90 minutes.
After a scrappy start both sides began to pass and probe one another and either side could have scored after a flurry of chances. John Bostock tried his luck from range before Szczęsny had to make a reaction save from Craig Woodman. Yet as the visitors began to get into their flow, striker Charlie MacDonald indicated he was struggling and just 24 minutes into the game Rhys Murphy was brought on to make his professional debut.
Szczęsny then made a hat-trick of saves to deny Kevin Betsy the opener before Murphy was just caught offside following a slick move in the middle. The Polish stopper then made further stops from Stuart Beavon and Gareth Ainsworth but the half time break saw both sides level.
Just two minutes after the restart Brentford got sloppy and conceded a slack penalty. Matt Harrold stepped up and slammed home beyond Wojciech but he would get his revenge later in the half. James Wilson was dismissed for a late challenge and another penalty was awarded. Harrold stepped up again but Szczęsny made an excellent dive and saved superbly.
Szczęsny was then booked yet he made two further catches and with 8 minutes left Murphy was subbed off in place of live-wire winger Cleveland Taylor. A slick knock and a lack of fitness appeared to be the reason, but no doubt he’ll get stronger and surely get goals in this league. However, all the credit goes to his brilliant colleague, Szczęsny.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Szczęsny will be our buffon
Nice post, good looking weblog, added it to my favs.
sounds like Szczęsny had a hell of a game.
Murphy, brought on then subbed again? Ouch!
How did you watch the match?
What did Szczęsny get booked for?
I’ve read news from poland (by google translator) which claimed brentford assured szczesny would start all 7 games during his one month loan.
I’ve always liked Szczęsny as a goalkeeper. He’s very assured, alert, and can cover his area pretty well. I personally feel that he’s ahead of Vito in terms of capability and talent. There’s no surprise that he’s able to perform at Brentford, albeit only his first few games for the club.
As for Rhys Murphy, I really hope that he can shake off the injury-prone tag. It’s his big chance to show what he can really do: scoring goals.
Based on his interviews to Polish newspapers, Szczesny appears to be very confident and determined to be Poland’s #1 for Euro 2012. But he’s also frustrated by his situation at Arsenal, he knows he’s better than Mannone and doesn’t understand why Wenger chose Mannone over him. He’s aware that if he plays regularly he can advance in the Poland hierarchy, so he’s hoping to get another loan move in January. There’s interest from better clubs, including abroad, but if one of the other keepers gets injured he’ll have to stay at Arsenal.
Kevlinefm – A very good assessment on both players, who do you feel should be out on loan, the Shez or Mannone?
Kel – Could you e-mail me the link to those quotes?
Wtf, now Kiera Gibbs got is metarsal broken, that sucks…
http://www.sport.pl/sport/1,65025,7277284,Wojciech_Szczesny__Zagram_siedem_meczow_w_miesiac.html
http://www.sport.pl/pilka/1,65029,7245858,Wojciech_Szczesny__W_Anglii_jestem_nieuczciwie_traktowany.html
with google translator, you may know what those articles said briefly.
Any more news on Martin Galvan? Sure we’re still signing him?
If only Wenger had picked Szczesny ahead of Almunia right after Almunia got injured. If he had than Tech9 might even be our first choice by now. Sure Mannone had a stunning game against Fulham but in almost all the others he made mistakes (Birmingham for the goal, should have saved the first against Standard, and more). I love his attitude. And by 2012 he will be 22 years old. He will be our first choice (and Poland) by then I believe. We can’t afford to have a shitty goalkeeper anymore, it’s so damn frustrating to have an awesome team but lack a decent player in the most important position on the field. van der Saar would always go out and catch that corner from Sunderland, no doubt.
Best of wishes to Gibbs. What a shame. Right before that happened yesterday I was thinking about Clichy and when he would be back. Then I thought it didn’t matter because he was probably not getting back into the team anyway. Gibbs has been fantastic lately and has improved a lot since last year. You have to wonder if it’s a coincidence though. He had a suspected broken metatarsal, a week later he plays and breaks his metatarsal. It reminds me of Bendtner. It’s only Wenger’s fault that Nick is not playing. When will he learn that if a player is not fit than you shouldn’t play him, otherwise you risk losing him. Eboue for LB now, he is a lot better than Silvestre and (god forbid) Traore.
szczesny is the nuts..he will be our number 1 someday..brentford will be excellent expirience for him in a tough league…he seems to have every atribute bar games….shame bout gibbs..think we might just manaage at left back still with traore/eboue/silveste(if they pass chelsea test!)