On-loan Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny has confirmed he will return from his spell with Brentford on the 20th of December where he will study several ‘interesting offers’ before deciding on a second stint away from the club. The Poland international admits there is also a potential move to Italy on the cards.
Wojciech completed his 5th game for the Bees on Saturday where he made a handful of fantastic saves to keep out Leeds United. Notably from Jermaine Beckford where he tipped his lob onto the bar in the closing stages. The 19-year-old was given the Man of the Match award which included a bottle of champagne and a voucher for a meal for two people. The shy Pole didn’t enjoy the attention the prize brought which even saw Leeds fans asking for pictures.
“Come on now, I do not like these things, everyone is looking at you, do not know what to say!”
Brentford fans have been waxing lyrical about keeping the ‘keeper for an extended period but Szczęsny has revealed he, and Arsenal ,have alternate plans.
“They [Brentford] would like to me to stay, but I have more interesting proposals. I will return to Arsenal, and probably in mid-January, once again go out on loan. Maybe in England, perhaps to Italy. A potential move has not been agreed yet. But of course – I want to be Arsenal’s number one.”
The 195cm full Poland international still trains three times a week with Arsenal, only making the 40 minute journey across London for matches and key meetings. Charlton have previously attempted to sign the prospect but Arsene Wenger is looking for a Premier League or alternative top flight club to really test the credentials of one of the most promising glovesmen in Europe.
His penalty saving prowess and superb reflexes have all been on show at Griffin Park and with the first-team goalkeeping situation far from settled, could this youngster be Arsenal’s saviour?
Article By – J.Sanderson
We have an amazing talent with this fellow. We have to keep him, he will be world-class. Where are these quotes from?
Good for him to get some competitive games.
He might not be blabbering after a game but is he the vocal type on the pitch?
would be great to see him playing in the prem, providing he does get games of course.
Good stuff Jay. I hear he had a bust up in the tunnel a few weeks ago too against Gillingham (I think). By all accounts he acquitted himself very well!!!
Arsenals future number one beyond a shadow of a doubt
@ finnbl According to most of the reports on the Brentford forums, he commands his penalty box excellently.
this is one of the reasons why we should be patient even though high class Almunia has swayed in consistency. If it is true he gives his experience to the youngsters, guys like Schezny can really come through strong in a position where you can be king for a while and the next moment a beggar, look at that Austrian guy…tip of tongue…went to fiorentina now in juventus…he was king for a while
He’s a class act. I wish he’s tried here instead of the weak ones Almunia, Fabianski and Manonne. Iker Casillas was 19 when he played his first game for Madrid so why not?
Italy? Whant he wants in Italy?
Szczesny is an exceptional talent. Seen him play and praised him on our forums many times over. I’m sure he is the answer to our goalkeeping problems. Hope we can keep him. Saying that I think Fabianski is not bad either and I reckon, given a chance, he could prove himself beeter than Almunia.
Whos Bidding for him in Italy
Please keep him at Arsenal he is a lot better than clumsy Almunia!
anyone hu has seen Szczęsny play will know that he should be at least our second choice keeper. he is by far our best all round keeper and only lacks experience. he will be one of the worlds best in years to come, mark my words
I must say I have seen this guy a few times playing for our youth and reserves as well, he always impresses me. He is light years ahead of Mannone and I truly believe he will be Arsenal’s number one, maybe even with in the next 12 months – that’s how highly I rate him
Sebjob – Manninger. Always wished he’d stayed with us, he’s superb.
Szczesny’s one of the most talented young keepers in the world, our number one in a few years for sure, and if Almunia keeps playing like he is them we’ll seriously need to consider giving someone like Fabianski or Szczesny a chance.
Good scoop JS. It looks like young players are gonna have to be the nomadic type, not mind experiences abroad, across England. By the time they play in the first team they will have been to a lot of stadiums already, although mostly in the lower leagues! They will need to be able to perform outside their comfort zone to get on the pitch, although it seems Chesney didn’t leave north london lol.
He’s a great shot stopper – absolutely first class, but his distribution has been erratic. Spooned it one time too many. Some work to do there.
In true Arsenal goalkeeping tradition, he can also be a bit of a liability, one time mis-judging a forward ball, running out to the halfway line to get it and then having to dash back to his area. A couple of comedy errors too many in the course of 5 games.
All in all though, one for the future. Check the highlights of Saturday’s Leeds game on the BBC website. Lovely stuff.
Might I suggest that rather than speculate, you actually get to one of his next games. Brentford is only 45 minutes on the tube from Arsenal and I can assure you that the atmosphere is much better and the football more delightful. Hopefully he’ll stay in English football for his next stint – though I wouldn’t want to come up against him in league 1.
@ sebjob Alex Manninger. He did look good for a while I agree, but Chesney is rated as one of the best young keepers in Europe. He already has a full international cap at the tender age of 19. Defo one for the future, but with Almunia struggling, he may get his chance sooner rather then later
Yea been well impressed with chesney.
i think we should chuck him straight into the first team, i know hes young and reletively inexperienced and might make a few mistakes but the thing is he would learn frm these mistakes, plus wat we got to lose almunia makes mistakes game in game out and its not like hes a fuckin youngster.
I watched the game against Leeds, where he was excellent, and I’ve been keeping close tabs on his other games, for which he has been recieving lots of praise as well. Not only are his reflexes very good, but what pleases me the most about him is that he isn’t affraid to come and claim a cross or punch clear. He has full confidence in his decisions, and always backs himself – that’s the difference between a good keeper and a great one. Almunia has the reflexes, and, when confident will claim a cross, but he’s generally so tentative as to where to clear the ball and whether to catch it or not. At 6’5 I guess Szcz has an advantage.
I don’t think he’ll get too many 1st team games this season though. It would be too harsh for Fabianski, Almunia, and, although I don’t personally rate him very highly, Mannone. I’d expect us to loan out Vito in January and sell him and/or Almunia in the summer, and Szcz can make some more appearences next season in some cup games, but the mental scarring that can be left on a young keeper after a blunder or two in the PL is just too great for him to be a regular for another couple of years.
Ooooh potty mouth!
@ Brentford Tim. Most of us have seen him play a number of times at a number of different levels (especially JS).
As for the “couple of comedy errors too me in the course of 5 games” jibe, that sounds harsh to me. He is 19 after all. But all you need do is check his stats. He’s shored up your back 4 beyond doubt, and kept Leeds at bay the weekend, a feat that not many other keepers have managed in League one.
As for his distribution, he takes all the free outs from inside your half, a task he won’t have at Arsenal.
This kid is the real deal. When he played in the Carling Cup he was outstanding. For me he is way ahead of Almunia, Fabianski, Mannone. Must be promoted to No.1 next season if Wenger doesn’t buy a top goalkeeper.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbh3kg_brentford-0-v-0-leeds_sport
This is the only Arsenal keeper I actually have confidence in.
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I think we should give him a chance.
“This is the only Arsenal keeper I actually have confidence in.”
Coincidentally also the only Arsenal keeper who you haven’t seen play for 90 minutes more than 5 times.
I want him as our No. 1 not later than NOW. How many chances is Almunia going to get? Do you remember a single game this season where he has played well? Fabiansky was great against Olympiacos, Mannone had a couple of good games, Almunia has had none. I think Wenger’s biggest mistake of the season was to give Mannone the nod over Szczesny when Almunia got “injured”. Mannone is far inferior to Tech9, miles below. If not now then next summer for sure. I bet some EPL teams would be ready to gamble on him and drop their current No. 1 for the rest of the season. None would want Almunia on loan. The Spanish waiter’s days are over, he is clearly not competent against our other GKs.
Next August, Szczesny will turn 20. That’s still very young for a GK but not impossible. If you are good enough, you are old enough. Proof you believe in that Mr. Wenger. We don’t necessarily need to buy a keeper because we can improve that position simply by dropping the donkey between our sticks.
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Stone – The question should be when has Almunia ever produced a display that has won us the points when we didn’t quite perform? I can’t EVER remember him doing that. Even Mannone did that against Fulham.
You dont have to see a goal keeper a whole lot to tell if he is quality or not. You watch a few situations and you see how he deals with them. Goal keeper isnt a position of skill but athletism, positioning, height and ability to read situations are the main things needed in a goalkeeper. These are qualities that good goalkeeper show that every game regardless of there the scoreline or a mistake. The first step needed to be a goalkeeper is you must be a shot stopper. Which required the athletism and positioning parts. That rules out Fabianski who has isnt very athletic. The next step in a goalkeaper is the ability to read situations like crosses, through balls..etc. That rules out both Almunia and Mannone. Sure goal keepers make mistakes like dropping a ball once in a while or you get scored on but the qualities of a good keeper are shown in every game they play because keeper isnt really a skill or complicated like i said. So thats how you can know if a keeper is good or not. Now you know how to judge a keeper.
shane, I agreed with you. you can know a player would make it at some flash moment. ironically, for me on szczesny, it’s the moment when he conceeded the goal to liverpool on youth fa cup 2 years ago. he did very well in that match, but unfortunately we lost at 0-1. he showed his quality and character, but the most important, his mentality which is critical for a keeper. I kept on tracking his development since then and was convinced that he will be top class one day. I have high expectation on him, especially when we have almunia in goal. :(
J., how is he on dealing with crosses and free kicks? That’s Almunia’s biggest problem.
CC…you are right. A huge part about goal keeping is mental strength. The ability to bounce back and keep your confidence after getting scored on is huge. Keeper is the position with the most pressure so you need to have a huge amount of confidence to not let that pressure get to you. You develope almost a fearless persona in goal. The biggest example of that is Petr Cech. Before the stphen hunt knee to the head, he was almost unbeatable, but since he has came back, he has become a pretty bad keeper. He lost that fearless alomost superhero like mentality that you can not be beat.
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Shane – I agree with most of what you say but this statement here……
‘The first step needed to be a goalkeeper is you must be a shot stopper. Which required the athletism and positioning parts. That rules out Fabianski who has isnt very athletic.’
……couldn’t be further from the truth mate. He is probably the best shot-stopper out of our four ‘keepers. Fantastic reflexes and athletism. Sometimes he’s a liability on decision-making which is why he isn’t the current number one although that may change soon as even the very loyal Wenger and his patience in Almunia must be wearing thin.
Frest – The kid is brilliant at everything. That’s the reason the majority of Arsenal fans who have now witnessed all four ‘keepers in between the sticks enough rate him as our best ‘keeper at THIS stage.
TJ… I’m sorry but you are way off on this one. Fabianski lets some of the weak shots go by him. Maloudas FA cup goal, the weak header by Torres in the 4-4 game, the 2nd goal when he looked like a chicken with his head cut off in the 4-4 game, the 3rd goal too was a weak shot right next to him by Torres. I fell like everytime the other team shoot, that it is going in. His diving range and reflexes are poor plus his judge is not very good either.
I also believe that we cant wait for Schezney to get to the age required to be a top qoalkeeper. We need to sign a goalkeeper because that is one thing that can hold us back regardless of how well we play. The Man City game in the prem league is the biggest example of that. They had shay given and we had Almunia. We out played and out shot them but they won. The other to are a true world class striker and a quality back up defender but thats for another discusion.
fabianski is technically good, but his mental weakness prevent him from full performance with his ability. he looks way too nervous especially when he made some mistake. he could be superbe at the beginning, then fall apart after making a mistake.
Sorry mate, i disagree fully with that. You’ve picked out one game last season when Liverpool were the complete opposite of what they’re like right now – completely flying with confidence. They’d recently spanked their biggest rivals at OT, 4-1, and handed out a pasting to Real Madrid. They were also swatting aside every team that dared step onto the same pitch as them. I remember going into that game last year and thinking, shit i may end up in tears after this one. :)
We got completely outplayed, had like 4 Arshavin shots on target in the whole game and let a win slip in the last minute of the game, yet i was pleased we didn’t lose because quite frankly, we didn’t deserve even a point from that game. I also happen to remember Fabianski making a few really good saves in that same match so with all due respect, your comment is a little futile.
For the Malouda goal, perhaps he could have got to it quicker but he was wrong-footed and didn’t expect Eboue to be so incompetent in that situation.
All i will say is whenever a team line up a direct free-kick in and around our box or take a shot from outside the box, i shit bricks because Almunia is, to put it nicely, crap, and Mannone is at about the same level. Fabianski, on the hand, i have no fears on that front with him. He’s got brilliant reflexes and command of his area. The only time he shits me up is when he has that occassional rush of blood and comes charging out of his box when he really shouldn’t. Poor decision-making at times but despite being 24 he’s still relatively young for a ‘keeper. Him and Szczesny are the two best ‘keepers we have and i expect them to battle it out for the number 1 slot in the near future.
This was very informative post, thanks!
TJ， no， I didn’t get that conclusion based on any single game, actually it’s made before that liverpool game. fabianski always looked nervous even in pre-season. IMO, he can’t take the high pressure in big club. he might be doing well for clubs under less pressure, but not at arsenal-level club.
You’re right. Almunia is better than Fabianski. Fabianski’s nervousness is not going to make him a good Gk. Remember the Spurs 1:5 loss. 0:4 loss also to Manu in the FA cup and so forth. He’s on the same level with Almunia and Manonne. Our only hope is Szczesny.
What, go on youtube a watch the goals that went in verse liverpool. Plus I didnt have all day to mention every example. We can agree to disagree but we will wait a couple years and then come back to this discussion.
What’s these man on about? I’m talking about shot-stopping and reflexes. They’re talking about mentality. Yes, we all agree he’s mentally quite weak. He’s still a better bet than Almunia and Mannone, all day every day.
with eepers its about confidence,bottle and nerves…its differcult to judge szcesny yet until hes played away at chelsea/united/spurs ect to really see what hes about
LOL thats one heated conversation :)
Wow, so many people commenting on soccer?