Wojciech Szczęsny - thoughts

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Yesterday his performance was a let down because i am one of the guy's biggest defenders, i genuinely think he is a very good keeper and actually sometimes his solidity between the sticks is overlooked however his performance yesterday gives weight and not unfairly so to many of his detractors on here.

What was he thinking coming off his line like that yesterday, it was exactly the kind of thing that made me despise Jens Lehmann at times....though to be fair on Szczesny he doesn't seem to have the same issues with personal space that Jens used to exhibit (i.e punching anyone that would look to challenge him when he went to claim a cross).

I think being dropped last season was good for him and although his critics won't acknowledge it he didn't put a foot wrong when he returned and in fact made some excellent saves....but again to repeat incidents like yesterday don't do him any favors at all (but when your deputy is Fabianski i suppose you don't really feel under pressure for your place)

I still think he very much has a future at Arsenal and being only 23 and a goalkeeper he has time on his side, i think there is potentially a ego problem that needs addressing and it would maybe do him no harm long term if we signed an experienced goalkeeper and benched him.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I also think a goalkeeper is only as good as the back four in front of them especially at Arsenal.

Lehmann was between the posts during the unbeaten season and really the fact that we didn't suffer defeat in the league for his first season with us was down more to the back four he had in front of him....this isn't a criticism he made some excellent saves at time and had excellent experience but you had to question his temperament at times.

[Munchies]

Yakubu at the end in the last away game of the season, he made the fat Yak shit his pants and miss the one on one

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Yakubu at the end in the last away game of the season, he made the fat Yak shit his pants and miss the one on one

Let's be fair if your a black player and in front of you is a mean looking German man who let's be honest with ourselves had he lived seventy years ago would have almost certainly been a willing participant in the mass extermination of quote inferior races unquote i think it's quite an understandable reaction.

[Cripps_orig]

Apparently Szczesny is seen as the Aaron Ramsey of keepers

[Niall_Quinn]

I also think a goalkeeper is only as good as the back four in front of them especially at Arsenal.

Lehmann was between the posts during the unbeaten season and really the fact that we didn't suffer defeat in the league for his first season with us was down more to the back four he had in front of him....this isn't a criticism he made some excellent saves at time and had excellent experience but you had to question his temperament at times.

True enough. Our back 4 threw him under a steamroller yesterday. This is what comes of having a statue at the back with three other defenders having to charge around as cover. Everyone can see Merts is no good for this league. No point getting a better keeper in if we're sticking with the four in front.

[Munchies]

Let's be fair if your a black player and in front of you is a mean looking German man who let's be honest with ourselves had he lived seventy years ago would have almost certainly been a willing participant in the mass extermination of quote inferior races unquote i think it's quite an understandable reaction.

[Seaman's Ponytail]

The thing is, goalkeepers are very different from outfield players. Goalkeepers get better from experience and generally peak in their form between age 28-30. Ches is 23, we've already stuck with him for 4 years, personally i think we'd be crazy to dispense with him now. I genuinely think by the time he hits 28 he'll be up there with the very best in the world. What he needs now (and has needed for the past few seasons) is an older experienced keeper to work with, guide him and push him to be better than he is currently showing. Whether the keeper to do that is Ceasar or not is debatable but he probably fits the criteria of what we need. Ches will undoubtedly cost us some points at some point this year (what keeper doesn't) but i'd be confident he'll be responsible for winning us some games we would have otherwise drawn/lost also

[Munchies]

^ Yeah, his save against Wigan last season at the Emirates when it was 1-1 from Kone was massive. He's a good keeper, but having a injury prone keeper like Fabianski to challenge him won't enable him to focus on his performances. Most of his mistakes are down to lapses in concentration rather than actual goalkeeping errors, he just switches off at vital moments in the game.

Begovic/Cesar, and it's laughable that we only have Chesney/Fabianski right now. I read the reason why Cesar isn't signed, is that QPR want £2m (fair enough), but Wenger doesn't want to pay Cesar 80 grand a week.

[Özim]

Been very disappointing for a while now, regularly makes errors some of which cause goals, must admit I'm not convinced he's that good his decision making is poor at times and play very erratic. Keepers should be solid first and foremost, he's confident to the point he maybe a little arrogant now.