Arsenal: Wojceich Szczesny Has Much More To Give

Arsenal may have signed Petr Cech and sent Wojciech Szczesny off to Italy on a year long loan, but do not for a second believe we have seen the last of the Pole.

Few at Arsenal will divide opinions more than Wojciech Szczesny. The Pole in goal burst onto the scene and claimed the first team role with his amazing reflexes and raw shot-stopping abilities. However, he was always vulnerable to serious mental lapses and his off-the-pitch antics often left Wenger a bit disenchanted.

Related Story: A Case For Tomas Rosicky

It all culminated on New Years, 2015. Southampton grossly exposed Arsenal (again) and Szczesny was made to look rather poor.

However, I have said this before and I will say it again. Szczesny was by no means the only guilty party and I have a hard time even labeling him the guiltiest party. Wenger needed to incite a change though, so he yanked Kieran Gibbs and Szczesny and never looked back.

I found it all a bit unfair. While Szczesny’s numbers had paled in comparison to his previous year when he shared the golden gloves with Joe Hart, he was the victim of some seriously shoddy defense. There are very few, if any, keepers out there who can consistently overcome poor defending. But Szczesny took the fall.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Then, Wenger went out and signed Petr Cech and loaned out Szczesny and it felt like the beginning of the end. Then again, everything that Szczesny lacked, Cech had: composure, decision making, maturity. Adding those three things to Szczesny’s game would make him world class. He already has the raw ability. It seemed like the perfect understudy scenario until he was loaned out.

Yet, now things seem to be making even more sense. The quickest way to get someone to wake up, grow up, and understand what may be slipping away from them is to sign a replacement and send them somewhere else. It’s like a final warning. That is what happened to our Polish keeper and his reaction has been nothing short of superb.

Szczesny’s loan spell has been very impressive. He has put in some stellar performances and while there have been some poor one’s to go along with, even Cech has had some poor performances. In terms of numbers, our loaned Pole has a better saves per goal clip (2.50) than Gianluigi Buffon (2.46). So there’s that.

Aside from his performance at Roma, he has also restated time and again his desire to return to Arsenal and make a difference. For someone that is often referred to as ‘immature’, that is a fantastic sign. He could have taken this move rather negatively and spat on Arsenal. But his love for the club grabbed hold of him.

Szczesny recently shorted out on the media about how they report non-stories and keep making U-turns about his future. The point is that his direction has always been the same: return to Arsenal. I, for one, need to readjust my stance. While I had always hoped for Szczesny’s return, I never actually saw it as a realistic possibility given the way he crashed out of the club. I assumed that he would return, get stuck behind Cech, and want to leave.

Arsenal Have Wojciech Szczesny’s Return To Look Forward To

By Josh Sippie | Feb 10, 2016

Arsenal may have signed Petr Cech and sent Wojciech Szczesny off to Italy on a year long loan, but do not for a second believe we have seen the last of the Pole.

More from Pain in the Arsenal