Pain in the Arsenal
Fansided

Arsenal’s Injury Plague Has Followed Wojciech Szczesny To Roma

By Josh Sippie

facebooktwitterreddit

The point of sending someone out on loan is to get them first team experience that they would not have gotten had they stayed with the team. Arsenal loaned out Wojciech Szczesny so that he could get that experience. With the arrival of Petr Cech and the presence of David Ospina, the Pole would not have found any playing time.

Slated to spend the year at Roma, Szczesny was off to a phenomenal start. Many will recall his double save against Verona and wonder when that form was going to reemerge for Arsenal. If you don’t remember that double save, have a peep:

That is the Sczcesny that shared the golden gloves for Arsenal with Joe Hart 2 seasons ago.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Wojciech Szczesny has always had tremendous reflexes and shot stopping ability. He even had the communication part mostly down. It was just his decision making that often times left people scratching their heads. By sending him to Roma, he was supposed to improve on that lapse in his game. That way when he returned to Arsenal, where his heart and future are, he would be ready to challenge Petr Cech, learn from him and benefit from his tutelage.

But now Szczesny is out 4-6 weeks with a finger injury. In the Champion’s League clash against Barcelona, Szczesny, along with Roma in general, put up an outstanding fight. However, in a clash with the chomptastic Luis Suarez, the Pole injured his finger. Tests revealed no fracture, but it is still a bothersome injury.

Chalk it up as another one for the injury plague that Robin van Persie brought to the club. For the past decade, Arsenal have been dealing with injuries out of the wazoo. Or maybe they have just been dealing with too many injury prone people.

Szczesny, as a goalie, was never exposed to too many injuries at Arsenal. Which is why it is somewhat surprising to see it happening now, but no one is immune.

More from Arsenal News

As mentioned, Szczesny had been doing very well for Roma and they will miss his presence. The Pole has 4 saves per goal allowed this year. That is leaps and bounds above his 1.4 from last year. It is also higher than what David Ospina managed to produce all of last year. In fact, it is even higher than Petr Cech’s 3.75. While we are at it, it is also superior to Gianluigi Buffon, Claudio Bravo and Manuel Neuer. The only keeper in the 5 major leagues of football with a saves-per-goal higher than Wojciech Szczesny was Joe Hart at 4.50.

Szczesny has shown a lot of promise since joining Roma. He had intended to compete for his spot at Arsenal, but instead he has to impress from the continent. Hopefully he can return from this injury and continue right where he left off. Given his continued interactions with Arsenal, it is pretty clear where his heart lies.

Next: Alex Iwobi's Nigerian Call Up Is Huge

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Home/Arsenal News