Szczesny rising

Along with the push for a new striker this past summer, speculation was rife that arsenal were in the market for a more senior goal keeper to apply pressure on Wojciech Szczesny. The most common name was Arsenal were linked with was Julio Cesar. In the end they signed Emilano Viviano. But even though he isn’t the more senior type some thought Arsenal would, the improvement and maturity of Szczesny has been evident to many.

When I look back on Szczesny’s short time at Arsenal, I see a lot promise backed by a lot of arrogance and lack of focus. My biggest complaint about the Polish keeper was that he seemed more known for his promise and twitter antics – then anything he actually did on the pitch.

Szczesny broke into the first team against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Not the easiest of places to start for any player especially one who had not played in the senior team for any regularity.  But that night the promise of Szczesny was on full display as he spent  the night denying the United onslaught with heroic saves on a few occasions.

However he never really “established” himself and through all the promise, it was a catalog of errors and gaffes that he became known for. While many will point to the Carling Cup Final calamity, there are other more glaring issues, like the loan goal he allowed in the 6-1 trouncing of Southampton.

Coming out for the ball to punt it away he dropped the ball under no pressure and Southampton were able to put it in the net. Nothing lost in terms of the match but still a problem nonetheless.

But it was a pattern of misjudgments that would later cost Arsenal, like how he gifted a goal to Blackburn in the FA Cup when he knocked the ball backwards where it was easily slotted home.

The problem is, that at the time of this growing catalog of errors, there was no one suitable on the bench to replace him.  Lukas Fabianski and Vito Mannone were more gaffe prone and Emi Martinez wasn’t ready for prime time.

But why so many gaffes? Why did he seem to be not building on the early promise of that first night at Old Tafford. There were a few reasons of course, the first in my opinion was his putting his youthful and indifferent approach  to all things. And while we all found his anti-Tottenham rants especially pleasing, letting us feel he was one of us rather than just a player, it really was what he was becoming known for rather than his performances.

Additionally, his whole manner and approach to games (mechanics) seemed off.  Many of Arsenal’s keepers have had issues. For the most part it has been their “uncontrolled” approach to going after balls. Szczesny’s biggest problems  however, have been his poor handling and positioning. The goals he allowed were either for an inability to properly handle the ball – a key trait for all good keepers – and his inability to read plays correctly thus putting him in the wrong position at times. His poor positioning often leading to goals because he is unable to suitably adjust to a ball, leaving the net sometimes wide open.

After the Tottenham loss last season, Szczesny along with Thomas Vermaelen were the players forced to pay for the poor, poor defensive effort that led to the Spurs win – especially given that they happened so quick and Arsenal had pretty much dominated our North London rivals.

However, Szczesny would come back eventually and the time away seemed to do him some good.

Szczesny still has his “he’s one of us moments” (playing the Shite Hart Lane chant on the piano after beating Spurs 1-0 early season) but they are no longer the focal point of him as a player and as an Arsenal personality.

As Arsenal have rose to the top of the Premier League, part of that has been stellar play by Szczesny. His overall decision making is much approved and his positioning has led to him making some key big saves.  He is staying home and waiting for play to develop before he commits  and playing the ball so much better. He is handling the ball much better and there doesn’t seem to be the urge for me to bite nails any more when a ball comes into the box as he has managed to improve his collection of the ball from crosses or set pieces.  To see his overall improvement you only need to look at the the quick double save against Fulham, or stopping Defoe’s shot in the last five minutes versus Tottenham or more recently, the beautiful save against Jedinak vs Crystal Palace, when Arsenal were down to 10 men.

Watching him versus Liverpool he exuded confidence and commanded his box resolutely. Arsenal were playing a very high line on set pieces in and around the 18 (always a point of contention for Arsenal) but it’s clear from watching Szczesny that this is what he wanted so he could command the box.  And he did. One particular moment that was inconsequential was his foot save on an offside shot.  It was well played both from a mechanics and understanding of the situation view point.

Gone seem to be the poor kicks. His distribution is improving as he placed some might long balls out wide on a throw to create opportunities against the scousers.

So far this season, Szczesny has shown a vast improvement. Much of it is likely down to maturity. He seems to have accepted that he needs to be known for football bravado not twitter antics. And when you look at him against some of  peer set, its footballing reasons that he is being lauded for.

So far this season when you look at Szczesny compared to the other keepers at the top of the league, he belongs in the discussion as one of the top keepers in the league (right now.) He has faced more shots except for Mignolet (who has only 3 defenders in front of him most games) and next to Mignolet he has the most saves. His claims and punches numbers are impressive as it does seem at times that teams are trying to see if Arsenal have improved in handling crosses. With a more assured keeper in the box – they have. Finally after 10 games he has 3 clean sheets, which is on par for his peer set. Only Hugo Lloris has more (too bad the team in front of him can’t score unless its from a dodgy PK.)

The facts are that Wojciech Szczesny looks to have massively improved. But let’s remember he is still young. Keepers don’t reach their most effective until they are much older, unlike the players in front of them. If he can continue to build up upon this impressive start then the trajectory for him only upwards.

Word is that Szczesny has been offered a new 4 year deal. It goes a long way to pay him for his improved commitment and the promise of his older years. Sure, at some point we’ll all be discussing a szczesny clanger, he’s young, what’s important is that the clangers are rare rather than normal as they seemed previously. Then, we can be sure that we truly have the number 1 we’ve been dying for since Mad Jens left us.

What do you think about Szczesny? Have Arsenal got their number 1 for the long-term? Are you convinced by his performances? What about the word on his new deal?