The opening day of the 2012 European
Championships has finished in Poland and whilst we get ready for
tomorrow's action in Ukraine with the thrilling Group B, there's one
player dominating the talking points, Arsenal and Poland's goalkeeper
Woijciech Szczesny who not only was at fault for ten-man Greece's
equaliser in the second half but was also sent off in the opening
game of the tournament. It begs the question whether he really is one
of the top keeper's in Europe as a few have suggested.
There's no doubt Szczesny is a
character, and a usually competent goalkeeper but his decision making
seems to be a little off and in big games he seems to make most of
his mistakes. In last year's Carling Cup Final he arguably had the
worst game of his short Arsenal career, heavily tipped to be the next
big thing (not just due to his enormous size), Szczesny could easily
have been dismissed for a foul on Lee Bowyer just minutes into the
game, an incorrect offside flag saved Szczesny, but he played a part
in the goal that lost Arsenal the cup when miscommunication between
him and centre-half Laurent Koscielny let Obafemi Martins in to win
it for Birmingham. He also could of been sent off again seconds from the end
when he came racing out of his goal and took out Martins but the
officials deemed it to be fair.
It's not the only time Szczesny has
made mistakes, late last season in a crucial game against Norwich,
Szczesny made several mistakes which led to Norwich gaining a
three-all draw which almost cost Arsenal UEFA Champions League
qualification. Szczesny also blamed himself for the 2-1 defeat
against Fulham in that season.
It seems in the big games Szczesny,
most likely due to his lack of experience gets nervous, in today's
opening game of his country's European Championships in Woijciech's
home-town of Warsaw he made an error which allowed Greece to equalise
and was later sent off. These mistakes don't brand Szczesny a
terrible goalkeeper, even though his save percentage is low, his
commanding of his area and ability to deal with crosses make him a
better candidate in goal than other Arsenal predecessors but the
mistakes in big games are causing him to gain critics. It could be
that Szczesny's tournament is over, his replacement Tyton had a much
more relaxed and better game, saving the penalty Szczesny gave away.
Tyton, who is three years Szczesny's senior plays for PSV in Holland.
Perhaps it is Szczesny's predecessors
that make Szczesny look even better than he is, he has made some
crucial saves, for example his amazing penalty save against Udinese in the UEFA Champions League Play-Off last season and his amazing double-save against Liverpool later on that season, but no Arsenal fans would have stood for the mistakes
he has made had they have come from players like Manuel Almunia,
Lukasz Fabianski or Vito Mannone and although he has time to improve
and he's getting his mistakes out early, but unfortunately in the
first team, Szczesny has made some pretty poor mistakes, especially
in big games. Had Szczesny been replacing David Seaman or even Jens
Lehmann, I think he may have been received the same way that players
like Almunia and Fabianski have, as he is replacing those players who
have had bad spells at the club (other than Fabianski's very good run
before injury the season before last) it is fair to say he may get an
easier ride than most as he does look more stable.å
There is time for him to improve, lets
not doubt he is a good young talent, but one of Europe's best he is
yet not.
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