Fabianski Bounces Back. For Good?

April 23rd, 2009 | By: tomasz | 7 Comments »

Lukasz Fabianski’s career at Arsenal resembles a rollercoaster ride. After a horrible game against Chelsea came a very decent one against Liverpool. He wasn’t criticized by the English press, which simply means that he’s not to blame for any of the goals. Fabianski’s last game as Gunners’ nr 1 will probably be the one against Boro at the weekend. What will come after that?

Lukasz had an ok game against Liverpool, but I wouldn’t hail him as one of the heroes of the evening. He had a lot of good saves in the first half and a one of an extraordinary status. He was much more confident when coming out for crosses and he didn’t leave the goal line without reason. So far so good. Why do I feel then that even such performances are not enough to surpass Almunia? I think the third goal for Liverpool is the best metaphor for Fabik’s current performances. Of course, it was a very difficult shot and Fabianski is not to blame for letting it in. However, he had it on his hand and was very close to saving it. If he had done it this save would have been heralded as an extraordinary one, a one worthy of an Arsenal’s first choice keeper. Such save would put him on the list of world class keepers. The fact is that Fabianski needed excellent performances to threaten Almunia’s position. Though he proved to be a good backup keeper, he didn’t prove to be a better one than the Spaniard. Fabian will still be behind Almunia in the pecking order when the summer training camps start. It seems highly unlikely at the moment that Wenger will resign from Almunia next season. I think that another season on the bench would be detrimental for Fabian. He needs to play regularly as soon as possible, it is because of his inexperience that the mistakes against Chelsea happened. I would like to see Fabian loaned out to another top division club provided he fails to become the first choice keeper at Arsenal. I don’t want him to repeat Tomasz Kuszczak’s mistake and remain at a big club only for the sake of it. After all, the number of Polish keepers on Arsenal’s bench would stay the same with Wojciech Szczesny quickly developing to become another fine product of our goalkeeping school.

Fabianski Vs. Liverpool

Tags: Almunia, Arsenal, Fabianski, Group A, Poland, Wenger

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Comments

By Mike Litoris | April 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 am

I think that Fabianski needs to play regularly to maintain some kind of rhythm and consistency. The more a keeper plays the more chances he gets to show what he can do to solidify his spot as the number one. He also establishes a level of trust with his teammates, especially the back line, that is necessary to win Championships. There is no question that Fabianski is a world class keeper. However, if a keeper does not play regularly then even simple mistakes are magnified and usually carry over to his next start whenever that could be. If a keeper has a bad game and then has to sit a couple months on the bench, all he does is question himself. But if the following week he is up against a Liverpool or a Chelsea, he has no time to reflect on one bad outing. He moves on and is better for it. Petr Cech is the perfect example and that is why he is one of the best.

By drewsky | April 24th, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Speakin of Peter Cech,to me he showed a lot of class after the Chelsea victory over Arsenal when he had some encouraging words for the young keeper on the field ,it’s also nice to hear Leo showing support for big Artur still.The rumour mill is hot and heavy for Boruc to go to Bayern this summer,that would be interesting.Poland certainly is very rich in the goaltending department.If and when they ever developed some solid defensive backs is when you will see the White Eagle rise again.

Go Polska

Posted from United States

By paradowski | April 25th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

Too bad Everton’s Phil Jagielka stayed with England; could have been a nice left back for the biało-czerwoni. Now he’s out for the FA cup and rest of season with a knee injury.

The infamous Howard Webb delivered a PK for ManUtd and helped fuel a ManUtd comeback.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=244387&cc=5901.
The GameCast is a good read from 56′ to 63′:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/gamecast?id=244387&cc=5901&league=ENG.1

Posted from United States

By MarcinO | April 25th, 2009 at 11:40 pm

I bet we won’t hear anything negative about Webb from the English press. Quelle Surprise!

Wasilewski and Janczyk scored in Belgium today.

By chester | April 26th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

Our 4 main strikers scored this weekend. Brozek and Jelen scored twice. Lewy and Janczyk singles. Now Beenhakker is gonna have a hard time deciding to who to play as striker if they all keep it up. First time i can remember that nt had so much quality strikers to choice from.

By Witold | April 26th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

For now, Jelen is the number 1, he plays very well in a league that is a level above the Belgian and the Polish one.

By Wejher | April 27th, 2009 at 10:43 am

Completely agree with Witold – Jelen is on fire. Plus his pace would scare any defender, He could afford to drop deep and have someone like roger or Kuba splitting the defence with a few passes through the middle behind the defenders and he’d be able to latch onto them. For me he’s our star striker at the moment.

Posted from Poland