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Squad Watch: Week 6. Has Lukasz Fabianski Blown His Chances?

April 20th, 2009 | By: tomasz | 8 Comments »

It could have been a great Saturday for Lukasz Fabianski; it was his 24th birthday and he was given a chance to compete against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi final on the legendary Wembley stadium. The stage was set for Fabian to come out of Manuel Almunia’s shadow. If only he made a name for himself in a positive fashion…

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Aberdeen
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- 90 minutes against Chelsea in FA Cup semi final
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- Greek league didn’t play
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Everton in FA Cup semi final
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Lechia Gdansk, note 7
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against Kilmarmock

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and a goal against LKS Lodz, note 7
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Sochaux
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- 90 minutes against Worskla
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- 90 minutes against Gaz Metan
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- not in the squad against Treviso
Marcin Komorowski (Legia Warsaw)- not in the squad against Piast, injury
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- on the bench against Rubin
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Polonia B., note 6
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- not in the squad against Slask, injury
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes against Westerlo
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Panathinaikos)- Greek league didn’t play
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- not in the squad against LKS Lodz, injury
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- Greek league didn’t play

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 77 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 5
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)-86 minutes against Arka, note 6
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 70 minutes against Bochum
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and an assist against Piast, note 5
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Lechia Gdansk, note 7
Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)- not in the squad against HSV, injury
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- 76 minutes against Metalurg D.
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 14 minutes against Arka
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 65 minutes against Lechia Gdansk, note 4
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 22 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 5
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 58 minutes against Tur, note 4
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)-90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 6
Bartosz Salamon (Brescia)- on the bench against Vicenza
Lukasz Tralka (Polonia Warsaw)- 45 minutes against Lechia Gdansk, note 4
Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 4

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 26 minutes against Arka, note 5
Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren)- 75 minutes against Germinal
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- not in the squad against Twente
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 81 minutes against Sochaux
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 4
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- 33 minutes against Werder
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- 45 minutes against Birmingham
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- 27 minutes against Sheffield Wednesday
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- on the bench against Portsmouth
Lukasz Sosin (Anorthosis Famagusta)-Cypriot league didn’t play
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against Bayern
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 8 minutes against Polonia B.
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- Greek league didn’t play

Summary: As Arsenal’s nr 1 Lukasz Fabianski had two good games against Villareal in the Champions League and a moderate one against Wigan in the Premiership. The semi final against Chelsea was to be the biggest game for him, the one in which he would prove his worth to the fans around the British Isles (Polish fans are aware of his value). I anticipated the game with positive feelings; after almost two years on Arsenal’s bench Fabian was finally given a stage to shine on. This was it, this was the moment where he should show that his claims for the starting spot are fully substantiated, a statement game. In the interviews before the match he said how happy he is about playing on Wembley and that he invited his family to watch him live. Did Fabian put too much pressure on himself? It looked like it from the opening minutes of the game. Shaky from the start, he misjudged Chelsea’s long ball, rushed forward and had to be saved by Gibbs who cleared the ball from the line. What’s wrong with you Lukasz? Where is the confident guy I saw in the national team games? Then it went from bad to worse; Fabian allowed a savable Malouda shot at near post and once again made a wrong decision to come out of the box only to be rounded by Drogba. He lacked confidence throughout the whole ninety minutes and was terrible at decision making. I felt that he just wanted this game to be his too much. He was trying to find an opportunity to help the team even where there wasn’t a one, hence his rushing out. After the first bad intervention he wanted to make up for it, which resulted in irresponsible decisions throughout the rest of the game. As expected, Fabianski was criticized heavily by the English media after the game. Now he’ll have to live and play with that semi final burden in the next matches. Is he strong enough mentally? Will Wenger want to keep the Polish keeper? I find Fabianski the most talented Polish goalie at the moment and I believe that he’s got the abilities to be Arsenal’s number one. Arsene Wenger also proved on a lot of occasions that he shares this view. This is a difficult time for Fabian, but as long as he won’t read the papers and think about the game too much everything should be fine. He must still believe in his chance. Of course, he’s now further from gaining the starting spot that he was on Saturday morning. Still, all keepers make mistakes and there had to come time when Lukasz made very serious ones. I believe that Arsene Wenger understands this ever applicable rule of goalkeeping.

Where are the last years’ Polish Ekstraklasa talents? Remember Radoslaw Majewski, Tomasz Zahorski and Szymon Pawlowski? They are not having what you would call the best of seasons this term. Majewski’s downfall is especially a letdown. After seeing him play in the Polish U-21 team against England last year I thought he would be our starting playmaker in a year’s time. Then came exclusion from the Euro squad, drinking in Ukraine and injury problems. Majewski still manages to hold a regular place at Polonia, but he fails to rise above an average Ektraklasa level. He should be the difference making player at Polonia (good vision and technique), but I can’t remember a single game where he lead the Black Shirts to victory. Majewski stopped receiving call ups from Leo recently, he was called by our national coach “a dog that barks a lot, but can’t bite”. This season may as well be already lost for Maja, maybe a change of club would do him good. Unfortunately, in this form no foreign club will get interested and it’s very unlikely that Polonia will sell him to another Polish club. Sounds like a wasted talent in the making (please Maja, prove me wrong). Tomasz Zahorski also had a great last season, he was so good that he even received a call up for Euro 2012. Leo thought that he is the tall striker he was looking for. Did you have a look at Zahor’s 2008/09 stats? One single goal throughout the whole season. Gornik Zabrze is fighting against relegation, but Zahorski is in such a poor shape that Henryk Kasperczak keeps him on the bench. Leo also lost faith in the player and only calls him up for meaningless friendlies. I never considered Zahorski as big a talent as Majewski, but I hoped he’d become a useful player for the Bialo Czerwoni (something like Marcin Zewlakow in the past or Sagan now). In all probability, it won’t happen. Szymon Pawlowski made a horrible decision to stay at 2nd division Zaglebie Lubin for 2008/09 season. I had a chance to watch him live a week ago when I visited Lubin (great new stadium) and was unpleasantly surprised with what I saw. Pawlowski played as a right winger and was provided with numerous chances to run at defenders. However, there wasn’t a single successful dribble or cross from him. He lacked good positioning and tactical awareness, things that he certainly won’t learn in the Second Division. And it wasn’t just a single poor game, he receives very average notes from newspapers in 2009. If Zaglebie fails to win promotion, Pawlowski just has to leave Lubin and move to an Ekstraklasa club. During the year in the 2nd div Slawomir Peszko and Patryk Malecki certainly surpassed him in terms of progress.

To end in a positive way, Pawel Brozek returned from injury this weekend. He’s still far from his best, but the recovery he made is exceptional (some thought he wouldn’t play for six months). Lukasz Piszczek returned to Hertha’s squad last week and is slowly regaining his strong position at the club. Mariusz Lewandowski advanced to the Uefa Cup semi final and has at least fifty percent chances of playing in the final as Shakhtar meets arch rivals Dinamo Kiev.

Sorry for the two weeks’ absence, but I went away for Easter and, at the same time, I’m putting finishing touches to my MA paper, which, needless to say, is eating most of my time nowadays. I hope to be more regular in the next weeks.

Highlights: A bad birthday for Lukasz Fabianski

Bartosz Bosacki saves a point for Lech

Tags: Arsenal, Brozek, Chelsea, Fabianski, Group A, Lewandowski, Majewski, Pawlowski, Piszczek, Poland, Squad Watch, Wenger, Zahorski

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Comments

By gregorio | April 21st, 2009 at 4:36 am

fabiański shitted himself again and it seems unlikely he’ll ever grow balls big enough for competing on the top level. true that all goalkeepers make mistakes but fabian blew a big game before even estabilishing himself as number 1 in his club, which certainly won’t help. wenger is rather patienet with his youths and sometimes has his favourites despite their not-top form, but will it be the case with fabiańsk? i don’t think so.

personally, i don’t think fabiański is the keeper we are looking for the NT in the long run, either. he’s just not confident enough when it comes to big challenges. but i guess it’s ok if he plays through the qualifiers to WC 2010, he’s still quite good. i don’t believe so much in kuszczak either, it’s more likely boruc gets over his problems and comes back in good shape.
but i think we just have to wait until young szczęsny grows a bit older.

Posted from Poland

By zaraza | April 21st, 2009 at 6:16 am

It was an awful performance by Fabianski but can you really blame him? Young keepers need experience and he’s gotten very little during the last two years. Like Manchester United’s Foster, Fabianski should have spent a season or two on loan.

Arsenal fans say Szczesny looked extremely impressive in a recent reserve outing against Tottenham.

Posted from Canada

By zaraza | April 21st, 2009 at 6:32 am

Michel Platini hinted that most Euro 2012 matches may go to Poland, instead of an equal division with Ukraine. Ukraine is already accusing Poland of lack of solidarity… I personally would prefer for the original plan to go ahead, with an equal split, but the fact remains that the hotel situation in Ukraine is looking dire, especially in eastern Ukraine (Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, and Kharkiv). Kiev, Odessa, and Lviv will probably get hosting duties since they’re already tourist destinations and probably only need to build a few more hotels.

As for Poland, the media is suggesting that Warsaw, Gdansk, and Krakow are locks. It’s unclear who’ll get the last spot. It’s also possible that a fifth Polish city may be chosen, if Ukraine doesn’t make progress with regards to hotels.

UEFA will announce their decision on May 13.

Posted from Canada

By Wejher | April 21st, 2009 at 12:17 pm

I dont know what all the fuss is about really, as Polish fans we all know fabianski is much better than that but like so many are pointing out he is without regular match practice for the past 2 years, Take a look at Walcott when Wenger started to play him in the league everyone was moaning about him but now look, with a bit of match practice he is turning out to be the player who wenger believed in and the same will happen with fabianski, the problem is with goalkeepers if they make a single mistake they get punished but is everyone forgetting his double save against wigan earlier in the season? Besides that the worst bit of goalkeeping i think came from Cech, that was a far easier goal than the ones Fabianski conceded.

Posted from Greece

By Nick | April 21st, 2009 at 5:37 pm

Fabianski had an amazing game today. Personally I think he is good once every two games (sort of like Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde). The 4 goals were not really his fault, and all-around he looked quite confident and had an amazing save to deny Torres more than once. Very Jens Lehman-like. Maybe “Mad Fabs” will be the next “Mad Jens”?

Posted from United States

By paradowski | April 21st, 2009 at 8:09 pm

^ Wejher, I agree, in Chelsea v Arsenal highlights anyway, the goal against Cech was the worst goalkeeping. Even if he had gotten a hand on the ball, he likely would have offered it in front.

^ Nick: Great to hear about Fabianski v Liverpool. The espn gamecast notekeeper wrote like an Englishman and was neutral or somewhat favorably in comments about Fabianski, so I thought he must have had a better game then that, or for the 4 goals against.

Posted from United States

By Witold | April 21st, 2009 at 8:18 pm

Good news, The BBC give some good comments on the Fabianski performance:

Arsenal keeper Fabianski had been heavily-criticised for his display in the FA Cup semi-final defeat against Chelsea at Wembley – but he produced an inspired first 45 minutes to keep Liverpool at bay.

Torres was an early victim of his heroics as the keeper first blocked a powerful drive and then saved superbly from a rising angled drive as Liverpool pressed for an early advantage.

By Alek | April 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 am

Ya, I watched the game and Fabianski had a hell of a game. He didnt deserve to let in 4 goals. They all would have been incredibly tough to save except for me maybe he should have done better for Benayoun’s first goal. But the goals were really a result of horrible defending on Arsenals part. Silvestre kept doing random things that would create a situation for Liverpool, and he didnt seem to want to communicate with Fabianski at all, he would keep balls instead of back passing or give players too much space. So good game for Fabianski, didnt deserve to let in 4.

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