Wenger’s bold statement

Speaking at his press conference for the Huddersfield game, Arsene Wenger made this statement about the goalkeeping situation:

“At the moment Wojciech is number one. He has done nothing wrong for me to take him out.”

It is as bold a statement as I have heard him make about our goalkeepers in a long, long time and all but confirms that — enormous loss of confidence or form aside — Szczesny will remain between the sticks for the rest of the season.

It also means he’s taken care of three out of five of this list.

You'd be happy if Wenger said that about you too

Just Kieran Gibbs to come in for Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri to replace Robin van Persie as our penalty-kick taker and it will be a clean sweep of predictions! He’s even doing it in order!

Thoughts?

Have your say on Wenger’s bold statement by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. I like this lad looks very imposing and he has a good technique.

    I hope he continues to improve game by game.

    I must say this about wenger though, he has balls, most managers wouldn’t do what he does, for sure.

    Sometimes it works and sometime it won’t.
    But i seriously hope this goalkeeping situation works.

    Goodluck on the game tomorrow guys, the question should not be if we win but by how much

    Pls don’t surprise me lads………………..

  2. I love clichy i think he ‘s a very good player..I dont think gibbs is better than him!!

  3. sorry mate 2/5. your role for song has not been taken up. the guy still roams forward and it’s now less obvious because other members of the midfield trio (as well as the forward 3) are pressing from the front. just so you can’t argue this point – goal against chelsea? assist for van persie’s 1st goal against wigan? both by song from forward positions!

  4. The phrase “at the moment” should be given lot more importance.. Fabianski’s injury also plays a bbig part in this.. Also, Chesney distribution and kicks aren’t upto mark yet.. It may take some more time to get them ready..

    So Fabianki is back, I think He’ll be back to No1 with Chesney his deputy..

  5. @ lari – I disagree re: Song. Since Fabregas’ return Song has concentrated far more on defence than attack and is choosing his moments to push forward more carefully. A matter of opinion though, thanks for the comment.

  6. @ IndianGooner – I disagree, sorry. The comment “He has done nothing wrong for me to take him out” suggests that he won’t be going anywhere even when Fabianski returns. But we’ll wait and see.

  7. 1) I don’t think Song’s role has been ‘simplified’. The fact is, Cesc, Jack & Song take care of defending as well as attacking duties in a dynamic manner (our midfield isn’t static in other words). May be for the Barca game the manager needs to clearly tell Song & Jack to sit deep & protect the back-four.
    2) At the moment Clichy is donig OK, thanks to the cover in front of him. As long as it is the case, he should stay ahead of Gibbo in the pecking order.

  8. No. 1 for the moment yes… but not many weeks ago he said that Fabianski was ” his clear no. 1 ”
    It is not Wenger way to suddenly go back on his words just because a small injury…
    It is certainly tight for space in goal now, so should be exciting to see who gets to stay when all keepers are fit!

  9. @ Poppen – He’s not going back on his word, things have changed. Szczesny hadn’t even broken into the team at that point, now he’s doing well.

  10. With Fabianski out injured, it’s not possible to conclude that Wojciech is our long term #1. At least that’s what I can understand from the manager’s comment.
    But Wojciech gives more confidence than the othet two. The guy is so assured & an imposing figure.

  11. I love the Woj, although his kicking/clearing under pressure is still in need of a good amount of work.

  12. Well he still havent “broken” into the team.. He started to play because of injury, and just prior to fabianski’s injury he said he was the _clear_ no. 1… So i think it is abit early to say he means for sure Szczesny has taken his spot…

    but dont misunderstand me totally here… I do think Szczesny actually is the better option even tho he is not clearly not perfect either, but he is so young and already shines confidence to the whole defence…. and he will only get better!
    Just being abit sceptical.. 😛

  13. @ MTY – You’re dead right about Clichy. I considered making that point, but thought the post would lose a little bit of punch. He’s doing really well, I was just being stubborn!

  14. What M. Wenger’s “bold statement” confirms is that he really does not appreciate the immense value that an experienced, world-class ‘keeper can add to a team. Far from having solved the goalkeeping problem, M. Wenger continues to ignore it. It is not easy to find specific fault with Wenger’s managing of the team, but he has always hd a blind spot when it comes to ‘keepers.

  15. i prefer gibbs to clichy because he attacks. clichy has the pace to go past most players, but simply doesn’t do it. he always stops, checks back and plays the square ball. this man needs to get the confidence to takes people on. until then, gibbs is preferred at lb

  16. Just imagining…after many years into the future, I’m off to watch an Arsenal match at Emirates. The players are about to walk out of the tunnel. The Manager is following the team, you know saving the best appearance til last..and out pops AW. Which one you say? ANDREW WEBER! You carry his intials, You have great observational skills and you know your football. Arsenal and their fans love you already Mr. Weber. =D

  17. i allways smile when l se woj. on goal hes our future no.1
    and gael is our best LB, gibbs is great but he needs more exp.
    lets go and win this 2 games and hope we dont get any new injuries

  18. Great…..Another player with a name I can not pronounce. I will just call him ZZ Top…..you all are all Arsenal supporters….ie….smart people….so figure out why!

  19. Changing the pen taker? Are you mad? So Van Persie missed one! So what? He is the best pen taker we have, and one of the best in the world.
    Don’t think Gibbs is better than Clichy at the moment, in the future? Maybe! But not yet. But good to have both of them pushing each other.
    I still think Fabi is a slighty better keeper than Szczy at the moment, also he has waited a long time for his chance. Good to have the 2 poles fighting each other for the No.1 shirt. I think Aluminium had his chance. He had 1 amazing season then dived back down again. Can see he ever reach that height again, at least not with us!

  20. Good job by Arsene for trying to give Wozzy confidence early on in his career.

    Wozzy is still far behind Fabianski in reaction time and ball distribution. The improvement to our defence in the second half of the season should be credited to Djorou and Sagna.

    I feel Wozzy’s greatest trait is he has the confidence of a Bendtner, I like that, it means he would not crumble or be disheartened easily when he starts making mistakes should the Arsenal crowd turn on him when his form drops.

    If only I can mash both Fab and him together, then we would have the ultimate machine of a keeper.

  21. @ Shagx – That was actually my opinion before van Persie missed his kick. Just my opinion though, no need to call me mad. Nasri’s bloody good at them too, if you haven’t noticed.

  22. Here is a rare moment this season, I find myself appluading a statement by Arsene! Szczesny is the best of our current keepers, he is bold, aggressive and commanding in the penalty area, all which Fabianski isn’t. It was about time Arsene saw through the lack of talent that is Almunia and Fabianski.

  23. If I may take the liberty of diverging from the topic in hand, the following is a link to an interesting little piece – Peter Hill-Wood talking about the way Arsenal spend (or don’t spend).

    http://www.premiershiptalk.com/2011/01/28/gunners-chairman-reveals-buying-strategy/

    I am personally very disappointed that Arsene hasn’t bought us that defender we all want, after going as close as he ever does to promising to do so. In fact it turns out that was just bullshit and I suppose, in reality, he never actually intended buying a defender at all. The piece I linked to above though does help to explain the philosophy behind the decision, however flawed that decision may turn out to be.

    What we as supporters have to do now then is keep our fingers, legs, eyes and everything else crossed and get behind what we have in defence because what we have is it. There ain’t going to be no improvements. Do we have the best defence in the league? No. Should we be worried? Well, apparently not, according to the Prof. Apparently our defence is going to magically become superb. O maybe we don’t even need a defence? I dunno? I can’t help feeling Arsene is now thinking he can use winning the Carling Cup to stave off criticism of losing everything else. But we still have to win the Carling. With 6 foot 7 and a half inch Zigic attacking our defenders. Oish…

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