Friday, March 30, 2012

Sir Chesney

best. keeper. ever.

Wojciech is badass. Anyone who can break both arms and then come back in a couple of years to take the starting goalkeeper spot at a top club has to be. There were noises for some time about the maverick Pole and his abilities, but when he went on loan to Brentford in 2009 the noises were substantiated by a string of fine performances. At a time when there was a distinct anxiety in the Arsenal back four, fueled by a lack of confidence in our two first choice keepers and their inability/unwillingness to communicate and organize, here was an authoritative and cocksure 19 year old who had no problems shouting at his defense, and even less problems making spectacular saves.

His dad took a swing at Roberto Mancini. He’s a bit mental. He clearly enjoys defending penalty kicks. At Brentford in his second game he saved one. In his Premier League debut he faced Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford and put him off enough to sky the kick. Against Udinese this season in the Champions League qualifier he saved a crucial spot kick by Antonio Di Natale to protect our advantage and secure a position in the group stages. And most recently after a taste of divey Suarez, he just got up and made a double save on Dirk Kuyt at Anfield to set the tone for our defensive display, and maintain the momentum from the thumping derby triumph in the previous match.

Speaking of the scum, he also hates simians. Better than that he just loves Arsenal. Who can forget the Barca celebration? Or the way he sang with the away support at Wigan? You can overhear someone call him a legend in that Wigan clip, and you’ll get no argument from most Gooners, even though the kid will only be 22 next month and is still just in his first season as our number one.  Szczesny’s form in the first part of the season saw him produce a world class save just about every match, and has completely squashed the nagging calls for Wenger to dip into the transfer market for a world class keeper. We’ve already got one. His name is Sir Chesney.