The Soccer Blog: Pole to Pole: Szczesny to Start against Manchester United?

Sunday, 12 December 2010

Pole to Pole: Szczesny to Start against Manchester United?

By: Martin | December 12th, 2010

That’s the unconfirmed rumor.

And I do stress that this is an unconfirmed rumor. The club has not said anything official about this. Here’s the evidence we have.

The Sun’s Charlie Wyett has reported that Flaps picked up a “leg” injury in training, and that, given Almunia’s “arm” injury (apparently we have caveman doctors, unable to pinpoint any injury beyond merely identifying the offending appendage), that puts Szczesny in line for a shock start. It would be his first Premiership start, and talk about being thrown into the fire — Manchester United at Old Trafford for his first start. Now, the Sun is hardly the most reliable source, and given the vagueness of the report, it deserves to be taken with a softball-sized grain of salt. (UPDATE: Young Guns Blog seems to back this story, saying that Fabianski has a groin problem and is unlikely to pass a late fitness test for the match tomorrow.)

Normally, I would just discount it entirely. But in what could either be coincidence or a sly bit of foreshadowing, Szczesny himself has perhaps hinted that he will be starting. In response to a tweet to him along the lines of “I can’t wait until you are our # 1,” Szczesny responded that “I am more then prepared for Rooney tomorrow… ” Could just be a jokey bit of camraderie with a fan, or could be a hint that he is, in fact, our # 1 for the moment, and he is ready for it. I will say that seems uncharacteristic as far as I can recall, for him to say something like that in a game he isn’t going to start. And his English is very good (particularly when Jack Wilshere steals his phone and tweets things like “i am so gay and@Jack_wilshere is the best footballer at arsenal” and, the very next day, simply, “im still gay”)

But I still say the chances are that Flaps is our starter tomorrow. The fact that this hasn’t been confirmed by other journalists, with perhaps a bit more credibility, smacks of b.s., and it’s not that hard to explain Szczesny as a bit of blustery fun interacting with a fan. But if it is true? Honestly, I’m not sure it’s that big of a deal. At the very least, I think we can say that Szczesny will not shrink from the moment. He may not be perfect, but he certainly does not lack for confidence, and to put it simply, he thinks he deserves to be #1, and he absolutely believes he’s capable of shutting down Manchester United. There’s probably nowhere on the pitch where confidence matters as much as it does at goalkeeper (for example, look at Fabianski when he’s been low on confidence vs. how he plays when he’s confident, it’s like night and day). He’s physically talented, hasn’t allowed a single goal while playing for Arsenal’s first team, and thinks he can do the job. I’m not saying I wouldn’t feel better with Flaps out there (never thought I’d be saying that 9 months ago…), but Wojo can do the job. If he has to. Plus, look at how hot his girlfriend is — a guy who looks like Wojo that has that kind of game isn’t going to be nervous about anything. We’ll see whether there is any truth to this rumor — again, my gut feeling is no, but I suppose it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

I’ll be at work during the match itself, with my stomach no doubt twisted up in knots until I can throw off the shackles of my oppressors and get home to watch the match, so, as usual with weekday matches, Sairax will be your spirit guide for the match itself.

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Category: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Manchester United, Premiership

Tags: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Manchester United, Premiership
« Manchester United – Arsenal Preview: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger | Home | gunnersgunners always cool.......... their manager,player and fan respect others teams...but man u their fan,their manager and their player......just like ------...dont know how to respect othersShafigunnersreal madrid-9 champ league cup.....no other team can near that.......
man u -treble hahahahahaha barca just do that............
arsenal 49game unbeaten-hahahahahahahaha no team in this world can do it......come on manu do 50 game unbeaten.....JGIf this is true, then, in the words of Lisa Simpson, meh. Both aren't perfect, one has his confidence sky high, the other is getting better game after game. We're still likely to concede, and our main point will be to have Nasri and RVP shooting all guns and for Squillaci to have a competent game for once.Ogarganihahahah typical gooooners!!!1
wd rathe rgo undefeated n get thrashed by inter 3-0 n knocked out by a shit utd team in the fa cup n to a ranieri chelsea team in the champions league than win the champions league!

well,id rather lose,which we will sometime this season,than go undefeated n just win the prem.we r a champions league team...got to the final 2wice in the last 3 yrs...and semi final is nearly every season...unlike u gooners who have won f*ck all for five years,wen u were completely outplayed by a young utd team....anyway,we own the emirates...4 words...champions league semi final.

good luck anyway tomo...u got no chance,and i will come back n gloat wen we win,coz we r the biggest team in the world with the most successful manager ever...

ur just a bunch of goners,oh,and i wdnt b so happy that nasri is havin a blinder of a season,we all knw what happens when madrid n barca start sniffin...nasri n fabregas in one yr wd b alot...hahaha anyway peace goonsMartinYes, yes. You're the one whose life is so pathetic that you waste it going to other clubs' website to boast in your unique brand of incomprehensible gibberish, about players you have never met and have nothing to do with from your team, and yet we are somehow the pathetic ones in your deluded, tiny little mind. Makes perfect sense to me.mobbdeenI love trolls.Casimirhaha, Szczesny is an alright looking bloke. I mean, he's not Boruc in terms of Polish keepers, but I can see a footballer pulling a girl of that caliber... well then again he's the conservative home-body type right? And met her when he was young? So he probably does have some game ha ;)Shafigunnersthe gunners forever.........49 game unbeaten.......man u just 16 game unbeaten hahahahahahahahahahaOgarganiur actually comparing our unbeater run to urs?
wen u guys had leeds and leicester city n pathetic teams who werent even half as good as todays teams...the tottenhams the citys the chelseas the evertons....nothin compard to 2004 ....much stronger league now....u goons r just pathetic if u think u guys r bigger thn us...it makes me laugh hahahahhaha
Ogargani`s Dadcunt, your fucking team was relegated from the first division,fucking relegated ,so get real bitch and then whored around some goddamn american ,your club was fucking sold to some american bitch and last but not the least we won the league in your fucking backyard ever done that cunt !!!MartinWhile your anti-Americanism makes me uncomfortable, I like your enthusiasm, so I'll allow it.MartinI believe it's 20, actually, stretching back to last season.Ogarganiahahahahahahahha good lcuk getting smashed tomo

man utd 4 ever!
18 prem 3 champions leagues 11 fa cups

u ever won the treble?ever even won the champions league?
have u f*ck!

have u ever produced a world player of the yr?have u f*ck!

gory glory man utd!TsubasaMan Utd will be ashamed of having a fan like youHomey_MillsI wonder how many beers this guy had tonight.Ogarganiquite a bit watchin a few classics b4 the game tomo...

most notable 3-1 at the emirates in 2009 n 2010...wen ronaldo ran riot and owned the emirates with his stunnin free kick....and nani wen he owned clichy....oha nd the 1999 semi,,,,giggs doin a maradona....oh and the 6-1....and the 4-2 in 2005 in highbury and ending ur 49 game run in 2004...ahhh good times ....u goons r always easy for us...we love it....MartinEver gone undefeated?

Ever spelled the following words correctly?: luck, tomorrow, you, year, glory?

Hope you enjoy spending your life trolling other clubs' blogs: in the words of Patton Oswalt: "You're going to miss everything cool in life and die angry."Ogarganiur actually comparing our unbeater run to urs?
wen u guys had leeds and leicester city n pathetic teams who werent even half as good as todays teams...the tottenhams the citys the chelseas the evertons....nothin compard to 2004 ....much stronger league now....u goons r just pathetic if u think u guys r bigger thn us...it makes me laugh hahahahhaha

oh,have u ever won the champions league??no!!!
how can a big team not win that competition!!!>?

even nottingham forest have more prestigious history than u lot...ur a shame...

and one last thing,name one notable youth product u guys have produced apart from adams (if he is even urs) and ashley cole(who sold u guys out)....theres nothing!!

we made giggs,beckham(worlds most famous footballer),scholes,the nevilles...not to mention george best bobby charlton denis law....and makin ronaldo keane solskjaer van nistelrooy the players they r today!!!!!!

u guys r a joke!MartinMy favorite part of this is that you cut and pasted the first part of this from a reply you had below. I like that you actually thought, "well, I want to express the same thing, but I already put so much thought, time, and effort into expressing what was in my barely-sentient mind, so I would certainly hate to go into the time and effort of having to rewrite that masterpiece of sports journalism. Why don't I just reprint it again." Brilliant. Hats off to you, sir.blog comments powered by Disqus