Is It 3rd Time Lucky for Arsenal’s ‘Wookash’ Fabianski?
ByApril 18th 2009 and January 24th 2010 are two days ‘Wookash’ Fabianski dreads to recall, even though the former date is the Pole’s birthday.
It has something to do with the fact that on those two days, Arsenal were shown the exit sign and asked to unceremoniously leave the FA Cup. They were days that the young goal keeper had ’howlers’ that any professional sportsman would want to forget very quickly.
A mad rush of blood to the head from Wookash gifted an empty net to Drogba last April, and at the Britannia a few weeks ago – he wisened up to the folly of waiting for a Rory Delap throw to come to him.
Let’s face it – keeping goal is a thankless job. More often than not, the keeper spends long periods doing nothing constructive and requires constant discipline and focus to keep up with the game around them.
The problem for goalies is that mistakes they make or momentary lapses of judgement almost certainly end up with them picking the ball from the back of the net. Also, in this media savvy age where cameras cover every nook and cranny on the pitch, the actions or inactions of the goal keeper are easily amplified.
If Bob Wilson was keeping goal for Arsenal today and he had the howler that led to the goal at his near post in the 1971 cup final, Wilson would have had to go into exile, for the Sky cameras would have made is life a misery.
Goal keeping seems to be a subject that divides many observers when it comes to the Arsenal. I don’t recall it being that much of an issue in the past times of Lehmann, Seaman (who was the goalie that I most identified with), Jennings or Wilson.
There’s a cliché often used to say that a good goal keeper can save you at least 12 points a season, and Almunia doesn’t seem to jump out of the page for some when it comes to Arsenal goal keepers. Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 points saving interventions that Almunia made in 2010 – when Denilson collapsed and Everton had a one on one with him; saving Agbonlahor’s shot across goal at the match against Villa on 27th of Jan; and his fingertip save of Ryan Babel’s shot last week against Liverpool.
All of those saves prevented Arsenal from losing or drawing a match and gained us points in that respect. Even so, it’s more than likely that Almunia’s transgressions will be the more amplified for it’s those mistakes that end up with us conceding goals.
Fabianski has had his high profile moments to impress and he has shown signs of a great goal keeper, and signs of poor judgement on occasion. This is not uncommon for a 24 year old goal keeper, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that some things will only come with experience. Good judgement is one of those aspects that will only develop with time and mileage on the pitch.
For the record, I think Fabianski is a very good keeper and will become one of the best keepers in the world. You can see this when he has a good game – the way he commands the box and the way he marauds around like he owns that piece of real estate within the box; the way he comes for crosses and the way he sweeps behind his defensive high line; and his general presence in the box.
What has eluded him so far is the consistency in good decision making. His individual skill and agility is not in question. The only way we’re going to find out if Wookash is really the answer to Arsenal’s goal keeping dilemma is to let him get on with it.
Some may argue that he’s not yet there and needs some more experience, but short of farming him out on loan at the risk of not having a 2nd choice keeper – Wenger seems to be convinced that the Pole is a good enough understudy to Almunia.
The manager has certainly gone out of his way to pump up Wookash by waxing lyrical about his ability to hold the fort. Definitely good people management and confidence building skills on the part of the manager.
My sense is that if the team defends properly as a unit and each person takes their responsibility seriously, it will make the life of a goal keeper a hell of a lot easier. There will be times during the game that the keeper is called upon to do something extra-ordinary and it’s on those occasions that Wookash can stand up to be counted.
Maybe tonight is a chance to prove that it’s 3rd time lucky for him and he can help propel Arsenal to a good position before the return leg against Porto in 3 weeks time.
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Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund
Very nice Darius.
The goalkeeping position at Arsenal is about to go through many changes, or some turmoil at least.
Almunia as the incumbent should be coming into his prime, but this season has been tough for him. I think that is a fair and honest assessment. He now has the extremely talented Fabianski who almost demands at least a chance to prove his worth. Then there is the youngest Pole, who many thinks looks like the future and is playing so well he is bringing that forward.
I would disagree that Fabianski had a howler at Stoke. He made an error in the 1st minute and was excellent after that. It can happen. The team went out that day not because of him. Last season he made errors, nearly all due to poor, over eager, judgements. This is the only thing he struggled with.
On your 3 saves of Almunia, I think that is the problem for many with him – only 3 saves. Playing for the Arsenal you will never get swamped these days – he stood out in the CL semi away last season when we were of course. However, he makes very few saves and rarely has a game when you say that he made a save ‘he shoudln’t have’. He is a good solid keeper, but in a team filled with stunning talents who aim for world-class he seems to come up short.
I have high hopes for all our goal keeping understudies Darius. To a man they each seem exceptional talents. Hope they mature to do full justice to their potential.
To me a goalkeeper’s most important value is psychological: Great goalies inspire great confidence in their defensive partners. Ideally they are captains of the defence, organizing and keeping them on their toes.
That’s something I’ve badly missed at the Arsenal ever since Seaman’s retirement. Lehman, fine as he could be, was too eccentric to be a consistently great goal keeper.
Anyway, here’s to a good away victory tonight.
I don’t even want to talk about the injuries, ofcourse. It has been an awful season in that regard.
LOL Saloner.
I can tel you that Arsenal is surely being beaten with a big stick out there because of the said injuries.
I bumped into a headline like ‘Spineless’ Arsenal to face Porto – I think it might be a reference to us missing Almunia, Gallas, Song and Arshavin as a spine – but I wouldn’t put it past that daily to suggest that Arsenal is now a mid table team.
On goal keeping – I do want Wookash to get his chance on stage and the rest is up to him. I doubt Arsenal would have signed him in May 2007 if they didn’t think he was worth it.
Arsenehollis – Almunia for sure has had a mini-crisis of sorts and hasn’t been consistent. It’s true that when Arsenal plays well, our keeper is usually left unemployed for most part and for this reason, when he is actually called upon, you’d expect that they would provide that magical moment.
I honestly don’t see Almunia as the type to bark orders around to his defense and take an ‘in your face’ role to organize them and to bully opposing players. He just doesn’t look like that sort of chap.
He is a good keeper though, and it’s the consistency that escapes him.
The question is whether Arsenal can afford that inconsistency any more.
Looking forward to the game tonight and the bottle of wine is already being chilled ready for a great game.
It is interesting, maybe strange, how many players struggle during their second season. Neither Denilson or Nasri have hit the form of last just yet.
This is a big moment for both I think, especially the young Brazilian. Nasri has played well, but needs to add more goals to take the step up to match winning regular. That will come. Denilson will be vital for teh run in though and needs to find his form now or risk being overtaken by Rasmey in the squad.
On that note Darius, I thought he should have been far more forceful as Clichy wandered off the post for the chavs first goal.
Arsenehollis – I think Nasri offers more than Hleb from the point of view of goals.
Hleb was great at penetrating defenses with his dribbling but he was relatively goal shy. Nasri I thhink has a lot more braun and fight – and he is a contradiction in terms (as is Cesc) for those who say 21 is very youg…Nasri is actually very experienced and has a lot of mileage on the pitch.
I think his goals contribution will come and flashes of him remind me of a bit of Bobby Pires and a bit of Freddie Ljungberg.
Denilson won’t do himself any harm by putting himself on the shop window for Dunga. I personally think a midfield combo of Gilberto and Denilson is much idier tidier than Gilberto and Melo.
There’s the rub Darius, we are waiting for the moment when the clear talent turns into a 10/15 goal season, then Nasri will be heading into the elite category. Now he is tidy, skillful, and hard working. The goals are what separates the best though. I am sure they will come.
Denilson needs to play a few games for Arsenal and find some form. I couldn’t care less about Dunga, but if he does he needs to far better for us than he has. A good player, but he has not built on a very good season last year. Now is his chance to arrest that slide in form.
A sharp night for the Arsenal, a game we really should have made in the second half slipped away.
For those people, like me, who fancied Fabianski as the answer to our cheap back-line it was a slap in the face.
We will still do our thing at home, but this was a disappointment.
There’s the rub.
2 fine saves + 2 bad errors, the 2nd unforgiveable for a pro at any age.
It happens, a bit soon to write him off but I would suggest that with the much maligned Manuel Almunia in goal, we would be feeling very comfortable about this tie now.
Anyway no disaster, although if we cannot shake off this poor start / individual error syndrome there will be nothing left for us this season.
That referee doesn’t deserve to officiate games at this level.
But that’s not why we lost the game: We lost, as arsenehollis and Flint have suggested, because of that Arsenal malady that has, of late, become distressingly frequent : “moments of madness”.
Flint, that we are forced, by Luckas’ abjectness, to take comfort in Almunia is a sad sad commentary on the state of affairs.
That said, it is a game over two legs and it ain’t over till the fat lady wails.
We’ll see…