Since the middle of last season, Wojciech Szczesny has established himself as Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper. He came in, in place of the injured Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Almunia, played well and since then has never looked back. His ability certainly merits leading the pecking order, and as Arsenal fans will know too well, Szczesny has bailed his team out of trouble countless times already in his short spell as Arsenal’s “safe hands”.
It could have been very different, of course, had Fabianski not been injured in training (ironically by Szczesny), or if Almunia had not dropped a staggering number of clangers in key matches. People still argue that Fabianski has better goalkeeping abilities and is more experienced compared to the relatively young Szczesny, but that’s a different story. The young Pole took his chance, somehow overtook the older Pole in pecking order and he thus got the nod from the boss to take the gloves in the first team.
The problem Arsene Wenger will face stems from Szczesny’s rise to number one. With Almunia, Fabianski and Vito Mannone all contending for the goalkeeper spot, Wenger will have to decide either in January or in the summer of 2012 exactly who should stay or go.
With Almunia already edging towards the exit door according to reports earlier in the season, Fabianski seemingly threatening Wenger to leave if he cannot wrestle the first spot from Szczesny, then “requesting a loan move” so as to boost his chances for Euro 2012 and more recently Vito Mannone who claimed “the ideal situation would be to let me go on loan and then make it permanent”, Wenger will be hard-pressed to make the decision best for the club.
As it stands, it is possible as well that Wenger will let two of the three aforementioned leave. Almunia looks to be almost certainly gone from the club, but then Wenger will have to satisfy the demands of the other two who are clearly adamant that they should be starting for the first team, rather than being substitutes or in the reserve league.
It would not be the first time Wenger will have to make such a decision – aside from David Seaman and Jens Lehmann, goalkeepers came and went rather quickly, with names like Alex Manninger and Mart Poom leaving after a few short years at the club.
More significantly, the hassle of having three goalkeepers at a club will mean Wenger will have to attempt to keep Szczesny and two other goalkeepers at the club in this season. Unless Wenger uncharacteristically signs another quality goalkeeper, he will have a real headache getting it right at the back of this Arsenal team.