Arsene Wenger blamed for Wojciech Szczesny's loss of form - by the Arsenal keeper's father

The Arsenal stopper has been dropped for the last two games

Matthew Campelli
Wednesday 20 March 2013 08:40 EDT
Comments
Wojceich Szczesny with Arsene Wenger
Wojceich Szczesny with Arsene Wenger (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

It seems the knives are still out for Arsene Wenger despite a recent Arsenal resurgence. The Gunners have won their last two matches and have put themselves in a good position to gate-crash the top four, but the beleaguered Frenchman has now been criticised for the loss of form of his goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny – by the Poland international’s father.

Maciej, an ex-Poland international himself, condemned the Arsenal boss’ recent treatment of his son, while claiming that he has made him a ‘scapegoat’. Szczesny has been the number one choice at the Emirates all season, but was dropped for Arsenal’s last two victories against Bayern Munich and Swansea. Wenger explained that he thought Szczesny had been “mentally affected” by the amount of games he’d played.

It is a notion the goalkeeper's father doesn’t subscribe to, and believes that any loss of form is down to Wenger’s methods. He told the Polish press: “It is not the way the boss should behave. Wojciech has had two serious injuries. He played with one in April and May (last year). He shouldn't have agreed to play that time, but the coach insisted.

“Wenger was playing with the young man's good health and Wojciech agreed foolishly. After seven weeks out Wojciech trained for just seven days and played the match. How on earth can he be on his highest form?" he continued.

The Gunners’ chief has made it clear in recent weeks that none of his players are guaranteed a berth in the starting eleven, but has publicly stated that Szczesny is still very much part of his plans. Szczesny Snr is confident his son will soon establish himself as the Arsenal number one again.

“I think my son can be the number one (Arsenal) keeper over 10 years, he just needs to come back to form and then a situation where we can stop to wonder who will stand between the posts."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in