Eurospot: Szczesny's dream

As a child growing up in Warsaw, Lodz and Krakow, Wojciech Szczesny would dream of emulating his father and role model, Maciej, by pulling on the national shirt of Poland. Now aged 21, the precocious young goalkeeper is remarkably just one cap short of his father’s tally of seven and immersed in what will prove a definitive season in his career. It is one that will likely end with Szczesny firmly in place as Poland’s number one when they co-host the Euro 2012 finals next summer.

Even Maciej - a goalkeeper of no little repute, who won league titles with four different Polish clubs - did not have the honour of ensuring the Szczesny name was up in lights during a major international tournament. His son, it seems, is destined to do so after proving with his recent performances for Arsenal that he is a major European talent.

Poland coach Franciszek Smuda clearly agrees. Though the country has been renowned for producing a clutch of talented goalkeepers in recent years – Artur Boruc, Tomasz Kuszczak, Lukasz Zaluska and Lukasz Fabianski amongst them – Szczesny, the youngest of the bunch, is the chosen one as the finals approach. That much is certain, particularly after a stunning performance in a friendly against Germany earlier this month that prompted the great Oliver Kahn to describe him as a “world class” talent.

With his father’s mark likely to be surpassed when Poland play back-to-back friendlies against South Korea and Belarus at the start of October, Szczesny knows he has a crucial campaign in front of him.

“It is a huge year for me, a huge season,” Szczesny tells Eurospot after Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Olympiacos on Wednesday night. “I want to make sure I get my number one shirt at Arsenal and I want to make sure it is for a long time. And also I want to prove to the manager of the national team that I should be in goal when we kick off the Euros.

“[The finals] are a huge deal for me and they are a huge deal for our team as well because we still have a long way to go - I am talking about the national team. We have a long way to go but I am confident we will be ready for the tournament.

“At the age of 10, when my Dad was playing, I was thinking I would love to ever get seven caps for Poland because it was my dream to make my living out of football, so if I can equal his record and then keep going I will be very, very proud and I am sure he will be as well.”

Strangely enough, it was in England that Szczesny senior’s international career was brought to an abrupt halt. He found himself on the bench for a World Cup qualifier at Wembley in the Autumn of 1996 as coach Antoni Piechniczek preferred Andrzej Wozniak, and withdrew his services at international level in protest.

By contrast, England has proved the perfect finishing school for Wojciech after his decision to join Arsenal as a 17-year-old in 2007. Though his progress initially slowed when he fractured both arms during a weights session in 2008, a loan spell at Brentford in the 2009-10 season launched his career. “It reached the stage where, when he let a goal in, we wondered how he hadn’t saved it,” said then manager Andy Scott of a player who kept 10 clean sheets in 28 games.

It was this kind of form that led Arsene Wenger to say of the young man in December 2009: “We have identified Wojciech as a future great, great goalkeeper. When you think it is a goal with him, it is still no goal. He has all the qualities you want.  That means a good basic confidence level. He is very brave, fantastic size, very agile and his speed in his reflexes is absolutely unbelievable. I really believe that he will one day be Arsenal’s No 1.”

That belief has been repaid, but even Wenger, a proud advocate of youth, was not quite convinced Szczesny was ready at the start of the 2010-11 season as he tried and failed to sign Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer. Szczesny in fact started the campaign as Arsenal’s fourth choice behind Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone. By its conclusion, thanks to Almunia’s evident frailty and an injury to compatriot Fabianski, he had been installed as number one for Champions League fixtures against Barcelona and high-profile league matches against Manchester United and Tottenham.

He was also chosen to start the Carling Cup final, though, and the late moment of confusion with Laurent Koscielny that gifted the trophy to Birmingham City was a blot on his embryonic Arsenal career. After 35 games for the Gunners, it remains the only significant aberration. Wenger said Szczesny had been left “destroyed” by the incident.

His confidence could have been fatally undermined, as Fabianski’s arguably has by similar errors, but instead, thanks to that fantastic penalty save against Udinese and some excellent performances in the face of some defensive ineptitude from his outfield colleagues, Szczesny has been Arsenal’s best player so far this season. He is clearly blessed with a strong personality, something that has been keenly noted in his native Poland.

Robert Blaszczak, an English-based Polish football journalist, says: "Wojciech is a controversial figure in Polish football. Undoubtedly number one in the national team, he is outspoken both on and off the field. He has already proven his goalkeeping qualities and saved the national team on a number of occasions, most recently against Germany when he single-handedly stopped the Germans.

“Yet his comments, and speaking his mind in a really witty way, do draw the attention of some critics as they accuse young Szczesny of a lack of humility. Szczesny has none of it. Is it good for a goalkeeper? I think so. Szczesny is the closest thing Polish football has to Peter Schmeichel. Love him or hate him, the Polish public knows that if Poland are to do well during the Euro 2012, it will depend a lot on Szczesny's performances.”

Wenger has also compared the young Pole to Schmeichel – a player Szczesny says he used to “watch and admire” as a child – and there was something of the Great Dane about the way he furiously censured his defence when their abject marking from a corner allowed Olympiacos to score in Wednesday’s Champions League fixture.

Such spirit is impressive at a young age, and for Szczesny, inexperience clearly does not equal insecurity, even when the hopes of a nation will be resting on his shoulders next summer.

“I don’t mind the responsibility,” says Szczesny. “I like it when there is a lot of pressure on me. I like playing under pressure so I like it. I do consider myself number one for the national team and if you are number one then you have to deal with a different kind of pressure so that is absolutely fine and I can deal with that.

“I think there is a lot of expectation, because obviously we are hosting it. We want to do well but on the other hand we do get a lot of support from our fans. They are really good, even though results haven’t been great recently. So we get a lot of support and I am very thankful for that.”

Poland are currently one place ahead of Zimbabwe in the FIFA rankings, even at a year-long high of 65th, and are predicted to have a difficult time of things next summer. But much like at club level, it is unlikely to be Szczesny who is responsible for any disappointment.

As Wenger says: "Wojciech has the genes of his dad. He has something that you cannot give to people, for technical work. He has that presence."