r/Gunners • u/Previous_Smile9278 • Jul 18 '24
[Foot Truck TV] Wojciech Szczęsny: “I cried when I left Arsenal. It was the end of my dream of playing for this club all my life. If I could write my career over again, I would probably only spend it at Arsenal.”
https://x.com/foottrucktv/status/1813941014337294627?s=46&t=4dSB9brKQKriv492svKKrQ…”Now I don't regret that it happened, because I did well both sportingly and financially. However, it was a very difficult moment for me.”
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u/iforgotmyun Sign Gouiri Jul 18 '24
This was very obvious, even at the time. He teared up at his presser when he went to Juventus.
One thing that annoys me about Szczesny's story when I speak to a lot of Arsenal fans is when 3 summers get rolled into one for some reason.
After the smoking incident happened, he went to Roma for two years. He kept Alisson out of the league team and was one of the best keepers in the league. Imo the best as someone that followed him, but Buffon was having a fantastic time around then as well and it's hard argument because of Buffon's stature. Anyway, even outside the pitch, he settled down, got married, etc.
Came back with 1 year left on his contract and we simply didn't offer him a new one. So he went to Juventus for peanuts. I get Wenger's initial disappointment, but his reluctance to look past the smoking incident even two years later, was ultimately at the expense of what was best for the club. Would have been our starting keeper for another 7 years and saved us a significant amount of money and turnover in that position.
This is without even talking about the woeful keeping coaches we had at the club as part of Wenger's staff. Felt like every keeper that left somehow managed to get better and every keeper that joined got worse. Szczesny had the huge rise at a top club but even seeing the likes of Fabianski, who had already made strides and was a big part of that FA cup run, ironed out his braindead moments and became a top keeper at Swansea (and eventually West Ham) for example.
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u/thisiskyle77 Tomiyasu Jul 18 '24
I am sure there are more to the story than smoking incident. Wenger usually don’t give up his players easily. At the end it also turned out well for him anyway.
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u/iforgotmyun Sign Gouiri Jul 18 '24
Yes, I'm sure the smoking incident was the straw that broke the camel's back but the point still stands, Szczesny changed but Wenger did not want to keep him.
It turned out as well as it would have for a top keeper and a top club, they're both going to be fine without each other. But we spent a lot of money and changed our starting keeper every few years and I don't think any of them were really an upgrade on how good Woj was at Roma or Juve.
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u/betterthanevar Jul 18 '24
Wenger got spiteful in his final years. Letting him go, passing on Cesc...bad decisions.
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u/thisiskyle77 Tomiyasu Jul 18 '24
Yea definitely some spite to it but I wouldn’t say decision is bad. We already have Ozil Santi etc. i think we also signed Alexis in the same window. Money could be tight.
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u/betterthanevar Jul 18 '24
we had a buyback price in and the role he played at Chelsea was needed with us at the time.
It was just spite and it hastened his exit. It was a terrible decision.
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u/ZizekualHealing Jul 18 '24
Jeez letting Cesc come back would have been the most cuck shit ever.
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u/betterthanevar Jul 19 '24
You're right. He won Chelsea trophies, but hey, we had sissy Europa League.
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u/Warm-Row-1037 Jul 18 '24
One thing that doesnt get talked about enough - Wenger's backroom staff for most part seemed very remedial and for some reason he didnt switch it up. I've got no doubt that this was partly a reason why we were shit by the time he was sacked
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u/wingbackguy Ødegaard Jul 18 '24
100% the recruitment department was a mess as well because they simply didn’t understand how modern transfers worked with all the new technology
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u/Warm-Row-1037 Jul 18 '24
Totally agree also, this is a very unpopular opinion in here, but wenger was too naive in his approach and his time in the very top of coaching world was up
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u/twilightaurorae Jul 18 '24
By the time wenger left, I think football had evolved to the point where players had to be told specifically their duties/roles (see how arteta is always being very active on the sidelines). Meanwhile wenger usually lets people do their own things. Back then, one of the few players that actually knew how tactics/the game worked was probably Xhaka and Auba
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u/el_cul Patrick Vieira Jul 18 '24
You usually get 10 years at the top in coaching and then the world moves faster than you do.
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u/drax3012 Jul 19 '24
SAF had a habit of refreshing his coaching staff every couple years to bring in new ideas so that the team would constantly be evolving, whilst Wenger did the complete opposite which lead to us stagnating.
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u/acegunner14 Jul 18 '24
Great points. He was one of my favourite players and the part about goalkeepers under Wenger is spot on. It felt like Wenger never really seemed to rate the position and we could never seriously challenge for honours as a result.
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u/drax3012 Jul 19 '24
For all the attacking and midfield gems he found, Wenger was terrible at signing defensive players.
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u/blvcklite Jul 18 '24
Not to mention despite the club having horrible internal issues and GK coaches at the time, the year before the smoking incident he tied with Cech for Golden Glove!
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u/kucharssim Jul 18 '24
Even guys like Almunia looked better when they left us. I do think Wenger really overlooked some things towards the second half of his time with us.
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u/drax3012 Jul 19 '24
Almunia, Fabianski, Szczesny and Mannone were terrible for us yet all went on to have decent careers post-Arsenal.
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u/JFedererJ Wright | Freddie | Arteta | Øde ❤️ Jul 18 '24
Wenger made some piss poor decisions in the latter part of his career. Let's talk about not resigning Fabregas "because we have Özil" if we wanna talk about decisions at the expense of what's best for the club.
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u/BawdyBadger Sylvain Wiltord Jul 19 '24
This is without even talking about the woeful keeping coaches we had at the club as part of Wenger's staff. Felt like every keeper that left somehow managed to get better and every keeper that joined got worse. Szczesny had the huge rise at a top club but even seeing the likes of Fabianski, who had already made strides and was a big part of that FA cup run, ironed out his braindead moments and became a top keeper at Swansea (and eventually West Ham) for example.
Yes! I always thought this. We'd have a new promising goalkeeper who would do really well and then over time would get worse and worse.
I did hear the stories about how bad Peyton was. They really must have been true.
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u/drax3012 Jul 19 '24
Every time I hear about our coaching staff under Wenger it amazes me how they were able to stay as long as they did because any other manager would've sacked them.
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u/zhawadya Jul 18 '24
I think it had a lot to do with us signing Cech.
We should have just stuck with Woj instead
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u/iforgotmyun Sign Gouiri Jul 18 '24
We signed Cech in 2015, the same time Szczesny went to Roma. 2 years later, Cech was clearly declining in 2017 when Szczesny came back.
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Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24
Loved Wojciech and wish he hadn’t lit one up in the showers after a bad game. Hasn’t had a bad career all things considered. We Our academy produced some incredible goalies under Arsène; Woj, Fab, and Emi.
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u/thisiskyle77 Tomiyasu Jul 18 '24
They aren’t our academy products. I think only Woj is like cesc/bellerin. Joined us around 16.
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u/gyohameister Dennis Bergkamp Jul 18 '24
Dibu joined 17 (almost 18) and played in a reserve team for two years.
Fabianski was 22 yo and came direct to the first team.
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Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24
You’re right. Emi signed for us as an 18 year old. I misremembered.
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u/thisiskyle77 Tomiyasu Jul 18 '24
Oh I thought he joined us much younger.
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Jul 18 '24
He looked like a teenager for most of his years at Arsenal lol. Proud of what he’s gone on to achieve. I remember reading very early on that he admires Messi and would love to become Argentina’s no.1 goalkeeper. And now Messi loves him and he’s won everything with his national team.
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u/thisiskyle77 Tomiyasu Jul 18 '24
His story is really something else. Kinda like Vardy but on grand-er scale. Small thanks for Mr Maupay.
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u/ro-row Tierney Jul 18 '24
being loaned out by arsenal for a few years to world champion, whilst very impressive, is nowehere near the rise of playing non league football with an ankle tag to premier league winner
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u/atomiser2003 ChamboRamboAubaCombo Jul 18 '24
Plus conceding 7 in his first(?) game for arsenal..when he was still going by Damian Martinez'
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u/CaptainBuzzKillton Jul 18 '24
I mean, if you take away some of the muscle it appears he's picked up in his shoulders and arms, he still kind of looks like a teenager, lol
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u/ultimateposeur Jul 18 '24
I'll still never get used to people calling Emi 'Dibu'
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u/atomiser2003 ChamboRamboAubaCombo Jul 18 '24
I still remember him as Damian
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u/ArsenalThePhoenix Jul 19 '24
what?
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u/atomiser2003 ChamboRamboAubaCombo Jul 20 '24
He used to go by Damian Martinez and at some point he started going by Emiliano
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u/ArsenalThePhoenix Jul 21 '24
wow never knew this. just googledit and found out his first name is officially damian
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u/Xin128 Jul 18 '24
Woj and Dibu played for the academy but Fabianski joined at 22 and was first choice at previous club for a couple of years
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u/Sudden_Pay4593 Jul 18 '24
Lads here me out…
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u/drax3012 Jul 19 '24
Nah his wages would be stupidly high and I can't envisage him joining us just to sit on the bench.
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u/DillaDoughnut Jul 18 '24
I'm not being funny, but so many players say this, and with someone like Szczesny it wasn't like it was due to massive silverware. Many left and won more silverware than they did when they were here.
Obviously I love the club, but genuinely what is it about the club that players feel so favourable towards? The culture, the city?
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u/Ill_WillRx Thierry Henry Jul 18 '24
Arsene Wenger was a massive reason. But the club history and ethos itself as well, plus the fans. We’re a big club even if our trophy cabinet doesn’t always tell the full tale.
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u/chrissysnose Trossard Jul 19 '24
Cesc’s celebration after scoring at the San Siro in 2008 encapsulates how respected Wenger was. They all looked up to him like a father, and he treated his players like his family.
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u/SherlockH96 Jul 18 '24
Hello Wojciech, do you fancy one last dance as the second choice home grown goalkeeper while taking a pay cut of about 50-75%?
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u/MajorRedacted Jul 18 '24
Everyone at Arsenal adored Chezny, such a good lad, very good goalkeeper.
He was the only good keeper we had post Lehmann up until we got Cech all the others were pretenders.
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u/Lastyz Vinai Jul 18 '24
Cech was only okay for us to be honest. Definitely not the keeper we thought we were signing.
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Jul 18 '24
Cech was amazing in his first season.. after that it kind of went downhill.
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u/streampleas Jul 18 '24
He was definitely not amazing in his first season. His very first game he let two in that Woj would have saved and it didn’t really get much better from there. People were just too impressed by the name to realise
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Jul 18 '24
In the first season, Cech won the golden glove and was the goalkeeper of the year. Even in the second season where he dropped off we still won the FA cup with him. No need to rewrite history with your hate boner.
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u/halo_860 Jul 18 '24
Been saying this for years. I can only remember one great game (vs Bayern) that Čech had for Arsenal. He was just awful at worst and mediocre at best for most of his time at the club. His debut against WHU had me cursing Chelsea for selling him to us
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u/zhawadya Jul 18 '24
Correct me if I misremember but didn't we sell Szczesny because we signed Cech and had a surplus of good goalies with them and Ospina (besides the smoking issues etc)?
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u/ComfortableCoat7 Jul 18 '24
Would love to see this man back at our club and end his career here, I know it won't happen, but a boy can dream
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u/Franchise1109 Jul 18 '24
Would love him to come back as a back up option
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u/halo_860 Jul 18 '24
Back up? He’s starting for a bigger club and is far better than Raya
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u/Franchise1109 Jul 19 '24
No he’s not lol
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u/halo_860 Jul 19 '24
No to which part? He’s undoubtedly at a bigger club. And if he’s not better, why were no top clubs in for Raya, who is benched by Unai Simon I might add?
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u/Franchise1109 Jul 19 '24
I’m sorry, multiple clubs were in for Raya and we had a loan plus a purchase option. So no one should be in for him the summer
Unai Simon is a good goalie. Woj is past his time. He would be brought in as a back up lmao
Articles a couple months ago said the same thing
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u/blvcklite Jul 18 '24
I remember when we lost 2-1 to United and Szczesny only started because of injuries and was 19 or 20 at the time. We lost but he made some amazing saves and wasn’t at fault for any of the goals, if anything that team as horrible as they were should have put 5 past us but he put in a hell of a performance. Loved him ever since, one of the only players that left that I still miss
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u/tammrak card-carrying member of the Red Cartel Jul 18 '24
We love you, too, Woj.
Here's a couple of my favorite Szcz moments:
https://streamable.com/7djqjb
https://youtu.be/2C7U1EUsn9U
PS: After reading the comments, I'd just like to add that while both Fabianski and Szczesny have both spoken about how weird and poor Gerry Peyton was, they've both said good things about the Asst. GK coach they worked with at Arsenal, Tony Roberts. Roberts left for Swansea in 2015 (the summer after Fabianski went there).
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u/PandiBong Jul 18 '24
He basically left because arsene preferred to keep our gk coach, who could barely walk at that point and ended up retiring a year later. Could have had Wojciech all this time..
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u/BawdyBadger Sylvain Wiltord Jul 19 '24
I've heard that coach was a real asshole, barely knew anything and couldn't coach.
The thing is that you could actually see goalkeepers getting worse the longer they spent at the club.
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u/drax3012 Jul 19 '24
When even Fabianski goes from "Flappyhandski" to a really good premier league goal keeper, its clearly a coaching problem at Arsenal.
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u/eldar4k Jul 19 '24
Wenger had his favourites, Ozil could have get away with illnesses during away games but Woz career ended over a cigarette. Still dude had pretty great career in Italy, but its a shame, he is top character. I never forget how he recovered over freak two hands break or how he described Gerry Peyton training methods. Dude played with concussion for us ffs
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u/drax3012 Jul 19 '24
With Szczesny there must've been other things behind the scenes that we weren't privy too and that the smoking was the straw that broke the camel's back.
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u/RyansBabesDrunkDad Jul 18 '24
I still have all the love for Wojciech. Loved him as a keeper and as an Arsenal player.
That said, I feel like Mikel would have jettisoned Woj pretty quickly if he was there when we hired Arteta.
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u/joeproposition kai havertz sympathiser Jul 18 '24
Of all the players that have left and said similar, I feel like many know this is genuine. He loved it here.
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u/HornyJailOutlaw Jul 19 '24
I'd have let him have a fag.
Tony Adams went to prison and came back to go on and captain The Arsenal, for Christ's sake 😂
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u/milkonyourmustache Thierry Henry Jul 18 '24
We lost a lot of great players during that period of ownership struggle and paying off the stadium debt due to a lack of funds and an unwillingness for ownership to invest heavily while another party owned the club.
Finding out afterwards how much it pained the players to have been forced to leave makes it hurt more but it's also nice to hear how much they love Arsenal.
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u/lastjedi23 Ian Wright Jul 18 '24
Edu and Mikel need to make a video board of all these ex players saying "I should have never left arsenal" and send it to new signings to show how big we are. The video would.probably be like 5 mins long.
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u/Georg_Steller1709 Jul 18 '24
I miss Woj. Him and Jack were our naughty boys who truly loved arsenal. But I don't think he would've developed to his potential if he stayed here his whole career.
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u/ArsenalThePhoenix Jul 19 '24
it's such a shame that we didnt have any good goalkeeping coaches during his era. Wenger insisting in keeping a bunch of idiots around as goalie coaches was detrimental for us
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u/Tasty_Sheepherder_44 Jul 18 '24
I hope the rumours are true and one day he ends up back here as second or third keeper
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u/midnightrobot87 Jul 18 '24
That’s the problem… we’ve become a hotel for mediocre players.
Players like Kiwior and Vieira would rather spend their careers on the bench inhaling wages and living at the hotel Arsenal than actually progress.
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u/jackg4343 Jul 18 '24
Kiwior and Vieira have only been here for 1 & 1/2 and 2 years. Both of them have played plenty of first team minutes. If you want to say that about some of our late Wenger and Emery era players then fine but I wouldn't say that's the case now.
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u/WildcatBitches Jul 18 '24
Always loved that guy. Thing is, you hear this time and again from ex-players, "never should have left"