With friends like this, who needs enemies? That may be just what Arsene Wenger and whoever else deals with the transfer dealings at Arsenal FC, because our former keeper Wojciech Szczesny has done them no favours at all with his latest comments.
The Poland international joined our academy system as a teenager, spending three years there before breaking into first team contention in 2009. After a spell on loan at Brentford Szczesny went on to make 180 appearances for us and has declared himself to be a dyed in the wool Gooner, but that did not stop him from suggesting that the coaching and training to develop players like himself is much better at his current club.
Since he signed for the Serie A champions Juventus on a permanent deal after impressing in Italy with Roma on loan, the 27-year old reckons he has come on in leaps and bounds, while at Arsenal he never really improved, reports Sky Sports.
He said, “Honestly, I couldn’t say from a technical standpoint that I improved in any way from when I became first choice at Arsenal until the day I left for Roma.
“However, in the two-and-a-half years since I came to Italy I’ve improved massively, which is thanks to the coaches and the way they work.
“It’s not about improving when you play, it’s every day in training you have to work on every aspect of your game and that’s something I’ve really enjoyed.
“I think in general, the coaches in Italy are much more tactical, that’s just how the league works.
“At Arsenal you’d just prepare physically for it but here you watch films analysing a specific opponent before the game and afterwards we’ll watch again to see what worked and what didn’t.
“I enjoyed working with some great coaches at Arsenal, Roma and here, but the goalkeeping school in Italy is very different – it’s very technical and pays more attention to the details.”
Now imagine you are a player, especially a young player, considering a transfer to Arsenal. Would these comments from one of our former players claiming that you are not going to develop as much here as elsewhere put you off? Will our January transfer plans now prove to be much tougher because of what Szczesny said?
Bob.