There are not a lot of happy Arsenal fans around after watching Swansea stage a smash-and-grab raid on Monday, especially as it was our old reserve keeper Lukasz Fabianski making our strikers look like schoolboys in a Man-Of-the-Match performance. But at least one Arsenal player, Jack Wilshere, was happy for the Polish shot-stopper.
Jack said after the game on Arsenal.com: “We dominated the first half but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the result. We created chances and I thought Fabianski was brilliant tonight. We fell asleep for two minutes and at this level you can’t do that.
“When he was at Arsenal you could always tell that he was going to be special. I played with him for two years and sometimes with him it was maybe a little bit mental, but it seems like he’s sorted that out and he’s a top-class goalkeeper. Luckily for them he was on form tonight.
“I thought Fabianski was brilliant. In the second half we did create a few chances that we should be scoring but Fabianski was there and he’s been fantastic for them this year. I’m happy for him – he’s been my friend for a good number of years while we were at Arsenal. He’s grown as a player and seems to be growing as a person as well, and I’m happy for him.
Jack was then asked if thought that the Gunners should have come away with a draw at the very least. “I think we did.” he replied. “Maybe our first half performance warranted one as well. Fabianski was good in the first half and only seemed to get better as the game went on. We created enough chances and we should’ve scored one.”
Fabianski himself was obviously also pleased at Swansea’s second win over Arsenal since he left the Emirates, and Sky Sports asked him how he felt after getting in the way of everything Arsenal threw at him. “It looked a bit like that.” Fab said. “That’s something that you expect from your goalkeeper and I tried to help the team and luckily enough I managed to do it.
“It’s always nice to show yourself at the Emirates against your former team, you always try to – this is only my first game coming back – but you try to be positive in the game and stay focused to help the team.
“That’s what I’ve done today so I’m quite happy.”
“I was a little bit emotional before the game, but then when you step onto the pitch you just focus on the game,” he added.
“I’m just happy with the result. I think the whole team put on a massive effort to get a result and you could see Arsenal were more on the ball, but we always looked very dangerous on the break and we’re happy enough we managed to get one.”
Lukasz was frustrated for a long time as backup to Wojciech Szczesny at the Emirates, even though many Gooners thought he was the better player, but he is happy now, as he said after getting the MOTM award. “I spent seven years here and I have loads of friends here so to play against them was a strange experience, and sometimes it even felt like a training game,” Fabianski said.
“It was tricky. You never know how you are going to feel until you experience something. It was strange arriving at the ground and seeing all the people, but there was a game to play and I had to be focused.”
“I am past that frustration (at Arsenal). It has been a long time since I left Arsenal so I am just enjoying my position at the moment at Swansea.
“I am very happy with my decision to come here and I am really proud of the team’s performance.”
Fabianski definitely seemed much improved last year when he was called upon, and was especially great in the FA Cup games. Perhaps if Szczesny had been caught smoking last year it could have all turned out so differently….