Wojciech Szczesny has distanced himself from his father’s statement which launched a stinging attack on Arsene Wenger, claiming his comments were ‘disrespectful’.
Maciej Szczesny – who was also a professional goalkeeper, won seven caps for Poland and helped Legia Warsaw reach the quarter-finals of the 1995-96 Champions League – said yesterday that Wenger needed to shoulder some of the responsibility for his sons ‘poor form’.
The 22-year-old has recently been relegated to the bench in favour of compatriot Lukasz Fabianski who has since performed admirably, and Szczesny accepts that he must regain the form that saw him establish himself as the Number One. Now he has released an apology over his fathers comments to prevent them affecting his status among fans and the Emirates hierarchy.
Speaking from the Poland national teams training camp he said:
I would like to apologise for the comments made by my father which have been used by both Polish and English media.
I’d like to make it clear that those were the views and opinions of my father and not mine, and although I respect his views I cannot accept them as I find them disrespectful to the club I truly love.
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I have been at Arsenal Football Club for seven years now and I have always shown my full respect to the Club, Arsène Wenger, all the coaching staff, my team-mates and the fans.
I’ve always felt that I received great support from the manager and the fans and I am fully focused on getting back to my best.
I am proud to be a part of Arsenal and I see my future at this great club.
Reports have suggested Szczesny’s time has come to depart the Emirates but they couldn’t be further from the mark. The Pole will benefit from being dropped and will work hard once again to start between the sticks. The reason why it has taken awhile for Wenger to act has purely been because Fabianski has just returned to fitness- Mannone is not up to scratch.
Another factor to consider is Fabianski’s contract expires this summer and Arsenal need him to either sign a new deal or buy a new ‘keeper. We all know which option Wenger will prefer. But either way Szczesny is Arsenal’s Number One and rightly so, he has the ability to be a top class goalkeeper but his development has stagnated in recent months with his fellow Polish international injured. He will now have to work his way back into the lineup, and that is the way it should be.
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