EXCLUSIVE – Szczesny talks about Arsenal keeper rumours, Tottenham and piano-playing!

Szczesny interview by Jools The Arsenal and Poland international keeper Wojciech Szczesny was an unused substitute in both of his country’s international games recently, and afterwards he spoke to reporter Robert Blonski about a number of things that appeared in the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper. Luckily for Just Arsenal, Jools has translated this for us and so we can look at what our Szczezzer said. He obviously spoke about Poland and his desire to win his starting place back, but we will concentrate on what he said about Arsenal. Q. It was up the creek in March. - Yes. I lost my place in the Arsenal starting line-up and I had to work hard to make the manager change his mind. I got a break – fate and Lukasz Fabianski’s injury. But since returning to the Arsenal first team I played 11 games. We lost one game and I had seven clean sheets, so the statistics are on my side. Q. Were you surprised that Arsene Wenger put you on the bench? - I was not. But that’s because he told me about it eight or nine days before the return leg against Bayern, where Lukasz started. I took this unpleasant surprise on the chin. Q. You were outstanding in your first season between the posts at Arsenal. People were saying “Szczesny – one of the best and most talented goalkeepers in the league”. Don’t you think that recently you descended into mediocrity? - On the contrary. I believe that I am a better goalkeeper now. I have made progress over two years. During the game I see the effects of work on the training pitch. I have absolutely no reservations about Arsenal’s coaches. Perhaps, though, my progress has not grown in proportion to expectations. Q. At the beginning of the season 2011/12 you saved a penalty by Di Natale from Udinese and Arsenal advanced to the Champions League. You got a very high rating. - But it was not my greatest game. I was just lucky that the striker kicked from 11 meters right at where I was. I was rated high only because I was lucky. Later on I played a lot of better games and saved a lot of points for Arsenal. Unfortunately, there are some stereotypes about us. Like – in addition to an average goalkeeper we also have an average defense, which makes childish mistakes. Last season we allowed 37 goals in the league. Manchester City allowed 34, Chelsea 39. The rest of the teams shipped 40 or more. A year before I let in 49 goals. Seven teams were better then. And now only one… Q. Every six months English newspapers write that Arsenal would buy a number one goalkeeper. This summer the bookmakers stopped taking bets that Julio César from QPR, Brazil’s number one, would end up at Arsenal. - Well, they had to pay up because he did not. I have no influence on the speculations. To this kind of questions I can only answer on the pitch. The most important thing for me is the opinion of the boss and his faith in my abilities. I do not go and ask if a new goalkeeper is coming. I work hard during the training sessions and during the games I repay his confidence. A competition with any goalkeeper does not scare me. Q. Do you wish that Arsenal get someone like Casillas? - Sure. There are never too many great players. Q. Wouldn’t you say: “If I do not play, I want to leave.”? - Never. I would do the same as I do in the national team – I would fight. Q. For now, Arsenal bought from Real Madrid a German midfielder, Mesut Ozil. - It does not even befit to talk about his class, he’s a great reinforcement. This transfer is also a message about our ambitions – this season Arsenal are not fighting only for a place in the top four. We’re playing for the championship of England and other trophies. The other positive aspect is that more and more class players will want to play next to him, Cazorla and Wilshere. It is the best midfield in Europe. Q. Apparently Özil had almost failed his medical tests. When visiting the club’s trophy cabinet he inhaled so much dust that he almost got the asthma. - Ha, ha, ha … I assure you that no one at the club is happy because in the last eight years we have won nothing. Now I see that the ambitions go hand in hand with the strength of the team. Finally, we were not weakened by a transfer out of a top player. In previous years departures included Fabregas and Van Persie. Now we got strengthened by Ozil and Flamini. We’re going to enjoy not only the victories over Tottenham, which, of course, like every year, taste special. Q. Before the WC qualifying games you won 1-0. - As an Arsenal fan I was very happy. The more so that the transfer window was open and everybody knew how much each team had spent on transfers. They have spent tens of millions of pounds, and we were at zero at that point. But one cannot buy class at any price. Q. After the game you played on the piano a melody dedicated to Tottenham supporters and put it on Facebook. What was that? - It was a home work. I came home, sat down and played what happened to be on the staff. Two months ago I discovered a new passion in myself, and having recently had a lot of spare time, I decided to learn how to play piano. Q. It is tough for me to associate the goalkeeper’s fingers with the fingers of a Chopin competition’s winner. - Maybe it will get easier… I like music. Once, my mother enrolled me and my brother in a dance class, but it never became my passion. During the recent holidays I thought it would be useful to learn something new, i.e. to speak Spanish or to play a musical instrument. I found that a piano looks nice at home. I have regular classes with a Polish teacher. Slowly I begin to grasp what is written on the staff and begin to read music. But it’s a long road ahead of me. Football is a lot easier than the piano. Q. Surprising hobby. - I’d rather spend my time at the piano than in a casino. Q. Let’s get back to football. What is the priority for Arsenal this season: Premiership or Champions League? - Premiership comes to mind first as it is the most prestigious title. Champions League football is the most important event of the season. In both competitions will play the strongest squad. Q. Other big four clubs have changed managers. José Mourinho after returning to Chelsea said: “Everything is as it was when I left in England. Arsenal are still without a trophy.” - Witty. But I’ve heard that he mentioned us as one of the candidates for the championship. Competition promises to be exciting. Right now nobody is able to assess the impact of the changes, it is too early. I hope that the stability that we have at Arsenal will be one of our strengths, but not the only one. Other clubs have brought in outstanding players, Liverpool started the season well. Both Manchester teams will compete for the title, Chelsea, Liverpool and us. Q. Can David Moyes fill Sir Alex Ferguson’s shoes? - I cannot imagine that they would not be in the fight for the championship. Moyes has been working in England for a long time, he knows the specifics, the players and he has the experience. Q. In the Champions League you drew the strongest rivals. Not only Napoli and Marseille but also Borussia Dortmund with Lewandowski and Błaszczykowski. - So far 16 people confirmed that they would be at the Emirates for the Arsenal v Borussia game. It should be fun. I just wonder who they will be rooting for. If we do not win, they can look for other accommodations. It will be fun to meet a friend and colleague on the pitch. We played against Borussia in the Champions League two years ago. Robert did not score against me and I do not mind that scenario repeating itself. Since then, he and Borussia made ​​extraordinary progress. It should be a lot of exciting evenings. Q. Your friend Robert Lewandowski is in the top five of the best strikers in the world. When will you be one of the top goalkeepers? - I do not know how big is the gap between me and the best ones. I know I need to work on each facet of my game. I want to get better and recently it’s been going pretty well. The most important thing is to maintain the form. But according to some people, whatever I do, I always do it wrong…..” One thing is certain, Sczcezzers can only get better, and hopefully the presence of Viviano on the bench will help him concentrate more on keeping his place in the first team…