Lukasz Fabianski has thanked Arsene Wenger for the chance to play throughout Arsenal’s FA Cup run even though he told the club in December that he planned to leave at the end of the season.
The Polish stopper, who confirmed a move to Swansea last week after seven years at the Emirates, also revealed that the boss didn’t give up hope of persuading the 29-year-old to pen a new deal even asking him to reconsider in the days after the Gunners Wembley triumph.
“In December I told them [Arsenal] I would leave in the summer,” Fabianski told UEFA.com.
“I would like to say thank you for the great behaviour of the coach and whole club. They knew I was leaving but they allowed me to play cup games till the end. Because of that, I had opportunity to play a very special goodbye game and to take part in the street celebrations the next day. I was so happy to see all those Arsenal fans.
“Even two days after the cup final, when I came to the training ground to say goodbye to all the Arsenal people, I was asked again whether it was my final decision because if I changed my mind they still wanted me to stay. It was an important gesture for me as it showed me I had gained respect from the boss and other people at Arsenal.”
Heavily linked with a move to Germany, Fabianski confirmed that the Bundesliga was a tempting destination but stressed that Swansea’s plans for the future were enough to persuade him to stay in the Premier League.
“I had four serious offers,” he said of interest in his signature. “When I decided to leave Arsenal, I also decided that I would only be interested in playing in England or Germany.
“Why Swansea? I think it is the best place for me to make progress. I like the way the club operate. They are building new facilities, they want to make their stadium bigger and they are consolidating their position in English football. I am really glad I will be part of this project – an important part, I hope.”
Nice chap. Best of luck to him at the Liberty Stadium.
Yes,he’s a lovely chap. But the final, lasting memory will be of his special ‘wild stallion’ stunt at the end of his final, but very, very enjoyable game for us. For me anyway.
almost gave me a heart attack with that mad run out of the box…makes winning that much more special. 2 weeks on, i still have smile on my face!
My dear fellow, It amazes me that almost everyone overlooks the fact that it perhaps was that mad stunt that tempted the opposition player to decide to not go for the best option – i.e. to pass – in which case we’d be fucked since we’re outnumbered centrally; but rather have a go at the flashing empty goal and miss – as was proper for his level of skill?
Perhaps there’s no way to prove that he made the wrong decision?
Sincerely.
I Agree, if he had not run out like that, the pass would have come and we would have had a 1 on 1 situation with the keeper which Imo would have been an Even greater chance than a rushed shot at a steep angle with the keeper covering most of the goal. And since they did not score, you have to say it was the right decision because we now know rushing out like that made them miss. But we dont know what would happen if he did not run out. And with them outnumbering us infront of goal,… Read more »
Yeah I think it worked out for the best in the end, but was perhaps a little rash at the time. Fabianksi definitely went with the intention of getting the ball and he definitely screwed it up, the fact it worked out for the best is luck more than skill on Fab’s part.
Good bye Mate
Thank You for Those Penalty Saves..
Thanks for that great performance in the FA Cup semi-final penalty shootout. And for having a name that lent itself to the best nickname ever – Flappyhandski. Though to be fair that’s a lot less relevant now.
I thought “Vampire” (for fear of crosses) was even more ingenious. Although to be fair to Flaps, he earned the right to not be called that in his last few seasons.
Class is Permanent
Arsenal is Class
Arsenal is permanent?
No.
Arsenal is Class.
Class is Permanent.
If A = B and B = C, then A = C
So, yes. Arsenal are permanent.
Not in case of matrix..never mind..
Gooneron is Permanent Arsenal Fan
Thanks Fabianski, you were a great guy and a talented player, and you looked like Joey from ‘Friends’. I hope you have a good career with Swansea.
Thanks Lukasz, i say his keeping against pool after the trashing in the league was at least as important as the penalty saves.
(does anyone have a link to that infamous rave vid featuring his list charge in the cup?)
Good lucky Fabs. Hopefully you can let us score a few when we play you 😉
Nice one fab, top bloke. Glad he got a good send off. Good luck at Swansea!
Also what happened to the Arsenal that lacks good keepers? Mannone and Fab at prem teams, plus a hugely improved Chesny between the sticks for us..
Good luck at Swansea except vs. Arsenal. Ship 8 in each leg against us in appreciation, wilya?
They saw the Problem and Corrected it Brilliantly….hope they do the same with Injury occurrence frequency
Thanks Fabianski, you were a real professional and never rushed to the so called “media” for cheap complains but decided to wait till AW gave you a chance and when the chance came,you grabbed it really well.I think for your loyal and calm personality,AW paid you back in letting you play even though he knew u are on the way out.Good luck in your time at swansea!!! i believe that your motive for the move is playing time not only money like so many players of this time which is really sad.Like Vito Mannone, please remember to help Arsenal by… Read more »
Top guy, never stopped working to get his place! Wish him luck in the future!
Best of luck. Sorry to be picky but he said he only wanted to play in England or Germany, so he chose Swansea. I know what he means. Best of luck in Wales.
P.S don’t wear your signed Ramsey top walking round the town centre.
Classy chap praises classy club. Tis how it should be. Good luck Lucas. Think you’ve chosen a good move.
Anyone knows how our puma kit looks like? I know, I know…. The lack of Arsenal news is killing me.
Good luck Fabulous-handski. Don’t do any wild sprints out of your own box again for the sake of the Swansea-supporters’ own health.
I wonder if they see him as a better keeper than Vorm then, because he’s been one of Swansea’s best players over the last two seasons for me.
Also, don’t get how Fab gets so much stick for that FA cup final charge and Mert gets off like he wasn’t even on the pitch. Arguably, SZCZ made a worse mistake vs Bayern to effectively ruin the tie for us and put us out of Europe.
What a great man Arsene is. True to his principles – huge respect for The Professor.
However, Sir, please do your signings beforehand and do not wait until the 11th hour – read that the mugsmashers are after Cesc and Aurier.
Kindly go easy on our hearts…..
Good bloke, he seems to be. All the best Lucasz! I’ve been a fan of him since the 2-0 in March last year versus those Bayern bastards.
Because Mert didn’t fall on purpose, while Fab decided to charge out of the box. Great point about Szcz, though.
I’m not saying he fell on purpose but surely you’re not suggesting Fab came running out to miss the ball either? They’re both mistakes that combined, almost cost us a goal. I just think one of them is being vilified more than the other.
If we accept that Gerrard cost Liverpool vs Chelsea, we must accept that Mert did make a mistake in that instance… Happily it didn’t cost us anything but I just wonder how the blame would have fallen if it had.
Actually, I think you’re completely right. Mertesacker made a (rare) mistake, Fabianski reacted fast, maybe too fast. And Chez’s mistake cost us against Bayern, as did Ozil’s penalty miss. Everybody makes mistakes, it’s how many that matters, and none of these guys makes many. Having said that, Mr. Arseblog is often reluctant to criticize Chez for mistakes that Fabianski would get blasted for, in my opinion, although being his blog he can say what he feels. I don’t think there was much between them at all. I think he is better at commanding his box and one on one saves,… Read more »
Tells a lot about Wenger as well, how refreshing to see someone placing loyalty higher than just cold economic thinking by letting Fabianski finish the cup run he played a big part in.
Such a huge contrast to selfish idiots like mourinho
I don’t think saying Szcz made a worse mistake is fair on him. After all, it was “the rules” that done us really and not the fact Szcz decided to come out and try and stop the diving cheating bastard robben.
Saying that though, it’s irrelevant now, as is Fabs rush of blood to the head in the final.
No it was a worse mistake, definitely. If I foul someone on the edge of the box it’s a mistake, if I foul someone just inside of the box it’s a worse mistake because I know the rules and how both will be punished. It’s unfortunate that the rules punished us in that way, but they were known to SZCZ before he made the foul. It’s better to come out, miss the ball and the player like Fab did than take the player out, knowing it’ll be a red card and penalty. I’m not particularly bothered but I just wish… Read more »
Anyone else suffering from comment withdrawals the last few days?
I’m suffering a lot more from reading in the Guardian that we’re not interested in Cesc and Chelsea are preparing to sign him. Mind you, the Guardian didn’t say where they got this and, since it could be easily be the usual crap from Golum Bollockque, probably means Cesc is going nowhere at all. Still, a tiny bit of good news like, er, fans of other clubs get every now and again during the window would be nice, don’t you think? Or are we being left to suffer till ten to eleven on the last night of the window as… Read more »
Think with your head and not your heart.
It helps.
You mean we don’t need Cesc (assuming all our midfielders stay fit for a year) whereas we badly need practically everything else? Very true. But the other way of looking at it is about ambition and whether the club wants to progress. City don’t need half the players they’ve got, and if there was one thing Real didn’t need it was Bale for 100m. That’s how they won the league and the CL, however, and earned themselves a lot of money and prestige in the process. Thing is, if you want to win serious trophies, you don’t miss the opportunity… Read more »
Miranda, can you honestly see Wenger buying back Cesc? If you look at the three occasions when Wenger re-signed players – Campbell, Lehman and Flamini – they were all basically short-term panic buys, done to fill in a glaring deficiency. I just can’t see Le Prof going after Cesc when we don’t have a problem with attacking midfielders. Cesc is one of the best players whom I’ve ever seen in an Arsenal shirt, and he had a fantastic competitive attitude. But for me the priority right now is two quality strikers; a decent defensive midfielder wouldn’t go amiss, either. And… Read more »
I dunno, but I think the situation is unprecedented. I mean, when in the past have we lost a young key player who wanted to return and who we ourselves thought we might well be glad to have back, so much so we insisted on a buy-back option when we sold him? As for Wenger assessing the needs of the squad and spending strategically, when have you ever known him do that? We needed a striker last year, and a fourth central defender, but what did we buy? Right, a luxury we didn’t actually need. Wenger doesn’t do pragmatism. He… Read more »
Best of luck next season, y’know, for 36 games
what is happening with vorm at swansea? because honestly that is just as much competition for fabianski as szez was…im not sure if vorm is leaving or something, but he is a great keeper.
My thoughts exactly. I thought he’d go to a place where he’s a clear number one. But Vorm is actually going to the World Cup and I’m not sure if he’ll get past him. Then the decision wouldn’t be as good. Do hope he succeeds in the games he plays excluding those against Arsenal.
Wenger had both Fabianski and Szsc competitive for the number one spot for a while.
But now that Szsc has stepped up, he rally only needs someone competent to give the Pole a bit of a push rather than someone offering direct competition.
And older player who has done the rounds and is able to sit still for long spells on the bench without moaning is preferable. Someone who can assists Szsc with his experience.
Who remembers the double save fabianski made against wigan in the carling cup?
http://youtu.be/QIuE8M1tU74
Great video. I know it was not always the case, but I think that we had two very good goalkeepers for these last couple of seasons and it’s hard to remember another time in the past when we could use our keepers interchangeably without massively weakening the team. I’d be very surprised if we get a better back-up keeper in Fab’s place. Good luck to him.
Great job Arseblog. I admire this blog and your hardwork. At least, Fabianski will not score against us… I hope!!! kkk
Thanks fab ! Now go buy cesc !
No Cesc. It will distract us from where we really need to bring in players. 1) At 30m (before bidding) TOO expensive 2) Surfeit of midfielders at the moment at Arsenal 3) Likely wenger has extended Rosicky BC he knows he needs to put attention in other areas of the squad. Midfield replenishment can wait another season. Ditto the issue with Arteta and Flamini where there continues to be voices calling for tall bruising Dms like say Pualinho or Wanyama or Mvilla before. We need to replace 3 positions in RB, GK and CB. The RB and CB will need… Read more »
Even if there was room for a midfield purchase, my preference would be for someone who can operate wide (preferably LW) Ox is being groomed for the middle, Santi is better from the middle. There is Ozil, Rosicky, Ramsey, Jack the odd Diaby appearance possibly, Zelalem will push for a spot. Out wide, we have Podolski, Walcott and young Gnabry. We could do with another player who can add pace and invention (although it is not priority this summer) I like Konoplyanka who can play across midfield and is coming into his good years. But he may be pricey at… Read more »
Bottom line, spend the money where it is needed.
We have gaps that need to be taken care of.
No room for fantasy.
Grenier is not pacey hes creative and if you don’t want Cesc, why the fuck would you suggest Grenier? ha.
Mostly agree otherwise.
Another question actually, have you ever seen this Konoplyanka play, regularly, and not on youtube, because I sure as hell haven’t. Besides he plays in the Russia league (i think…) so he could be an utter flop here, its a worth while risk for liverpool, but not for Arsenal.
Grenier can play wide (reminds me a bit of Bobby Pires style wise) but agreed he is mainly central. OTOH, he isn’t as effing expensive as say uh I dunno Fabregas? Konoplyanka’s advantage is he is generally ambidexterous. With Santi pushing up in age, surely useful to have. Have seen him recently against England and has done nothing to suggest that he isn’t useful otherwise. His age is also useful as he is only just coming in to 25 which represents plenty of room for growth (like Ozil). He is well seasoned internationally and good at dead ball too. Aptitude… Read more »
how can you say we dont need cesc and have enough midfielders at arsenal???????
was 1 of the main reasons that we didnt win the league was that when midfielders like ramsey and wilshire got injured we didnt have the depth in our squad to replace them….. thats when we started losing games,,, if we had cesc we would have pushed on…
we need cesc.. and to strengthen in a few other places… dont want cesc in blue playing for maureen and alongside the cunt john terry
Cback is a massive area of concern at the moment. Meterscielny needs someone who can rotate through them. Even with the extra CBack (pref if he can cover in midfield of course) we may still need a fourth Cback bc Sagna will not be around to cover as an emergency. One option may be to assess if Miquel can step up in that spot. he must have done reasonably well with the Foxes with their promotion even if he did not feature in all the games consistently. He is at the age where he either cracks into the squad or… Read more »
No room for fantasy during the long sultry summer nights? Santori you killjoy!
I’ll be more joyful if I were you when we actually bring in players that we need to.;)
Real class act. Thanks for being honest and true yourself. Will never forget your last days at the club. Thanks for the unforgettable memories. All the best Fabianski