It has been announced that Lukas Fabianski has signed for Swansea and will join the Welsh side on July 1st when his Arsenal contract expires.
The Polish stopper ended his Arsenal career on a high with an FA Cup winners medal and a contribution in every round of the cup. Having joined in 2007 from Legia Warsaw he went on to make just 78 appearances in an Arsenal shirt as he struggled with form and injury, before falling behind compatriot Wojciech Szczesny in the pecking order.
There were some memorable howlers as he struggled to translate his training ground form onto the pitch, but his time with the Gunners ended on a real high note as he helped the club win the FA Cup.
Some sterling performances in the previous rounds saw him keep his place for the final, and even though he channeled the Fabianski of old right at the end (still makes my heart race), we won the cup and that’s all that counts.
Arsene Wenger will now be on the look-out for suitable back-up for Szczesny, and good luck to Fabianski at Swansea.
Will he not just be no.2 to Vorm there??
Bayern wanted him to be their number one.if Szczęsny went there he would be the coach
I’ve heard of parking the bus, but wouldn’t that be going a little too far?
/gets coat.
Lets just get Casillas. He is not number 1 anymore at Real, and primarily played the CL games this season. In 14 games in Champions League he made 4.22 saves Per goal, and conceeded 0.69 goals a game. Szczesny made 1.95 saves Per goal and conceeded 1.11 goals a game in the League. In CL Szczesny had 7 appearances and made 1.80 saves Per goal and conceeded 0.71 goals a game. Yes the stats dont tell the whole story, but i think everyone can Agree our odds of winning the league would increase substantially with Casillas in goal. A leader… Read more »
Bring in Vorm as a no.2 and Williams as backup to Mertescielny!!!
Swansea signing Fabianski implies he is better than Vorm (he’s not going elsewhere to be zno.2 again). Do we really want to downgrade our backup keeper? He’s older than Fabianski too.
Williams? Seriously, some people need a head-check.
As a 4th choice cb? He’s good enough to fill that role.
He’s better than alot of people think.
Let us not forget the time he hoofed the ball in to Dutch Skunk’s head
Almost killing the Little boy
Good luck Lukas. Really wanted you to stay as a top quality back up keeper but totally understand why you wanted to move on.
You’ll get a great reception back at the Emirates when we play Swansea next season
and then after the reception he’l recieve I hope he doesnt play a blinder. Would very much want Flappyhandski to show up that day not this New Fabianski esp if we get a penalty
I wish he had stayed. Now that he has left – meh!
Wish him all the best. Bit of a strange move given Vorm is there- he must be moving on. Fab always came across as a total professional and a good egg but never lost the propensity for the odd brain fart…
Hope he throws in 36 sterling performances and 2 brain farts next season.
No need guessing… The two should be against us! Nice one there!
Nope.
We don’t need brain farts from him to beat Swansea, and I’d rather not sully the memories.
Besides, if he has one, it is easier to feel for the poor guy if it doesn’t happen against us, and laughing at it wouldn’t feel quite so wrong.
Last season Vorm went all Almunia on Swansea.
If Vorm goes, as I suspect Fab has been assured as his move is motivated by first team football, we will have three first choice, ‘Arsenal trained’ goalkeepers in the Prem, Mannone being the third. Our player development staff are doing something right then eh?
Guess it shows Quality doesn’t necessarily mean Arsenal Quality.
Vorm has been heavily linked with a move, probably to Liverpool as backup for Mignolet. It seems like Fabianski is a pre-emptive signing on Swansea’s part.
He’s a decent enough ‘keeper but seemed to have been injured a fair bit last season. I’d still take him as backup.
I thought Viviano was good enough as back up?
Viviano’s on loan from Palermo, I don’t think he’ll be back next season. Which means that we’ll need a back-up for Szczesny.
Um, what you basing that opinion on there o’gizzle?
I loved him joining in the FA cup celebrations, what a Gap year he has enjoyed!
Really happy for the man. Hope he gets first team football!.. except against us. We know what he’s really capable of.
Good Luck to this man.Fab
Yah Gunners Yah! Oh yah!
Makes sense for Swansea, they get a keeper as capable as Vorm for free and can then sell Vorm for profit.
Good luck Fabs!
Good luck Fab. Thanks for the cup, especially your semi final performance.
Good luck Fab. Easily forgotten that he made a great save in the Final too, even after his heart-in-mouth moment, when he saw that shot late low down to his right.
100 pounds says he’ll play a blinder against us next year. happens all the time
Dammit! Now all my FA Cup memorabilia has a bloody Swansea player in it!
Very disappointed in your blog today. Fabianski is going, just wish him luck, why rake up the past in such a way. Szczesny has never made mistakes has he? Or got caught showing off. Chelsea and Sp*rs both have decent number two goal keepers, isn’t the fact we had young keepers on the bench one of our many downfalls in the past?
Why shouldn’t we look back on all of his Arsenal career? I like the guy and wish him well, but part of what I do is look at things in an overall context which is what today’s blog was about. It was hardly a hatchet job or anything.
Good point, all I am saying is why look back at all? He came, he played, he went, we all move on. It just seems that as Arsenal fans we only let players leave through “traitors gate” or the ” he wasn’t good enough” door, it seems these doors have now been extended to let the trainees pass through it as they leave the club. GreekTragedy also makes a good point so I guess I am on my own in wanting all Arsenal fans to hold hands an sing cumbayer, especially in a summer where there will be no cracked… Read more »
I wasn’t dismissing him or what he contributed, but just looking at what his departure means overall. I think we’ve got a better keeper in Szczesny. I wasn’t calling him a traitor or shit, and when Sagna announces his departure I’ll look at it in the same way.
I’m all for being positive, and I’m enjoying the glow around the place at the moment, but there’s still room for critical analysis. It’s important to have that balance.
Why not look back? There were times where the move could have been the other way around, or both Poles could have left. It turns out that Szczesny won that battle and Fabianski has (rightly) decided he’s too good to be number 2; even if it is at Arsenal. Spurs and Chelsea have good second choices, but both: are over 40, drifting into retirement, and seem happy to do so with their arses warming benches. Fabianski isn’t going through either the ‘traitor’ or the ‘not good enough’ gates as you call them. It doesn’t seem to get a high profile… Read more »
Perhaps it’s called ‘blog’ because it includes some personal opinions…
Also, unless you want a blog about ’24m swoop for Rodrigo’ or ‘Cesc returning to Arsenal in audacious 40€ offer’, this is as good as content is going to get while all eyes are on Roy Hodson’s bumbling brigade of ne’er do wells.
I think today’s blog was slightly disrestpectful towards Fabianski. The blog started to make the noise befor the FA cup final – anyway we won the Cup – supporting our No1 to replace him with utilitarian arguments.
Er, what?
Very anti Fabianski postings in the past.
We sold the wrong Pole.
If we’re getting a keeper , it should be for 1st choice.
We need someone steady when we’re shite.
no one can blame Fab for leaving if hes motivated for regular playing rather than money although he may get a fat signing on fee and simular wages, he’s stuck in a rut were he knows he will only get the no1 spot if shez is injured or suspended for league games, he did perform outstandingly in the FA cup games, i wish him well of course until we meet Swansea. But its a big problem in its self to bring in another keeper who knows he will be second fiddle, be motivated enough and good enough for AFC, they… Read more »
Good luck. I”ve always liked him better than Szczesny as a keeper and I prefer his demeanour as well. Very sad to see him go.
One of those players that really won me round. Sad to see him go now, but wish him the best of luck, he deserves it.
Good luck Lukas! I loved the way you celebrated at Wembley.
Wonder if we have a ‘buy back’ clause for Vito Mannone? He was absolutely commandeering at times for Sunderland last season.
Especially I remember he made like two dozen saves against United in the Carling Cup semi-final second-leg in Manchester… including the penalty-shootout where I think United scored only 1 out of 5 kicks.
He also won the fans player of the year for Sunderland 🙂
Thanks for the Fab memories
good luck to Fabianski
I hope they let us buy Bony for cheap in return
Wouldn’t mind seeing Alex Mccarthy come in as no.2. Young, English and has played in PL before. He’s also a gooner. Up Thr Arse
A shame to see him go. Other than that heart in mouth moment he got away with in the final he’s been excellent the last two years. Good luck to him at Swansea. Hope he plays blinders against Sp*rs, Chelsea, Liverpool, City and United and ships us a few goals in the next four years.
I saw somewhere that Pantilinerman or whatever he’s called from City is out of contract this summer. Might make an alright number 2, though I suspect he’ll be another looking for first team football. What about Stuart Taylor or Richard Wright…
One Fab out. Another Fab in?
Bayern wanted him to be their number one.I guess if Szczęsny went there he would be the coach.
Bayern wanted him to be their number one.if Szczęsny went there he would be the coach
Guess Vorm is on his bike. Best of luck to Fab hope he has a couple of stinkers against us but absolute blinders against our rivals.
We should have brought in Cesar on the cheap last summer or in january. Sczczesny could then learn from one of the best and become better quicker because of it.
so sad to see him leave, but it is undersatndable. Good luck Fabianski wherebever u are going, but make sure u don’t get in our way trying to win the league. ℓ=))ℓ
Good luck Lukaszek! As a Pole I’m upset to see him leave but I’m glad he’ll get to be a first-choice keeper, he deserves it. I hope Wenger sings another Pole, we need to keep the balance in check 🙂
From flappy-hand-ski to fabulous-hand-ski. Thanks for the cup and the memories, all the best Lukas!
Thought he was decent enough overall but his performance in the FINAL itself shows he couldn’t be number one. Just didn’t instil much confidence in me, especially with the crosses. The Almunia moment made me grab my brother in fear, although after watching Casillas in the Champions League Final shows everyone was channelling the Spaniard.
Fabianski has no doubt improved, but the reminders of why he was not #1 came up again in the final. Silly mistakes and poor decisions we won’t miss. In the same way that we laughed when Kolo Toure messed up Liverpool’s season. Both great guys but capable of inexplicably messing up when others won’t.
I hope we never have a penalty shootout against swans
Oier Olazabal is available from Barca (B) Wouldn’t be a terrible second choice keeper with Emi Martinez behind him. Wouldn’t cost much at all by the sounds of things. Perhaps not experienced enough if Szczesny was injured for a long period of time. But could be a decent addition as a squad player. It’ll be hard to find a balance between a GK who is experienced and ready to play first team football but also who is fully aware he is second choice. One i’ve personally enjoyed watching is Keylor Navas at Levante but he’s had too good a season… Read more »
Well I guess that’s that. Thanks for the FA cup run.
Replacements stay the same. Sagna, Fabianski, and likely Vermaelen.
+ One striker additional and that may be business as a whole this summer.
It’s true that we’ve only lost a #2 goalkeeper – but he was probably the best #2 in all of Europe. He deserved regular first team football, and now he’ll probably get it. He really improved in the last couple of years and I would have loved for him to stay, but I fully understand his thinking. Best wishes, Lukasz, and I hope you have 36 great games next year.
Goodbye fabianski…thankyou for those saves that got us into the final,am feeling so sad but i understand his reasons for leaving. Unlike sagna he’s not leaving for money. Goodluck at swansea