Wojciech Szczęsny (front left) Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Polish international goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny has come under strong criticism for his performances for Premier League side Arsenal in recent weeks. 

First came a mistake against Blackburn Rovers that led to the second-tier-league side knocking the Gunners out of the FA Cup. Arsenal had completely dominated the match, despite being unable to find the back of the net. Finally, Mr Szczęsny failed to deal with a shot from Blackburn’s Martin Olsson, and only managed to parry the ball into the path of the Rovers’ Colin Kazim-Richards. He fired the ball past the stranded Polish keeper to give Blackburn victory.

Then, in last week’s Champions League round of 16 match with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, Mr Szczęsny allowed three goals, with the 3-1 score line virtually ending Arsenal’s involvement in the tournament with the second leg still to play. The Pole could do little about the first and third goals, but was again at fault at the 21-minute mark when he parried a Daniel van Buyten header straight at Thomas Müller, enabling the German midfielder to blast the ball into the Arsenal goal.

Following another less-than-convincing performance, speculation is mounting that the 22-year-old may be replaced in the summer, with Arsene Wenger finally losing patience with his erratic goalkeeping.

Stoke City’s Simon Mignolet is being touted as the most likely replacement. The Belgian international has been in inspired form for one of the Premier League’s tightest defenses this season.

David Ingham