Tony Leen
THAT Polish keeper at Arsenal is some prospect. No, he truly is. Problem is Wojciech Szczesny is keeping them out at League One side Brentford for the remainder of the season, where he’s on loan.
The 19-year-old Poland international (pictured right) has been in sparkling form for the Bees since being farmed out by Arsenal in November, conceding just six goals in nine appearances and will remain at Griffin Park until May 31st.
How Arsene Wenger must rue that, and not moving for the likes of Shay Given, Brad Friedel, Jussi Jaaskelainen and several other competent keepers over the years. The three at his disposal at present must make for an interesting day's work for the club's goalkeeping coach, and former Republic international, Gerry Peyton.
It's a long-held suspicion of mine, and alluded to by Guardian writer Amy Lawrence today, that the technical precision Wenger brings to offensive tactics is not replicated defensively or with the club's goalkeepers - all the way back to Richard Wright.

The eccentricities of referee Martin Hansson cannot mask Wednesday’s farce in Porto where Lukasz Fabianski’s calamitous efforts put Arsenal’s Champions League progress at risk. The controversy over the second goal shouldn't facilitate collective amnesia when it comes to the Pole's schoolboy attempts to keep out Porto’s opener.
There was an interesting RTE studio debate afterwards on Wenger’s transfer policies and his careful husbandry of the club’s resources. While Eamon Dunphy rightly pointed to the fact that Arsenal are a case study in proper fiscal responsibility - at least compared to Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool - his colleagues Johnny Giles and Ronnie Whelan felt a degree of culpability attached to Wenger for not bolstering his squad in key areas. In fact, all three are correct as the issues are mutually exclusive. Wenger will never go the road of a £30m player that plunges the club into debt, but he must accept responsibility for not plugging stunningly deficient areas - in goals, at centre back, in midfield and in attack.
There was reasons aplenty for Wenger to fret again on Wednesday night, but the most alarming came in the post-match interview of his captain Cesc Fabregas.
“When you concede these goals you cannot go anywhere, schoolboy goals, what can you do?” said an exasperated Fabregas. “Maybe we are still a little soft in that aspect. As a team when we concede we are not strong enough to lift ourselves. We were not strong enough to stand up and play well.”
It doesn’t require a giant leap of imagination to interpret that as ‘I’m sick of being surrounded by sub-standard duds’.
Pep, where should I sign?
If Arsenal fail to overturn a first leg deficit they should never have brought home with them, the impact on the club could be far-reaching. Their record of over-turning first leg deficits in Europe is not good - they haven't overturned a first leg deficit since 1978-79 against Hadjuk Split, being eliminated eight times since when losing the first leg.
Can it truly be that the most thoughtful manager in the Premier League just doesn’t get. In the absence of Gallas, there is no commanding centre back; in the absence of Song, there is no destructive midfielder (Diaby is now injured too); in the absence of van Persie there is no clinical finisher. And in the absence of all that is good and holy, there's no logic in not investing in a proper goalkeeper.
In an ITV interview before the Porto game, reporter Gabriel Clarke tried to reason with Wenger that while Arsenal are beautiful to watch for the television viewer, a greater degree of pragmatism was called for. The French man reverted to “achievements” in terms of consistency - no club can match Arsenal’s qualification record for the knockout stages of the Champions League for instance.
But can you put that in the trophy cabinet?

Yes, there are injury concerns - the absence of Almunia (you're not laughing now), Gallas, Song, Arshavin, Eduardo and van Persie would undermine any team, but squads win trophies - not teams.
Some may find it admirable that Wenger does not dress down his players in public in the manner Alex Ferguson did to Johnny Evans in Milan on Tuesday night. Where Fergie rules with an iron fist, ensuring his players are aware of their professional responsibilities, Wenger’s ‘softly softly’ approach leaves his players look lost and helpless on the pitch when things get tough.
Clearly Fabregas agrees - one more factor edging him closer to home.