Fabianski geared up for Blues

[Trina]

Lukasz Fabianski insists he is ready to face Chelsea after impressing between the sticks for Arsenal on Tuesday night.

The goalkeeper, who had earned the nickname 'Flappyhandski' from some Gunners fans following a string of errors, answered his critics with two late saves, one from a penalty, as the Gunners saw off Partizan Belgrade 3-1 in UEFA Champions League action.

Since his arrival at the Emirates in 2007, Polish keeper Fabianski has taken a backseat to regular No.1 Manuel Almunia, who is himself under the spotlight following his below-par display in the shock home Premier League defeat to West Brom last weekend.
Doubtful

Almunia is doubtful for Sunday's trip to Stamford Bridge due to an elbow injury, meaning Fabianski could be set to keep the gloves this weekend.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who has always backed Fabianski, was delighted with the Pole's performance in Serbia on Tuesday.

And the shot-stopper is keen to keep repaying the manager's faith, starting with this weekend's London derby.

"Overall, I am pleased with my performance," said Fabianski.

"I am not talking about just saves, but reading the game, coming for crosses or playing with my feet.

"Every aspect of goalkeeping is important for me, so I am pleased with my performance in general."

He added: "I am ready to play against Chelsea. I was always ready, so we will see.

"I was never really bothered by all the things said. I was always trying to focus on my job and my work.

"That is what I was always doing and that why I am grounded."

Fabianski feels the Gunners can face their local rivals with renewed confidence on Sunday following their Stadion FK Partisan triumph.

Shock

"We are playing really well this season," he said.

"The beginning was really good for us. There was a big shock on Saturday when we lost, but I think you could see against Partizan that we had learned some things from Saturday.

"The performance was much better so we are looking forward to the Chelsea game.

"It is going to be an exciting one to watch, and we are in good condition."

SSN

[mossy]

one swallow dont make a summer......the old sayin goes...but havin said that he has far more potential than the spanish clown..

[mg86]

3-1 game in the champions league, lukasz didn't lose us points, he saved us 2 points. All this kid needs is three things: the bounce back factor, consistency and concentration for the full 90 mins, and some success or achievements to reflect upon for confidence. All of these can be met if we simply, yes, just play him over Almunia. You cannot flip flop over keepers and send a kid through mental mindgames, cause when you put them out there they're always looking behind their shoulder. I give it the go ahead, because Almunia has had years to prove himself.

[Fabrestuta]

What he also needs is to not be facing Didier Drogba in 4 days. The last time he did he had an absolute disaster.

[Leody]

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I don't even know what to say...

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We're f***ked.

[GunnGunn]

What if he single handedly won the game for us...

Would you change your opinion then?

[Fabrestuta]

I assume you mean Leody, anyway I certainly wouldn't. We need to see a full season of half arsed decent displays. Lets not forget his howler last week.

[Leody]

What if he single handedly won the game for us...

Would you change your opinion then?

It would go a long way...

But I'm confident he isn't capable of doing that.

And I'm like Fabs on this. As many howlers as he's had, it would take more than one game to change my opinion. He's never shown me anything that would lead me to believe he is capable of winning a match for our club.

I seriously would LOVE for him to prove me wrong, I would LOVE for it to happen. Because God knows we need it as a club right now.

But he's had chance after chance after chance and he's f***ked them all up, what makes anybody think this time is going to be any different. Same actions, same results... thinking you'll get anything else is just insanity.

[GunnGunn]

Well the thing that makes me feel different is because yesterday, for the first time, he actually done something right, after all the hype, after all the faith, finally he did something to repay our (AW's) faith...

You could see how much it meant to him, and a confident GK is more likely to do well...

He will need to do what he did yesterday 20 times to erase the memories of the games where he was poor but i don't think he has ever had a problem with raw ability, more his own mindset.

I would love him to prove me wrong as i have been a critic as well because as you say, we need someone to step up like this...

Its a risk, but we are f***ked either way with Chelsea, unless you think Almunia is going to save us.

[Fabrestuta]

I will back him either way, I just need to see some consistency before I forget about the past

[Massa]

I'm still shit scared

[Leody]

See my standards are a bit higher.

We should have a keeper that does what Fabianski did last night EVERY night in my opinion. He was good last night, but not anything over the moon amazing. Very solid, not shaky and showed his ability. It was a clean game.

I honestly believe there are at least 10 other keepers on the EPL that could have had a equally as good match last night on an average day.

[GunnGunn]

If i am honest, i don't see Fabianski ever being reliable enough to be our Number 1, but until the day comes when he is no longer here i will harbour hope for him, i remember when he was banging out saves being compared to Cech, starting QF matches for Poland years back.

I love nothing more than seeing a player universally slated coming good, and Fabianski has time on his side.

Like i said, his ability IMO is good enough for us, he is much more than a good shot stopper, but he has to fix his mentality, he decision making...

You can see the lads all want for him to do well and that he is well liked, just by the way he was treated after the penalty, and also at the end of the game when he was mobbed by our players.

It clearly meant a lot to him as i said, and sometimes all it takes is a moment like that...

I am going to choose to get behind him, don't feel scared, if the fans feel scared, the players feel scared, f***ing grow a pair, we might get whooped at Chelsea and it might all be Fabianski's fault, but it hasn't happened yet, so save it.

[CynicalGooner]

If he does play on Sunday I fully expect at least one massive mistake.

I also expect to lose, just hope it isn't embarrassing

[Leody]

I am going to choose to get behind him, don't feel scared, if the fans feel scared, the players feel scared, f***ing grow a pair, we might get whooped at Chelsea and it might all be Fabianski's fault, but it hasn't happened yet, so save it.

I can certainly agree with that, and come match day I will be behind him.

I'd just prefer that between match days we found a better option.

I'm certainly not going to hope he fails, but I also hope that Wenger sees we can do better and goes out and finds better.