What you never see if you only watch Arsenal on TV: Jens2 takes a bow « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

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By Walter Broeckx

Living near Antwerp as I do I normally watch Arsenal on TV.  Which is why, when I do make it to the games I notice all the things that you just don’t see on TV.

At home you get to see all kind of replays when there is a stop for an injury or a foul and then you do not see what is happening on the pitch. So, being at the Villa game it was great to see a few things I usually never get to see at home.  Of course for the Gooners who go every day it might look familiar but for me it was special and I think it should be mentioned because it shows something that is mostly hidden for people who cannot attend games live at the Emirates.

In the first half after some 5 minutes Shay Given started his time wasting act for the first time. He was examining the ball for a few seconds. Inspecting the stitching, reading the instructions [“place boot here and apply force”] and that sort of thing. Then turning it around in his hands to see if there was anything else written on the ball [undoubtedly looking for the confirmatory note that “this is a ball” so he didn’t kick the wrong thing]. Then walking in slow motion to the place where he would put the ball down.   Then the grass inspection, the choice of the best blade, the removal of a speck of mud, a sudden slight gust of wind making him then move one yard to the left, a further check that it is still a ball and hasn’t been replaced by some other object when he wasn’t looking…  You never realise how much responsibility the keeper has until you sit in the stands behind him.

Next after placing the ball he stepped one yard away, studied if the grass was in the correct position like a golf player does when he has to put a ball. Then one step backwards. Then cleaning his left boot. One step backwards then cleaning his right boot. By then the crowd was jeering and even Dowd made a gesture to not overdo it.  Thanks Phil for doing that by the way.

Then he took a few passes backwards. Steadied himself for the kick, breathing in and out for a few times before actually running forward. I think the goal kick took as long as it took you to read this.

But the best part of it came in the second half. A rare Villa attack had resulted in a goal kick for Szczesny. And then Szczesny proved that he is not just one of the best youthful keepers in the world but also a real football lover and great fan and comedian. Because he did an impersonation of what Given had been doing from the start of the game. First he did a Lehman by letting the ball bounce against him and the board so it bounced at the wrong side of the board and the ball boy had to run back a bit.

Szczesny clearly had studied all the moves from Given and then he just did the same. I swear it’s the truth that he just did it like Given did it and took all the time in the world. I saw one of the Villa players making a gesture to Dowd at the time (I was curious to see if he would react as a ref of course) and I cannot be 100% sure but I had the impression that Dowd was smiling at him and looking with a facial expression telling him something like “come on this is a parody of Given his antics, just enjoy it”.

That Szczesny moment of comedy was well worth the travel up to North London alone.

Other than that Szczesny was also great a few times showing how a keeper can have a great influence on the rest of the team. The first time when Albrighton escaped when Gibbs had gone forward a bit too much some fingers were pointed at Gervinho who clearly had the task to keep an eye on such things and run back when needed. Gervinho got some talk from a few players and Szczesny was shouting at him from his penalty area.

And when minutes later Gibbs went forward again this time Gervinho ran back, took the ball from Allbrighton and then was pushed away by the Villa player and the assistant signalled the foul. And this time Szczesny came rushing out of his goal and showed his appreciation for this great covering run from the left winger.

And he also did a similar thing in the second half when Djourou headed away a cross. Immediately he was there to pat Djourou on the back and encourage him to keep on doing as he was doing and to keep the concentration.

And also when Szczesny made a bad decision and gave a somewhat  dodgy ball to one of the defenders and Villa almost could become dangerous he was the first to apologise to this team mates and in particular to Vermaelen who was giving him and angry eye.

I sometimes wonder how frustrating it is to be an Arsenal keeper. You sometimes have almost nothing to do in the whole game and from my own experience I know those are the most difficult games to play. If the one ball comes when you are needed, you must be there. So it is most of all a thing about staying focused for the whole game and not let your concentration drop.

Well apart from that moment when he entertained me (don’t know about the rest if they noticed it) with that great moment of comedy in the Arsenal goal. Wojciech I really loved it.

What a remarkable young keeper. What a remarkable young man. What a great keeper. What a great Gooner!

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