Łukasz Fabiański

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Łukasz Fabiański
Lukasz Fabianski Arsenal vs Birmingham 2010-11.jpg
Fabiański playing at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal in 2010
Personal information
Full name Łukasz Fabiański
Date of birth 18 April 1985 (1985-04-18) (age 26)
Place of birth Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Arsenal
Number 21
Youth career
1999–2000 Polonia Słubice
2000–2001 MSP Szamotuły
2001–2002 Lubuszanin Drezdenko
2002–2003 Sparta Brodnica
2003–2004 Mieszko Gniezno
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2005 Lech Poznań 0 (0)
2005–2007 Legia Warsaw 53 (0)
2007– Arsenal 27 (0)
National team‡
2006– Poland 19 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:00, 25 April 2011 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:30, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

Łukasz Fabiański (Polish pronunciation: [ˈwukaʂ faˈbʲaɲskʲi]; born 18 April 1985) is a Polish footballer who plays for English Premier League side Arsenal and the Polish national team as a goalkeeper. Fabiański has represented his country on 19 occasions.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Born in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, after starting his career with Polonia Słubice, Fabiański joined the noted independent football academy MSP Szamotuły when he was 14 years old, where he honed his footballing skills.[2] Fabiański then was signed in the 2004-05 season by Lech Poznań.

[edit] Legia Warszawa

In the winter of 2005, Fabiański was signed by Legia Warszawa, where he competed with Artur Boruc for a place in the team. After Boruc was sold to Celtic, Fabiański took over as starting goalkeeper in the 24 July 2005 game against Arka Gdynia, which ended 0–0. He helped Legia win the Polish league championship in the following 2005–06 season.

In the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, his performances led to him being awarded the "Football Oscar" for the best goalkeeper in the Polish Ekstraklasa.[2]

[edit] Arsenal

On 8 May 2007, Fabiański underwent medical tests in London after Arsenal agreed an undisclosed fee with Legia Warszawa,[3] with the move confirmed on 11 May 2007 by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.[4] Fabiański formally signed for Arsenal on 26 May 2007 with a long-term contract.[5] He made his debut for Arsenal in the League Cup against Sheffield United and was captain for the game. Arsenal won that game 3–0, with two goals from Eduardo and another from Denilson. Thus far his two most notable appearances for Arsenal have been the 5–1 defeat to rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the 2007–08 League Cup semi final and the first leg of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League second round match with F.C. Porto. Fabiański received criticism for conceding soft goals in the Porto match as he scored an own goal and was blamed for the second goal after picking up a backpass from Sol Campbell and Porto scored from the resulting free kick.[6] Fabiański played the last 4 games for Arsenal in the 2009–10 season as number 1 goalkeeper Manuel Almunia suffered a wrist injury. He was criticised for conceding soft goals in the defeats to Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers, however Fabiański was able to keep clean sheets in the games at home to Manchester City and Fulham.[7]

[edit] 2010–11 season

Fabiański started the 2010–11 season as the second choice goalkeeper. On 21 September 2010, he made his first start of the season in a Carling Cup match against neighbours Tottenham at White Hart Lane which Arsenal won 4–1 after extra time. Fabiański almost cost the game for Arsenal, he failed to stop Robbie Keane's long range effort, despite getting a hand to the shot. After the game, he revealed that he was disappointed. He had a solid game in his second match of the season replacing the injured Manuel Almunia one week later in a Champions League 3–1 away win against FK Partizan. He saved Cléo's second penalty of the game in the second half to deny FK Partizan a lifeline. He later turned Ivica Iliev's effort around the post from point-blank range just before the final whistle. Arsène Wenger later commented that Fabiański had a "faultless" game and they finally saw the player who they usually see in training. He kept his first clean sheet in a win over Manchester City where he made many saves in a game that ended 3–0. He was later named man of the match, on an Arsenal.com poll, after a brilliant display to keep Arsenal in the game.[8] After the City game, Wenger admitted that he could well become the club's number one goalkeeper, after impressive displays in the games since the Partizan match.[9] On 7 November 2010, Fabiański was widely criticised for an error that lead to the only goal as Arsenal lost at home to Newcastle This led to supporters and fans of rival clubs giving him the nickname 'Flappy Handski' because he could not keep hold of the ball.[10][11] However, he produced a strong display to keep a clean sheet in the next Premier League game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, in which he managed to prevent a draw with a last-minute save, and then initiating a counter-attack with a long throw of the ball that lead to another Arsenal goal.[12] After the Wolverhampton match, Arsenal played Everton, where Fabiański received the man of the match award from Sky Sports.[13] Arsène Wenger has publicly stated that Łukasz Fabiański can become one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.[14] Fabiański was injured for Arsenal's crucial match with Manchester United but returned for the equally important match with London rivals Chelsea, making many crucial saves in helping Arsenal to win 3–1.[15] On 5 January 2011, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury as he was warming up with the help of Wojciech Szczęsny which ruled him out for the rest of the 2010-11 season.[16]

[edit] 2011–2012 season

Fabianski began the season as backup to his Polish rival Wojciech Szczęsny. Fabianski issued a warning to Szczęsny that he is ready to challenge both him and Arsenal's third keeper Vito Mannone for the number 1 spot but so far has failed to even be a contender for the number one spot.

[edit] Career statistics

Statistics accurate as of 20 September 2011
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps C.S. G.C. Apps C.S. G.C. Apps C.S. G.C. Apps C.S. G.C. Apps C.S. G.C.
Arsenal 2007–08 3 2 2 0 0 0 5 2 8 0 0 0 8 4 11
2008–09 6 2 10 6 3 4 3 2 2 3 2 0 18 9 16
2009–10 4 2 5 2 0 4 2 0 4 2 0 3 10 2 16
2010–11 14 3 9 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0 7 20 3 16
2011–12 0 0 0 2 0 4 3 0 3 1 0 1 6 0 8
Total 27 9 26 10 3 12 14 4 18 11 2 11 62 18 67

Apps – Appearances; G.C. – Goals conceded; C.S. – Clean sheets.

[edit] International career

Having represented Poland regularly at under-21 level, Fabiański's performances for Legia Warszawa saw him soon making his debut for the senior international team in a friendly against Saudi Arabia on 29 March 2006.[5] He was also reserve goalkeeper for the squad in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, held in Germany. During the qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 2008, he made one appearance, playing all 90 minutes in Poland's 2–2 away draw against Serbia on 21 November 2007.[17] In September 2008, Fabiański replaced the suspended Artur Boruc for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Slovenia. He also played in another qualifying match against San Marino in April 2009. His other caps have been in friendlies.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Legia Warszawa

[edit] Individual

  • Polish Soccer Oscar:
    • Best Goalkeeper of Polish Ekstraklasa: 2006, 2007

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.premierleague.com/page/PlayerProfile/0,,12306~39969,00.html Premier League Player Profile accessed 12 March 2011
  2. ^ a b Szczepanik, Nick (11 May 2007). "Poland’s new goalkeeping union not keen to send in the clowns". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article1774760.ece. Retrieved 13 May 2007. 
  3. ^ O'Rourke, Peter (9 May 2007). "Gunners to pick up Pole". Sky Sports. http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=465703&CPID=8&clid=3&lid=&title=Gunners+to+pick+up+Pole. Retrieved 10 May 2007. 
  4. ^ Richard Clarke (11 May 2007). "Wenger: Fabianski is set to sign". Arsenal F.C.. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070513023735/http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=466047&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=TV+Online+exclusive:+Wenger+-+Fabianski+is+set+to+sign. Retrieved 11 May 2007. 
  5. ^ a b "Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski joins Arsenal". Arsenal F.C.. 26 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930205406/http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=468626&lid=NewsHeadline&sub=Polish+goalkeeper+Lukasz+Fabianski+joins+Arsenal&sublid=NewsHeadline&Title=Polish+goalkeeper+Lukasz+Fabianski+joins+Arsenal&f=rss. Retrieved 26 May 2007. 
  6. ^ Martin Blackburn (19 April 2010). "Flappyhandski 'not to blame'". London: The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2937341/Flappyhandski-not-to-blame.html. Retrieved 7 August 2010. 
  7. ^ Niall McGlone (17 February 2010). "Porto 2–1 Arsenal: Lukasz Fabiański errors hand Portuguese side the edge". Goal.com. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2914/champions-league/2010/02/17/1795174/porto-2-1-arsenal-lukasz-fabianski-errors-hand-portuguese. Retrieved 5 March 2010. 
  8. ^ http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-saw-the-fabianski-we-see-in-training-
  9. ^ http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/10/24/2181614/arsene-wenger-admits-lukasz-fabianski-could-displace-manuel
  10. ^ "Fabianski Mistake Hands Newcastle Surprise Win". MinistryOf Glove.com. 8 November 2010. http://ministryofglove.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/lukasz-fabianski-mistake-v-newcastle/. Retrieved 9 November 2010. 
  11. ^ "Toon Shock Arsenal". Eurosport. 8 November 2010. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/08112010/58/premier-league-toon-shock-arsenal.html. Retrieved 9 November 2010. 
  12. ^ "Chamakh brace sinks Wolves". Sky Sports. 10 November 2010. http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3293518,00.html. 
  13. ^ Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/football/user_ratings/0,19768,11065_3293527,00.html. 
  14. ^ http://www.tribalfootball.com/arsenal-boss-wenger-fabianski-can-be-among-best-594841
  15. ^ McNulty, Phil (27 December 2010). "Arsenal 3 - 1 Chelsea". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/9309539.stm. Retrieved 27 December 2010. 
  16. ^ "Op to sideline Fabianski for season". ESPNsoccernet. 3 January 2011. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/874906/op-to-sideline-lukas-fabianski-for-season?cc=5901. Retrieved 4 January 2011. 
  17. ^ "Serbien gegen Polen 2:2" (in German). Fussballdaten. http://www.fussballdaten.de/em/2008/qualifikation/gruppea/serbien-polen/. Retrieved 21 April 2010. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Łukasz Fabiański
Poland squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup
Poland
Poland squad – UEFA Euro 2008
Poland
Arsenal F.C. – current squad
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