21. Lukasz Fabianski

Lukasz is now the established No 2 keeper behind Manuel Almunia. He came to Arsenal in the summer of 2007 from Legia Warsaw and, as usual under Arsène Wenger, was given his first outings in the Carling Cup.

He had excellent games against Newcastle, Sheffield United and Blackburn as the youngsters marched into the Semi-Finals. His handling was secure, his decision-making assured and he was calm under pressure.

Wenger was obviously impressed as gave him further experience in the final three Premier League games of the campaign.

Lukasz is still young but he already has pedigree. He won the Polish League at Legia in 2005/06 and was voted the best keeper in the ‘Ekstraklasa’ for both 2006 and 2007.

He is an established part of the national set-up and was selected for the squad at Germany 2006 and Euro 2008.

 

MY YEAR

May

Once again Lukasz profited from Manuel Almunia’s ankle injury in the month of May. The Pole kept goal in Arsenal’s 3-0 victory at Portsmouth, their 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea, then their goalless draw at Old Trafford. However, an knee injury kept the 24-year-old out of the season’s final fixture.

April

An injury to Manuel Almunia ensured that April was a very busy month for Lukasz. The Polish keeper came on after 27 minutes of Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Villarreal and kept his place between the sticks until April 26. His undoubted lowlight of the month came on April 18, incidentally his 24th birthday, when his misjudgement allowed Didier Drogba to round him and tuck in Chelsea’s winner in the FA Cup Semi-Final. In an interview with Arsenal TV Online on April 24, the keeper described the moment as his “lowest point”.

March

With FA Cup Quarter and Semi Finals in March, ‘Cup keeper’ Lukasz enjoyed quite a busy month. After a fine clean sheet against Burnley on Sunday 8th, he was beaten by a deflected Nicky Barmby effort nine days later in Arsenal’s 2-1 win against Hull.

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