Wojciech Szczesny apologises to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger for 'disrespectful' comments made by father

Maciej Szczesny blamed the Arsenal manager for his son's poor form

Matthew Campelli
Thursday 21 March 2013 15:41 GMT
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Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has responded to the controversial comments made by his father yesterday by issuing an apology to his manager and club.

Maciej Szczesny, an ex-footballer himself, launched a scathing attack on Arsene Wenger, claiming that the Frenchmen is to blame for his son’s poor form and labelling him a ‘scapegoat’.

He said: “Wenger was playing with the young man's good health and Wojciech agreed foolishly. After seven weeks out Wojciech trained for just seven days and played the match. How on earth can he be on his highest form?"

The Poland international has since tried to distance himself from his father’s remarks, and issued a statement of his own today declaring his loyalty to the north London club.

It reads: “I would like to apologise for the comments made by my father which have been used by both Polish and English media.

"I'd like to make it clear that those were the views and opinions of my father and not mine, and although I respect his views I cannot accept them as I find them disrespectful to the club I truly love. I have been at Arsenal Football Club for seven years now and I have always shown my full respect to the Club, Arsène Wenger, all the coaching staff, my team-mates and the fans.

"I've always felt that I received great support from the manager and the fans and I am fully focused on getting back to my best.”

Wenger explained that he dropped his number one because he felt he was “mentally affected” by the number of games he had played this season. He has since stressed that Szczesny was very much part of his future plans, with the stopper reciprocating the sentiment.

“I am proud to be a part of Arsenal and I see my future at this great club,” he continued.

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