Robert Lewandowski is known to have been the biggest supporter of Wojciech Szczęsny’s move to Barcelona, having advised Joan Laporta and Deco to sign his compatriot, with whom he has a strong relationship after years of playing together in the Polish national team.
Lewandowski was convinced that Szczęsny was the ideal choice to replace Marc-André ter Stegen, who had been out for an extended period due to a serious knee injury.
Despite retiring from professional football a few months ago, Szczęsny has remained in good physical condition, having been Juventus’ first-choice goalkeeper and taking part in the European Championship. Therefore, he believes he can perform well at Barcelona and contribute to reducing the number of goals the team concedes.
One of the major problems facing “Hansi” in recent weeks has been the goals conceded. The last time the team kept a clean sheet was in a match against Stade Brest in the Champions League, while in La Liga, they haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet since the match against Alavés at the beginning of October. This decline has caused the team to lose much of its defensive strength.
Lewandowski’s criticism of Iñaki Peña has been harsh, pointing out that, despite some good performances like the one against Betis, Peña makes mistakes that lead to goals against the team. He believes Peña is not as decisive as Ter Stegen and lacks the ability to save the team in crucial moments.
Consequently, Lewandowski believes Szczęsny could be more useful to Barcelona than Peña, who was already under scrutiny last season.
Lewandowski has thus become one of Peña’s most prominent critics, insisting that Flick should stop trusting the Spanish goalkeeper and give Szczęsny the opportunity to be the team’s first-choice goalkeeper. The question now is: will the German coach heed this opinion?