Anarchic Szczesny’s human touch lends higher meaning to Barcelona’s title push
To a large extent Szczesny’s charm is something innate to Szczesny himself 11 Mar 2025 - The Guardian Jonathan Liew Accounts differ on how late Iñaki Peña was to that team meeting in Jeddah. Some reports say two minutes; some go as high as four. Either way, Hansi Flick is nothing if not a coach of fine margins, and Peña was dropped for the Supercopa semi-final against Athletic Club in January. His replacement: Barcelona’s third goalkeeper, a 34-year-old smoker by the name of Wojciech Szczesny . I think it matters that Szczesny smokes. Not because smoking is cool, which any eye-rolling Gen Z will tell you is no longer actually true, but because there is the idea here of competing motivations: of instant versus delayed gratification. The bible of modern football reads: your body is your work. Optimise every detail. Szczesny responds by blowing smoke in your face. There is a photo doing the rounds online of Szczesny, recently retired, pushing a trolley around a Marbella supermarket. This ...
