Spanish goalkeeping legend Santiago Cañizares believes that there is no logical reason for Barcelona coach Hansi Flick to prefer Szczesny over Iñaki Pena as the Catalan club’s starting goalkeeper.
Up until the Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Bilbao, Pena was Barcelona’s starting goalkeeper, then Flick excluded him from that match for disciplinary reasons and relied on Szczesny after that.
Despite the serious mistakes made by the Pole, both in the Clasico final and after that against Benfica in the Champions League, Flick’s confidence in him did not waver and he decided to keep him as a starter.
Cánizares, who previously wore the Real Madrid and Valencia shirts, commented on that by saying, “I really cannot understand this decision, what Szczesny has presented so far is not convincing.”
“Maybe there’s something personal about Flick that makes him play Szczesny over Pena, because Pena is clearly the best right now,” he added.
“Because of his age and the fact that he hasn’t played for a long time, Szczesny has a big problem with his ball judgment. I don’t really know how Flick sees it. There are few coaches who know that much about the goalkeeping position.”
Flick had previously announced that Szczesny would continue to guard Barcelona’s goal against Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday.
