Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny agrees. You don't have to be crazy to be a goalkeeper but it helps and it is not difficult to see where he gets it from. His father, Maciej, was a Poland goalkeeper who won the domestic title with four different clubs and Szczesny, the coming star at Arsenal, has a favourite story from his playing days.

"My dad got sent off for punching Roberto Mancini in the face," he says. "It was in the European Cup-Winners' Cup quarter-final in 1991 and if you look on YouTube you will have confirmation. It's a very clear punch. He just went straight through him. I can't wait to play against Mancini now. Maybe he will remember."

Sampdoria had just scored an 89th-minute goal through Gianluca Vialli in the second leg against Legia Warsaw but needed more to avoid elimination. Szczesny Sr grabbed the ball and Mancini, now the Manchester City manager, wanted it back. "The question for my dad was: 'Do you want to play in the final?'" Szczesny says. "But obviously being a nutter … it was: 'No.' Bang, he punched him. It was the last minute and he was suspended for the semi-final, which Legia lost to Manchester United. He wasn't very happy. I just hope that Mancini still remembers it."

Szczesny's focus is trained on making a different kind of impression at the business end of the season, having completed a whirlwind rise to prominence. This time last year he was playing in front of 6,000 fans at Brentford, during a loan spell at the League One club, and by the end of September he had grown utterly exasperated at his lack of opportunity at Arsenal. But now, Lukasz Fabianski's season-ending shoulder surgery coupled with Manuel Almunia's problems with form and fitness have seen Arsène Wenger install him as the No1.

Szczesny is 20. He has played in 11 first-team matches for the club (conceding five goals) and yet, rather abruptly, the quest for the Premier League title has come to rest, in part, on his 6ft 5in frame. He is also looking towards the Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona plus the Carling Cup final with Birmingham City, which he hopes to start despite Wenger's policy of fielding the back-up goalkeeper in the latter competition. Szczesny has played in all bar one of the ties thus far.

Then, there is his country. Poland co-host the European Championship next year and Szczesny wants his No1 status at Arsenal to be reflected at international level. Although he has only one cap, he stands to win another against Norway next week, having been called up for the first time this season by the coach, Franciszek Smuda .

There is something about Poland and goalkeepers. The name of Jan Tomaszewski will always resonate with England fans but it is the depth and quality of the modern vintage that is remarkable. It was said that Poland's best three players in their Euro 2008 squad were goalkeepers – Artur Boruc, Tomasz Kuszczak and Fabianski – while the lesser-known but well-regarded Przemyslaw Tyton and Grzegorz Sandomierski have emerged more recently. "Don't forget we have Jerzy Dudek at Real Madrid as well," Szczesny says.

Eccentricity runs through them in varying degrees. "Boruc is nuts," Szczesny says, with a smile. "He is a very good friend of mine and so I'm sure he wouldn't mind me saying he's a nutter. He really is crazy. And he's brave. I mean, some of the stuff he did when he played for Celtic, blessing himself in front of the Rangers fans … how brave is that?"

Boruc is currently out of the Poland reckoning on disciplinary grounds, having got drunk on the team flight back from the USA friendly in October. With Kuszczak struggling for regular football at Manchester United so not in Smuda's plans and Fabianski injured, Szczesny senses an opportunity. "It looked like Fabianski was going to be the No1 but he has got injured," he says. "I like to believe that whoever wins the competition for Arsenal will be the No1 in the national team.

"It's unbelievable that the Euros are in Poland. The national stadium that has just been built in Warsaw is five minutes from my house. I live on the 10th floor so I can see the stadium from my window. For every player, the national team is a priority and it would be a dream to play at the Euros. My debut against Canada was one of the proudest moments of my life."

Szczesny oozes confidence. When he was thrust into his Premier League debut at Manchester United in December, his assurance was startling. He jokes on his must-follow Twitter page, 53szczesny53, that he is a "big head" but it is not true. He is far too ready to laugh at himself for that. Take the saga of the pink shirt. For reasons that are unknown to him, Arsenal's kit suppliers have included a particularly garish goalkeeping number, which Szczesny has been forced to wear. He said that he was disappointed that the Leeds United fans did not give him more stick over it during the FA Cup tie last month. His elevation has come at a sartorial cost.

"It's embarrassing," he says. "I mean, you just wouldn't see David Seaman or Jens Lehmann wearing a pink shirt, would you? I think Lehmann would have burned it. I consider myself a very confident person but I don't actually think I am big-headed because my confidence doesn't affect me … just yet. Obviously, though, because of some of the things that I've said about myself recently, the boys try to take the mickey."

Chief among those things was his outburst to a Polish newspaper after he was not included in the squad for the Carling Cup tie at Tottenham Hotspur in September. He poured out his frustrations, saying that Wenger "seems to forget he has a goalkeeper named Wojciech Szczesny" and muttering darkly about his need to play or else. "It was a big blow, I am not going to lie to you and I was very disappointed," he says. "I am ambitious and I want to be No1. I came out with a few things that I shouldn't have said but I have learned from that. Maybe I was too honest. Funnily enough, I have been in the squad for every game since, although I know it's a coincidence because Manu [Almunia] got injured."

If Brentford to Barcelona feels like an improbable journey, then consider the fact that football was not even Szczesny's first sport. "I'm a little embarrassed to talk about it now but the very first sport that I did, if you can call it sport, was ballroom dancing," he says. "I was aged seven to nine or 10. I was tall and so I think I was a little bit stiff but I was getting the movements and everything."

Szczesny was also an athlete – he excelled at the javelin – but football gradually took over. He was spotted by Legia and he blossomed under the tutelage of the legendary goalkeeping coach Krzysztof Dowhan, who had worked with his father. Szczesny made his Legia debut at 15.

His path to the top at Arsenal was interrupted by a grisly accident in November 2008 when, working with a heavy weight at the club's gym, he lost his balance and felt the bar crash down on to his forearms. They were both fractured. "You could see my initials … W here and S there," he says. "Put it this way, my arms weren't straight."

Metal plates were inserted into each arm and he was ruled out for five months. The scars offer a permanent reminder. "I say that one is from the war and the other is from a shark bite," he says. Physical discomfort is the goalkeeper's default setting. "I have always said that to be diving around for two hours every day and to get hit and to be in pain every day, you have to be a little bit mad," Szczesny says. "That is what we do, so we are crazy."

Yet the rewards make it worthwhile. "The Premier League is the priority and we fancy our chances of catching Man United," Szczesny says. "Then, there is the Barcelona game, which is a bit surreal for me. They are probably the best side in Europe but we believe that we can get something out of it. We are a much better team than we were last year. Every single player is a year older and a year better. We are a bunch of confident guys and this year, there is no psychological barrier."

Szczesny's name is virtually impossible for an Englishman to pronounce. He does not care, as long as it is on everyone's lips.

Arsene Wenger has revealed he was unsuccessful in his pursuit of Alex Chamberlain during last month.

The Southampton youngster has become a much coveted prospect in English football this season and attracted interest from several Premier League clubs during the January transfer window.

Arsenal were believed to be favourites to secure the midfielder’s services after the player’s father Mark Chamberlain labeled Wenger’s side as the “ideal choice” for his son.

But Southampton’s rigid demands which included a £10 million fee and the condition of keeping Chamberlain on loan at the club until May is what looked to have broken down any deal with Arsenal.

And Arsene Wenger has admitted defeat – for now at least – in his chase of another recruit from St Mary’s following Theo Walcott’s in 2006.

“He is one of the players I liked personally but we could not get any further with him so I cannot give you (media) any more news” Wenger said.

The Frenchman though, may not end his pursuit of the gifted midfielder and when asked whether he will make a second move for Chamberlain in the summer, Wenger was coy on his plans.

“We will let you know (if we will go back for him in the summer)” he said.

How can Arsenal beat Barcelona?

On Wednesday the 16th of February Arsenal take on Barcelona at the Emirates. Arsenal are still in all four competitions and are mounting a serious title challenge. Barcelona meanwhile are playing football that is almost unbeatable.

Almost, being the operative word. Barcelona have systematically destroyed all in their path, with a combination of flair, technique, awareness, a constant thirst to not only win matches but win it in style. They have the support, they have FIFA’s Ballon d’Or winner, they have everything. Their record this season feels to Arsenal fans like a judge is passing an execution sentence upon them, played 21, won 19, drawn 1, lost 1, scored 67, conceded 11.

One minor blot on this record hidden away in all those devastating statistics are the words ‘lost one’. This takes away slightly the invincibility status as it means that this team, this season, can be beaten. How is another matter?

Looking back over the past couple of years it is evident that teams have overcome the tidal wave that is Barcelona, Rubin Kazan beat the Catalans 2-1 in 2009. Rubin coach Kurban Berdyev explained how after the game, he said,” I studied all Barcelona’s games in the Spanish championship. The game against Valencia [a 0-0 draw] was the most helpful to understand them. I noticed that Xavi and Andrés Iniesta – key players in the team – almost never drop back to their own penalty box. This style of play in the midfield creates free space for shots from the middle range. Our midfielders were told to shoot on sight. It’s also good to have a player in this area who constantly tries to hold the build-up of Barcelona’s attack in the centre of the midfield. Domínguez did a great job. I don’t think we could have beaten Barça without him. Barcelona like to use the whole pitch. Their full-backs, Dani Alves and Eric Abidal, tend to play wide and leave some space in the centre. We were ready to organise our counter-attack through that area, so we waited for the right opportunity. That’s how the second goal came in” One problem that immediately arises here, is that although Wilshere and Song may harass the midfield and Arsenal can certainly counter attack, is it likely that Arsenal would shoot from distance?

The second manager to talk of a famous victory against Barcelona was Quique Sánchez Flores, whose Atlético Madrid side beat them 2-1 earlier this year. He stated that “We had to try to keep our shape short and narrow to make it hard for Barcelona to find players between the lines, which is what they do so well and what most causes you trouble. We had to ensure there were not gaps there for them to exploit, in among us. We did that very well, we were focused and very intense, very effective. It’s genuinely hard to minimise Barcelona’s qualities because they are such a great team. But we did so and we even had moments where we were able to play some quite nice football although in the second half we lost control of the ball a bit, and in truth that wasn’t the key to our approach. When we got the ball we were reasonably direct. Stopping Barcelona is really hard – they have good players and they are neat with the ball, so we were very pleased with what we were doing. José Reyes played very well, running at them constantly. The key though was to get it right collectively and deny them any room.” Here again the premises seems to be based on closing down, playing deep and only trying to play football on the break. This means Arsene Wenger has to pick his team accordingly and Arsenal fans may well despair should Arshavin’s name be read off the team sheet.

On March 24th 2010 Sevilla also beat Barcelona under the charge of Manolo Jiménez. He said that: “The key idea we had was to pile the pressure on their defenders and not allow them to bring the ball out of the back. We wanted to make sure that they didn’t get the ball to their playmakers – we tried to stop him receiving and playing. We played with great intensity and really went for them. We were close together in the middle but quick to get the ball wide when we attacked. You can never relax against Barcelona because they are the best side in the world. We showed courage, competitiveness and quality. You have to work very hard and not give up a single ball for lost. We conceded one goal because of a lapse of concentration but we were able to overcome that fortunately.” A similar pattern is arising in the analysis given from these coaches, press high and defend deep. Defending from the front seems key and if Walcott can press the full backs like he did in Arsenal’s victory over Chelsea then this will go some way to neutralising part of the threat.

The only team to leave a blot on Barcelona’s otherwise spotless, juggernaut of a season were the little club, newly promoted Hercules. An apt name for any team that has overcome the Catalans admittedly, however, even more so when you take into account that they managed to beat them at the Nou Camp. Hercules’s formation saw them start with four defenders and a man playing just in front, then the midfield was positioned into a diamond shape with a lone striker. This midfield diamond was ingenious as when the ball was with one of the Barcelona full-backs. The left/right on that side would shift across to close him down. The rest of the midfield would them hold a flat three meaning that even if Barcelona then passed this they would still have a deep lying midfielder and a flat back four to beat. The coach Esteban Vigo admitted these were Inter-inspired tactics, based on a deep formation and defending from the front, pressing the full backs and pressing the midfield. This system seems to have taken all the previous comments on board and combined with quick counter attacks and long distance efforts they managed to slay the Catalans.

Arsenal have to learn from these teams however big or small and realise that there may only be one way to beat the might of Barcelona. One thing is for sure, if Arsenal try and play football against Barcelona they will get overrun. Arsene Wenger may have to do something he has never done before and abandon his policy of attractive football. Arsenal need to defend deep in two banks of four if necessary, defend from the front and attack the full backs, take long shots when possible and counter attack (the latter they can do).

The question now remains can Arsene Wenger adapt his tactics? And if so who will be the best men for the job?

Arsenal fans should take heart however, for no matter how perfect Barcelona maybe, they will not go the season unbeaten.