Goalkeepers are no longer the problem, it’s strikers. 1 September, 2010
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News.trackback
So the transfer window deadline came and went yesterday and we never brought anyone in. It means Manuel Almunia keeps his place with Fabianski and one of Mannone and Szczesny as back up with one of those two likely to go out on loan. Much like Manuel’s future, I was up in the air yesterday on a flight back from Los Angeles. I have to say I rather enjoyed being on a plane in an internet free and Sky Sports News free environment, my flight landed at 4.30pm so I skipped right to the ending of the story just in time to see that nothing happened. It turns out we never even made any final day bids so I didn’t waste a day sat in front of Twitter waiting for nothing.
As disappointed as you might be in the lack of signings there’s nothing we can do about it now. Sebastien Squillaci’s arrival pretty much sorted out our defensive issues so it was really just a goalkeeper we wanted; our options were Given or Schwarzer, Man City wouldn’t sell to us and Fulham wanted too much so nothing happened. I’d just like to say at this point that I have no insider information on any of that but that’s how I see it. We were willing to Spend £2m on Schwarzer which I guess is about right for a 37 year old with injury problems and a year left on his contract but that wasn’t enough for Fulham. In the end for whatever reasons it didn’t happen and we shouldn’t get too upset about it. He’s not all that much better than Almunia really if you think about it, I think we just wanted someone that wasn’t Almunia.
Now we just have to get behind our no.1. A couple of weeks ago I started to wonder whether Manuel is all that bad and I remembered how not that long ago he looked a decent ‘keeper. So now I’m hoping that with our support he can get back to that level. We don’t really have a choice now, it’s him or Fabianski and I think I’d rather have Almunia play with one arm tied behind his back than the Pole, I have absolutely no confidence in him. I do know that on his day Almunia can be a good ‘keeper, this season so far he’s shown that, apart from one missed cross at Anfield he’s had a solid start to the campaign and lets hope it continues. He is a bit accident-prone but so is every ‘keeper, we have to get behind him now because as I said it’s him or Fabianski.
So I’m not going to worry about the goalkeeper any more, I’m going to put those concerns on hold and see if Manuel makes the most of this opportunity. I would’ve felt a bit better with Schwarzer on the books as well but never mind. My concern now is our attack, the one position that’s looked fine for months! We’re now just one injury away from having no proper central striker again, with these injuries to RVP and Bendtner we’re relying on Chamakh now. Robin’s knock at Blackburn was initially going to see him out for just the international break but now it looks like a few weeks, and we know with Robin his injuries can go on and on. Also, this new Casualty List I’ve got there on the right has highlighted to me anyway how much Bendtner’s injury has gone on and on and on. Initially when I set it up I had him missing the Liverpool game and since then it’s been extended every week and now he’s looking at November! It’s a real shame for both Nicklas and Arsenal if that story in The Sun is true, before this latest article he was due back in a couple of weeks and now it’s another month. Apparently this is all to do with that car crash he had last season, I hope this is the last set back he has because we really need options up top.
We have Walcott and Eboue on the right, Arshavin and Vela on the left and Rosicky who can both either side. However it’s down the middle where we’re lacking now, Chamakh is the obvious choice but then who’s behind him? It’ll have to be one of those other names coming from the flanks into the middle into a less natural position. It’s not just whether Chamakh stays fit now but it’s also unhealthy not to have options in any given position. Touch wood, Marouane can stay fit otherwise I if Theo can keep this form he might find himself in the middle earlier than expected.
On the subject of Walcott he’s been talking about his improved start this season. He has said before he wanted to make an impression after missing the World Cup and so far he’s doing a good job of that, he says he doesn’t blame Capello – he just wants to improve his game. He’s been spending more time in the gym and says he wants to bulk up more which is good. He says he doesn’t want to lose pace but strength will help him beat defenders just as much as speed.
Also in that first link he talks about being a winger and is doing a lot of crossing work in training. I don’t think he is ready just yet to start as a central striker but it has been nice to see him getting into those positions at times during games. He has a bit of work to do before I consider him a back up to Chamakh but the progress he’s made already is fantastic. Keep it up Theo.
The only bit of transfer news we did have yesterday was that Armand Traore has gone on loan to Juventus which I expect has an option of permanent move and Nacer Barazite has been loaned to Vitesse Arnhem. Good luck to the both of them on their season abroad, we will have to wait and see if we’ll see them back at Arsenal again.
Today Premier League teams have to name their 25-man squad for the season. Ours isn’t out at the time of me writing this but I’m not expecting any surprises or anything, we’re comfortable with making all the requirements and we have plenty of players under 21 who don’t have to be named.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading.
Goalkeepers are no longer the problem,
it’s WENGER.
If you have a look at the goal keeping options, the conclusion to be drawn is that Mr Fawlty is bloody good!
Van der Saar: two big cock ups
Howard: one
Kirkland: three or four
Reina: one
Gomes: one
Jaaskelainen: one
Friedl: one
The rest don’t really matter all that much but so far only Chek; Hart and our lad have none.
In the Liverpool game alone, Almunia flapped at all the crosses and just because they didnt go in does not mean they were not cock-ups. Any goal keeper knows to protect his near post but Manuel does not have a sense of where he is.
Wenger plz buy goalkeeper in January
Wenger plz buy goalkeeper
We need to Given!!!!
If the reports in the summer of £30mil for RVP, would this not have been good business?
Dont get me wrong I love him to bits but the amount of time on the treatment table is just ridiculous
Why dont u go support man city and adebayor u twat! Why would we sell Van Persie, did u see his assist for walcott against blackburn? Probaly not cos u know nothing about arsenal or football. If wenger sold van persie he wouldnt replace him, just use the 30 million to pay off debt!
Who the F@#$ are u to tell others to go and support other teams moron. Everyone have a right to express their opinion. If you do not have any thing good to say, u can just read. can u?
Wenger plz buy goalkeeper
We need to Gien!!!
No you and the mindless few are unable to see / think outside the box is the problem. Last season we were challenging for the title and I am sure you were one of the vocal minorities who gave us no chance at the begining of the season. It is the same again this season.
A few seasons ago I bood Ebowe as I walked away from the ground I felt ashamed. I did not feel like a supporter. The action was pick up by the media and it is no wonder that the sun/ talk sport talk about us without respect , we cannot respect our club and where the manager is taking us. Yes I would have liked to have seen us buy another defensive midfield player and a world class goal keeper , but we did not. Furthermore the likes of manchester utd/ chelsea would like to have had some addition to the team .
Get over it we have a good team that is capable of being champions.Arsenal for ever
Sell Van persie and Buy Dzeko! He’s always injured, and always missed atleast half a season. Dzeko has every attribute you can think of.
He should be our next striker!
No strikers? Who are Chamakh and Vela. Not to mention Walcott and Arshavin who can also play upfront..
Did you read what I wrote? I’m talking about central forwards.
i think what worries me is that obviously wenger thought we needed a goalie and made that bid for schwarzer so what message does that send out and if he felt we needed a keeper why not go straight in and buy him this has been going on since may.
i personally didnt feel that the fulham keeper was the answer but dont feel confident in almunia or flapianski but nothing we can do but get behind the gunners!!!
carlos vela is more than capable of playing upfront with his lightining pace and it seems he has added some muscle to his game. and until he is given as much chances as theo did arsene should just give him the oppotunity he truely deserves
It’s semi literate so-called fans that are the problem, not our strikers or goalkeepers.
To all the Arsenal supporters who ‘can’t see’ what a terrible keeper Almunia is, please watch carefully the forthcoming games, the key clash being the October clash with Chelsea. Any speculative shot from range should give you the answer you are looking for.
You might also have noticed that with the outfield players there is always interest from clubs and big numbers being touted, Cesc, RVP, Clichy, Sanja, Song in 5 years no one has mentioned Almunia’s name outside the club. And lets not even talk about how many keepers are ahead of him in the Spanish National Team. Last count was 6.
Nobody has mentioned JET. Pre-season shows how Wenger see’s him as playing in the front three and in the main he played as a centre forward. Granted he needs to work on his heading, but he has the attributes to play the “false no.9″ role that Chamakh and Bendtner do, he just needs experience. Seeing as our mid-field/wingers score most of the goals anyway, I wouldnt be too worried about him coming in for a few games. He’s certainly a physical presence in any case.
Cudicini – 1 fuck up
Nice article. We no longer need a goal keeper since we have the defenders we craved for. They will provide enough cover and give Almunia less to worry about. Good defenders gives confidence to goal keepers which helps to reduce goals against us. But the truth, if it must be told is that….we need strikers….good strikers…at least TWO….to help us score goals and give confidence. RVP is too injury prone reducing our fire power in the front. Above all, AW is to too shrewd and tight fisted….I am beginning to doubt his sincererity in helping us win trophies.
Meanwhile, i implore every Arsenal fan out there to please…..LET US GIVE ALMUNIA A CHANCE. Afterall, Van der sar gifted Fulham 2 cheap goals. If it was Almunia, we would have crucified him. It actually opened my eyes…..All keepers, including the very best, CAN MAKE MISTAKES. Let us support him and he will give us his best.
The worries is how this saga has affected Almunia. Now it’s painfully clear that neither Wenger nor the fans think he’s good enough. Of course it would be great if he can take it as a motivation and prove us all wrong, but if not, we have a GK shattered in confidence in hand. Not cool.
I agree with julie, Arsene seems somehow confused regarding Almunia. He neither has confidence nor lost confidence on him and he(arsene) simply cheated the fans pretending he buys one. I dont think it is a matter of money or lack of good options to purchase.He wanted to give Almunia chance, meanwhile he wants to convince us (fans) that he was to buy but failed due to….(too many!). It is time now to support all players that we have at hand and good luck to Arsene Winger.
Sounds a great prospect. Hope he will realize his potential at Ashburton Grove in the near future.
Almunia in my Opinion is better then Shwarzer, he has chmps lge experiance and is younger as well, dont get me wrong, he still isnt good enough for arsenal, but im relieved we never wasted money on shwarzer. also astounded that he was the only keeper we put an offer in for. has wenger never heard of Akinfeev, Stekelenberg, LLoris, Neuer, Eduardo, Romero, Buffon or Given. Rididculous that every1 else can see how badly Arsenal need a good keeper if they are ever gona win anything and yet the situation was never adressed.
As far as the Striker Situation, and more to the Point, the Van Persie Situation, im not sure what the answer is, Van persie is probably my favourite Arsenal player, and on his day he is capable of producing somthing spectacular, but im worried that he is never gona fulfill his potential because of injuries are gona reck his entire career, he is injured every single season and when he gets injured he is out for ages. apparently we could have got 30 million for him. in my heart i would never want to see him leave, but maybe it would have been sensible to sell him and with the money we could have bought Ozil, Huntelaar, and luis Fabiano with there current price tags.
how can we expect to but a top class keeper,its not like the ticket prices are beyond most working families.if they were we really would be getting for prize mugoffs, wouldnt we?
just fuck off wenger and take your rip off buddies on the board, the bricks at armoury square the dodgy ringtones, exstortionate tickets, most expensive in the WORLD, poxy share option and everything else you have conned the true fan they must be part of, including a bunch of useless kids thar will never win a pot whilst you have got a hole in your arse that every spooty youth with imaginary friends and still spouts “in arsene we trust” have got their head up!
GO….GO…..GO!!!
Surely this comment shd have been moderated!! This guy sounds like a spurs fan to me.
there is not a goalie in the prem that is worse than Almunia yet wenger keeps faith, what is wrong with the bloke?
CHAMBOLIKH…