Arsenal have a severe issue hindering their chances of contending for the Premiership or indeed any silverware this season. A quick glance at the Premier League table says it all. Chelsea goals conceded: 2; Manchester goals conceded: 5; Arsenal goals conceded: 10. The problem is clearly at the back.
Ask any Gooner what they’d change about their team if they were given a magic wand, chances are they’ll reply with “a decent goalkeeper”.
It seems no coincidence that every time Manuel Almunia seems to have a bad game (which unfortunately is more often than not) his name ends up on the injury list.
And second choice Lukasz Fabianski has lost whatever confidence he built up in the reserves with some truly shabby performances (one YouTube Fabianski blooper is titled “the worst goal keeping mistake ever”). He has a tendency to slap the ball if it comes to him at height and his presence in the box is akin to that of a wallflower.
Poor ‘keeping affects the defence’s confidence too. Defenders are far more likely to try and run themselves out of danger than perform a simple pass-back if they don’t trust the man between the sticks. And corners become as much of a heart attack as penalties when Almunia and Fabianski are wearing the goalkeeper’s jersey.
But is there a remedy available to alleviate the goalie woes?
I have been a champion of Shay Given ever since he started making a name for himself at Newcastle United. His name is often mentioned when the subject of Arsenal’s goalkeeping options comes to the fore. There have been countless opportunities to move him to the Emirates recently, yet Arsene Wenger seems to have shied away from poaching him from Manchester City (where he is apparently “very happy” despite never getting a game).
Even though Given will cost more than Wenger would probably like to spend on a 34-year-old, his appointment would no doubt result in the Gunners conceding less ridiculously weak goals – that could make the difference when it comes to the tail-end of the season.
A new big-name signing, at a far smaller cost than a big name outfield player, would give the team and the fans a much-needed confidence boost. It would convey intent to actually go and win a major trophy now rather than evolving the team slowly to nuture young talent, which may well have produced stars like Cesc Fabregas but has also kept the trophy cabinet rather sparse for too many years.
Of course, Given or Mark Schwarzer, who was also tipped to become the Arsenal number one in the summer, will only be a sticking plaster to the long-term goalkeeping issue at the club.
Dozens of world class names have been speculated to sort the issue for the long-term: Eduardo, Stekelenburg, Iraizoz…but I don’t need to go on. World class goalkeepers are like precious diamonds and few teams are willing to part with one, even for excessive prices, because they are at the core of winning teams.
A world-beating club rarely has a flappy goalkeeper at the back and good ‘keepers tend to work through long contracts, rather than darting from team to team. A new household name signing sounds unlikely.
So what options do Arsenal already have the back?
There’s Wojech Szczesny, a big, young ‘keeper who excelled at the crossbar challenge at the Arsenal Member’s Day in August (a true indicator of goalkeeping prowess if ever there was one). But as third choice keeper, he rarely gets a run out in the reserves and spends most of his time making a hefty bum dent in the subs’ bench at the Emirates.
And it’s taken its toll. In a recent interview with Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, he said:
“I’m ready to play at highest level but I need a club that believes in a 20-year-old. In Arsenal there’s no such bravery. My main goal is to play for Arsenal, but if there’s a move option, we’ll have words.”
It sounds as though Arsenal may have to find someone else to fill the dent in January as his contract expires at the end of the season. Despite three meetings over a new contract, none have been positive for the youngster. A loan spell at the start of the season would have helped him grow but it seems Wenger is resigned to letting him go.
However, there may be hope for 22-year-old Italian Vito Mannone. He is under contract with the club until 2014 and his loan spell at Hull City (announced yesterday) should hopefully bring out the goalkeeping confidence Arsenal so desperately need.
The Championship has seen lots of goals of late, meaning he’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove the shot-stopping dexterity he showed in the Arsenal reserves and youth team and also – more notably - for Italy.
To date he has played nine first team games and never been on the losing side and after more experience with Hull, he seems destined to become a bright star at the Emirates yet.
Bringing in a ‘keeper like Given, or any of the other reasonable names on Arsenal’s goalkeeper target list, would allow for easy disposal of both Almunia and Fabianski, promoting Mannone into second-choice position. Mannone is already a competent, confident keeper and, with his long contract and young age, could potentially go down along with Seaman and Jennings as one of Arsenal’s goalkeeping greats.
Like anything with Arsenal, it will take time to mould him into a legend but a choice of a good, experienced, reasonably-priced keeper in January could propel him into first team football, where he could potentially stay for a decade.
Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger
I can assure you that Given is not the answer. Having watched him for Ireland/Newcastle/City over several years, he is two things:
(a) an exceptional shotstopper, and
(b) incredibly inept at dealing with crosses, so much so that he never comes off his line. He avoids headline-grabbing handling errors only because he doesn’t put himself in that position, and as such contributes to shaky defences in front of him.
Given is not the answer.
Yes, perhaps I went a bit OTT with the headline, but as I mention in the final paragraph - ANY good, experienced, reasonably-priced keeper joining us in January would herald the promotion of Mannone and would solve our short-term problems at the back.
Mannone….are you for real ?
‘meaning he’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove the shot-stopping dexterity he showed … more notably – for Italy’
like this..
http://www.101greatgoals.com/vito-mannone-arsenal-screw-up-for-italy-u21-vs-belarus/68784/
You obviously didnt catch Mannone’s performance for the Italian U23 team during the week. it was really awful.
Wojech Szczesny is supposed to be a good prospect. From what I’ve heard (which is very little), it would do him and Arsenal little harm to put him into the limelight. Appreciate that Wenger probably thinks ‘keepers need to be mid 20s before they’re hitting their stride, but they’ve got to start somewhere. Fabianksi isn’t suddenly going to be word class at 26 by playing 9 games a season for Arsenal.
I’ve only seen some very brief appearances from Szczesny and as far as I can tell, he’s not a bad ‘keeper. But the breakdown of contract talks and the fact that he’s not been sent on loan makes me think he’ll (Unfortunately) be shown the door very soon.
RE: terry bull
A minor blip!
Lara,
I think your post is well written and I agree with the points you have made.
However, I have to agree with many of the comments above.
Our CB’s are pretty small (all about 5’11″, except Djourou) having a small shot stopper like Given would not help against big opposition like Drogba, Davies and co.
I have seen Mannone play for the youth and reserve teams, and believe me he is not very good at crosses either. When he went on loan about 3 seasons ago, the club he joined just did not reckon him (he spent a lot of time on the sub’s bench) and the minute he got injured were only to happy to unload him back to us.
He is trying to engineer a trfr back to Italy, so watch this space.
You are right, all gooners want the GK position sorted out, but, (don’t tell anyone I said this), but Flappy has played well in the last two games and guys sitting around me at the games were yelling encouragement at him, rather than booing him. Who knows, the tide may have turned?
I’m a big fan of Manone too, he has a nice evil look on him sometimes and his game against Fulham was just superb.
Having said that, tehre has to be a reason why Arsene keeps playing Fabianski, and the last few games he’s actually done really well.
If Given can’t get a game at City, why do you think he’d be the answer to Arsenals problems ¿?
Re. om: City have Joe Hart, we haven’t got a decent option like that.
Fabianski just looks so unsure of himself, even at the Arsenal Members’ Day he ran out erratically during a training game which should have led to a goal. No idea why Wenger keeps giving him a shot. Perhaps he knows best. I’d prefer not to take that risk.
Re. Red Arse: Wasn’t aware of Mannone trying to make a move back to Italy! That would leave us in a pickle with Szczesny supposedly off too!
Mannone Seriously??? And you obviuosly have not been watching Fabianski recently. he might not be there but his confidence is only on the up right now.
Diego Lopez from Villarreal is the answer. I’ve been telling people about him for a long time now. He is the world class goalie that the Arsenal needs. I do hope the boy Szczesney doesn’t the Arsenal though. He’s the best goalie there.
“Doctor, heal thyself.”
I think it’s hard to disagree with many of the comments so far. But the observations of the shortcomings of any of our four keepers come from seeing them during competitive matches and competitions. It’s worth remembering that keepers’ mistakes are scrutinised much more than outfield players, thanks to the solitary position of responsibility they occupy (and therefore worth remembering that ALL keepers “make howlers”).
Yet we also hear: “I can’t understand it, keeper X looks fine in training.” So while it would appear that our keepers have the mental fortitude of a wet sock come match day, perhaps is it worth examining what’s going on behind the scenes in training? Do we need a new goalkeeping coach? Is the blend of experience and youth the right learning environment? Is competition for places correctly balanced? Is confidence in the relaxed atmosphere of London Colney correctly and effectively transferred to the stadium?
It’s easy to point the finger on match day, but perhaps Dr. Wenger needs to look at his own surgery for an improvement in goalkeeper well being.
Lara,
it was reported in the london Evening Standard, some 3 or 4 weeks ago, that Mannone was a bit miffed, that after Chezzer complained to AW and said he would leave because he was not getting games he was promoted over Mannone.
Mannone said he wanted to go out on loan, in the short term, but he would prefer to go back to Italy. After his latest bloopers for the italy under 21 ‘s, I don’t think he will get many offers frankly.
I swear I’m not going through old articles going “I told you so!” but I think Szczescny’s star is on the rise. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/9181658.stm
I’ve heard that Almunia is potentially on the way out in Jan. Could be his (Szcz’s) time…