Will Arsenal regret not signing a new keeper?
Posted by Cathal Breathnach on August 31, 2010 | 41 Comments
So the transfer window has shut and unsurprisingly, Arsenal did not sign a new goalkeeper.
Manuel Almunia has come in for a lot of criticism in recent weeks with many Arsenal fans calling for Arsene Wenger to sign a new goalkeeper.
Mark Schwarzer and Shay Given were both strongly linked with a move to the Emirates. However, nothing ever materialised on either front and as a result, Almunia will remain Arsenal’s number one choice keeper.
If Arsenal were to challenge for the Premier League title this season, I personally felt they needed to sign a new keeper. No matter what way you look at it, Almunia is simply not good enough to be Arsenal’s first choice keeper andI can now see Arsenal struggling to mount any kind of title challenge.
We really want to know what you have to say on this one. Comments below please.
You can buy yourself Champions League tickets right now, including Arsenal v Partizan tickets.
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41 Responses to “Will Arsenal regret not signing a new keeper?”
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August 31st, 2010 @ 9:08 PM
With signings made we will get closer but without a solid keeper there will be no cigar, just short is my prediction…
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:09 PM
Not to me! We will be alright!
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:12 PM
Wenger made a BIG Mistake……No Keeper no Title……What is this Guy Scared of Spending money??????
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:13 PM
I think we’ll not win anything with the clowns we have between the sticks wengers got his 6m a year contract so he aint losing his sleep the guy’s just an idiot who is taking Arsenal fans for a ride.
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:14 PM
We all want the prem this season so lets fucking get it!
Red Aarmy!
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:15 PM
Why oh why do we again miss the boat. Lets hope we don’t live to regret it come May2011
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:18 PM
With no strong central line no title!!!
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:26 PM
Sorry but Wenger must go. Out of touch with Modern day football.
Everyone could see we need a keeper, why do I pay my £1500 a year, my £50 for a shirt, £3 for a programme FFS
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:30 PM
Wenger has too much power & listens to no one.
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:37 PM
The club and management are not a bit worried,with more players left and big saving on the wage bill,there will be some clever statements to side track any criticisms that may invoke poor results. Actually there may not be any football pride in them but a good book keeping set up. As going that extra mile to may be achieve better in both worlds is not in their grand scheme.
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:39 PM
every year we get mugged why oh why hadnt wenger a backup plan hell even rob green is miles better than anything we have
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:40 PM
Arsene wenger is just so stubbon!y does he give arsenal fans hopes then he does smthng opposite?dats not fair at ol.he ws hiding behind mark shwazer’s deal
August 31st, 2010 @ 9:48 PM
Yes I knew he won’t by a keeper. Fourth or fifth place. Fall out of the Champions League, dumped out of FA Cup & never beyond the final if we manage to get their. It’s a disgrace. Wenger is trying the patience of us fans.
August 31st, 2010 @ 10:15 PM
I to was full of hope that something would happen in the transfer market even at the eleventh hour, but it did not happen. Well that puts some pressure on the defence. They need to quickly develop as a unit and become a solid wall in front of goal. But that certainly is not all, we the fans have to be play our part. We must be the twelveth man!
Now over the past months we have reminded our keepers how useless they were and by George they began to live up to our expectations. I wonder what might happen if we change our tact, by resting our comments and anger until the opening of the next transfer window. Can we fans be that “BiG”…… This team cannot do it do alone…. Together we are strong, let us carry the boys over the finishing line. Respect/
August 31st, 2010 @ 10:18 PM
“Never stop dreaming”
August 31st, 2010 @ 10:24 PM
i think,we are just on the right track,since we have got some experienced players at the back.i think the title belong to us this time round.
August 31st, 2010 @ 10:34 PM
Like it or not, Almuia is our first choice now, the transfer window is closed, let’s get behind him and the rest of the team, and stop moaning.
August 31st, 2010 @ 10:44 PM
let the club hold Arsene wenger if we don’t win cos of his system in buying players. He knows we have no keeper and his is putting is trust, the trust of the club.He is stupid
August 31st, 2010 @ 11:05 PM
Arsene is a humanitarian to a fault. His do-good to his loyal players had cost us titles in the past. I’ve seen enough of Almunia to know he costs us at least 15 points a season for the past two seasons. Just why Wenger would wait another year to make another serious challenge when all he needed was a top GK beats me. No matter what anyone says, Almunia is not good enough for any top 15 side in the prem. Another title year lost!
August 31st, 2010 @ 11:16 PM
No it wasnt Arsenal that didnt sign a new keeper it was Wenger! The window having been opened like FOREVER i didnt see why we had to wait till deadline day. The list of keepers we have been linked to is longer than my arm but le boss in his unparalleled arrogance knows best…yeah right. Season starts Almunia makes his usual ulcer inducing mistakes and the gaffer stands on the touch line looking puzzled like it wasnt expected RIDICULOUS!!! in Arsene we trust my ass….
August 31st, 2010 @ 11:35 PM
Robbo with all due respect i’ll take your ticket mate…we rock!!
September 1st, 2010 @ 12:34 AM
what a bunch of moaners!
Arsenal had two bids rejected.
Almunia can do the job.
September 1st, 2010 @ 12:35 AM
“wenger must go”
ha ha ha ha ha.
Robbo “YOU CAAAAN’T BE SERIOUS!”
September 1st, 2010 @ 1:05 AM
No Arsene, mean no Arsenal
September 1st, 2010 @ 1:08 AM
There would another season without silverware. Fabregas will be gone next season because of Wenger do not want spend big on a Keeper.
September 1st, 2010 @ 1:24 AM
well well well oh boy a other season we have with him (Almunia) i dont no what arsene wenger is think i mean the man is so good (wenger) but not seeing we need a keeper he (Almunia) cant do it and who every thinks he can believe me he cant the guy is a waste and trust me by january 2011 when the next tranfer window open and it is too late for we (arsenal) to win the title arsene wenger will sign a keeper and by then we are out the title race and our skipper goes to barca and we come 4th or 5th in the leauge
September 1st, 2010 @ 1:34 AM
oh shut up already, arsenal “no1,000,000,000,000,000,000″ fan and jill.
Damn it! stop whining and bitchin!
September 1st, 2010 @ 1:47 AM
just get behind the team their is no need to dig at almunia if we get behind the man maybe he will have some confidence
September 1st, 2010 @ 2:58 AM
ANOTHER FUCKING SEASON WITH OUT SLVRWHR !!!!!
almunia will kill us yet again and we will be playing like BOYS AGAINST MEN this year
September 1st, 2010 @ 3:26 AM
Unbelievable. Wenger’s like Marcello Lippi in this respect. Everyone could see from miles away that the Italy squad was old & washed up & was primed for failure.
Everyone can see from miles away that Arsenal need a goalkeeper, not a fumbling clown like Almunia. So what does he do to address the situation? Fuck all. Unbelievable. Might as well hand the title to Manchu or Chelsea. No goalkeeper = 10 points down the drain right there.
September 1st, 2010 @ 3:36 AM
Breathnach, you could be right on Almunia. He was not consistent enough for last seasons but with the recent matches, he seemed to have improved. I am more worried of the No:2. Fabianski is certainly not ready to be take over should anything untoward happens to Almunia. Arsene Wenger could have misplaced his confidence in Fabianski if he gives Fabianski the No:2 jersey.I do hope I am wrong if he does. The good side is we have strengthened the back four who seeem to be more than ok! Up the Gooners!
September 1st, 2010 @ 4:24 AM
Almunia has proven that he can keep goal(The Blackburn’s game and the 07/08 season are examples)! He just need an infusion of confidence. If he fail to do the job, then he can be replaced with the other keepers that we currently have. If need be a replacement can be found in January. I just can’t see things going so bad with our current keepers that we’d be out of contention by January. The fact that we have been strengthen defensively should see past mistakes diminish considerably!
September 1st, 2010 @ 4:45 AM
David H, who is everyone.
Maybe you started supporting Arsenal last season but Almunia was in goal when we came close to winning the PL. It was the Eduardo situation that caused us to fail that year.
Almunia needs confidence. Maybe if moaning supporters liek yourself would support the man we may just give him a little belief.
Anyway, he was great against long ball blackburn and I look forward to more of the same.
Stop whining!
September 1st, 2010 @ 7:00 AM
typical Wenger. we have gone into the season over the past few season short of the players we need to compete. He has done it again by not signing a keeper. Just a decent keeper. its really frustrating that we cant pay 4 or 5 million for a decent keeper when we desperatley need one. And we knew before last season ended that we needed to strengthen the keeper’s position. Both non 1 nad 2 keepers are clowns and we are not gonna win any cup with these guys. frustrating. really frustrating
September 1st, 2010 @ 7:02 AM
Evertng is not lost w can cope upto january then h’ll add a keeper n even a defender u never knw w might win!
September 1st, 2010 @ 7:08 AM
Arsene Wenger has lost the plot, the whole world can see that we need a new keeper except for him. If we dont win anything again this season then maybe its time for Wenger to go.
September 1st, 2010 @ 7:29 AM
Do any of you know anything at all about how professional sports teams actually go about trying to acquire players from other clubs? If you did, you would know that it’s easier said than done and that the money that’s offered is only part of the story. If you’d been paying attention to the Fabregas melodrama this summer and could extrapolate from it, you might have a different take on Arsenal’s failure to get a GK this transfer window than most of you appear to have.
Fact: Wenger said that the club needed to improve the GK position and would try to do so this transfer window. Fact: Arsenal has a very talented young GK in Szczeny who performed brilliantly last year on loan. While not ready to be the # 1 this year, the coaching staff see him as their future # 1. (Arsenal also has Shea, just chosen to be England’s # 2.) Fact: Szczeny has said that he wants to play and may look elsewhere if blocked from being able to compete for the # 1 spot by a new GK. Arsenal coaches do not want to block him: why spend a lot of money for a young, world-class GK and lose the one you may already have for far less?
Hence, the search for a new GK this year was largely limited to stop-gap GKs better than ALmunia, but not likely to block Szczeny (and possibly Shea).
We know that Arsenal made offers for Schwarzer and Marchetti according to their clubs. Schwarzer certainly wanted to come to Arsenal, we do not know about Marchetti. Much in the same manner as Arsenal rebuffed Barca’s offer for Cesc, the two clubs refused to sell these players to Arsenal. Fulham was willing to sell, after Schwarzer threatened to quit the team, but only if they could get an adequate GK to replace him. They could not.
Given wanted out of ManCity, but, not surprisingly, Citeh wouldn’t sell him to Arsenal or even loan him to Fulham: why would they let Given go to either club and strengthen a club, in Arsenal, that they know that they have to get past in order to win the EPL title? Anyone who thinks Citeh would have sold Given to Arsenal is daft. That was never going to happen.
That’s what we know for certain that Arsenal did to try to bring in a new GK this transfer window. Then there’s the stuff that was rumoured, but that we do not know for certain actually happened:
There were persistent reports that Arsenal had inquired about Stecklenberg’s availability. Those reports linked his possible availability to Ajax’s financial difficulties. Had Ajax not qualified for the group stages in the CL, they might have had to sell off one or more of their top players in order to meet their financial obligations and Stecklenberg was one of those players. Stecklenberg is one of the young GKs who Wenger, who has not been afraid to bring in Dutch players, might have felt had an equal or better future than Szczeny and he may well have been waiting to see if Stecklenberg became available before finalizing a deal for an older, caretaker GK. However, when Ajax qualified for the CL group stages last week their need to sell off players disappeared.
Arsenal was also linked with Begovic and Lloris this summer. As with Marchetti, Begovic’s club refused to sell him and a club has to agree to sell a player or else there is no way that you can buy him. In Lloris’ case, the price is simply outrageously high. If the numbers being quoted in the media are correct, Arsenal would have had to pay as much or more than it paid for Arshavin for Lloris and would have certainly lost Szczeny if it had done so.
In either instance, why spend good money to buy highly-rated young talents like Szczeny and Shea, who didn’t come cheaply by comparison to their peers, and take the time to develop those talents and then not give them a chance to play when they have developed by going out and spending a lot more to buy a comparable talent that is only a couple of years older and more experienced? That would be a waste of money, time and effort. And might prove to be counter-productive if the talent that was developed, but blocked and lost, turns out to be better than the one that was bought in a couple of years.
With very few exceptions, most professional sports franchises will bring in an older player as a stop-gap while a young player that the club believes has star potential develops rather than spend a lot of money to bring in a young player who may be better than the starter that the club has at the position, but may not be as good as the young player that it’s developing to take over as the starter at that position.
Indeed, most championship teams in most sports are built around a core of players who have been developed from within. The number of clubs that have been built strictly around a core of mercenaries and failed to win titles is greater than the number of these clubs that have won titles. Rather than being strictly “cheapness”, “building from within” by developing young talents rather than buying them is not only good business, but good and proven sports management as well (during its recent run of success over the last decade, how many of ManU’s players were acquired when they were young and developed into key core players?).
I wanted to see Arsenal upgrade at the GK position this offseason as much as any Gooner and I’m disappointed that they didn’t manage to do so. But, I also know a bit about how pro sports clubs are run and that there are things that go on all of the time that fans are not aware of because they never come to light. We fans only get to know what appears in the media and a lot of that isn’t to be believed.
From what I’ve seen of A.Wenger, he wouldn’t have said that he wanted to upgrade the GK position if it wasn’t his intention to do so. Nor would he have let the Schwarzer saga drag on if he hadn’t intended to sign the player. But, Wenger told every one of us that he was frustrated by the refusal of teams to do business in this transfer window and that, while he hoped to bring in another player, he did not believe that he could do so because of this. Given the general lack of movement of big-name players in this transfer window, how much more honest a statement do you want him to make? And, if you applauded Arsenal for standing firm and not selling Fabregas to Barca, how can you blame another club for not selling one of their top players to Arsenal? Or, blame Wenger for not being able to buy a player that another club refused to sell?
This is not some video game where the prices are set and, if you want to buy a player, all you have to do is pay the set price. This is real life, folks, where other factors come into play all of the time when clubs set out to make deals in the transfer market. That’s just the way it is and sometimes that means that you can’t get what you want when you want it.
Hopefully, Fulham will be able to find a GK in the winter transfer market and Schwarzer will be able to make the move to Arsenal and bolster the club’s second half charge to the top of the table. Or, the club will be able to identify another GK who is better than Almunia who will be available at that point. If not, we’re just going to have to hope that Almunia will be motivated by the club’s pursuit of a replacement for him and will not only improve his game, but be lucky enough not to have his weaknesses exposed to the point of costing Arsenal valuable points or wins in the EPL and CL. And, let’s hope that the club is right in its assessment of Szczeny’s potential and that he develops very quickly!
September 1st, 2010 @ 1:12 PM
Paul N how do you watch your football thru a straw what David H is saying is write paul n cant you see he (Almunia) is not good for the job at arsenal we try and we try whit him and nuttin happen the only thing that is going to happen again this season is we are going to come close so close that we are not going too win it (title) so PAUL N you song like an asshole thinking that Almunia cant do the job it have been proven he fuckin cant…………. full stop
September 18th, 2010 @ 7:33 AM
dont focus in one side you have to focus in both sides dont trust much to one side,make another for us
September 18th, 2010 @ 7:41 AM
add anothe goalkeeper we are togehter with you dont drop us down we need happy that way we trust in arsenal because is the best club in this world make it for new goalkeeper.
November 13th, 2010 @ 11:35 AM
i think we dont need any goalkeeper now since we have fabianski he is good enough for arsenal to keep what i think we need is only players need now and think we are after three to four players now