One Nil To The Opposition!

“Buy a striker Arsene.” “Why doesn’t Arsene buy a winger?” “Wenger should seriously fish in the market for a strong, tough-tackling midfielder.” “Arsenal needs a mean defender if they are to remain in contention this term.” And as we were busy quoting, re-quoting the above, another one flew in our net! Hell, the ‘one nil to the Arsenal’ coinage has now become ‘Arsenal one down’ & the prime reason behind this is not the paucity of forwards, or the inability of our mid-fielders, or for that matter the brawn of our defence. More often than not, it’s the custodian who has let the team down. 11G probes the case of ‘The 3 Muskepeers’ right now..

Not since the eccentric Jens Lehmann guided us to Paris for the Champion’s League decider in ’06, can we claim to have had the sight of a domineering man as our No. 01. Two instances apart, it’s been a rather shoddy story. Let me remind you of the two games I am referring to here. First would be the CL Semis, 1^st leg, against United last season. Saying, our keeper was ‘high’ that night, won’t be an exaggeration! Although we were duly mauled in the 2’nd leg, it was a hearting performance from the Spaniard. Next up would be the game against Fulham this season. Save our save after save. Boy, it was reminiscent of the show orchestrated by on certain Edwin Van der Sar, when the ‘Invincibles‘ met the Cottagers (at the Cottage of course!),  a few years back. I still remember the Dutchman pulled off no less than 23 saves that evening, phew. I doubt all our keepers combined have managed that much this term. No kidding, we have been that bad in the goal-keeping department. Simply put, we suck. Or let’s just stay, we’re stuck with ‘The 3 Muskepeers’ namely Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski & Vito Mannone. Ok, I have now repeated the attempted spoof on Alexandre Dumas three times(!), so moving on; let’s focus on the three men individually:

Almunia first up. Love him. Hate him. You just can’t ignore him. Get him in the team, & he guns are placed right at him. Kick him out, or he gets injured, & everyone wants him back right away. Ok, the latter is more due to the inability of his replacements, yet his case is a curious one. This season he has been pathetic more than anything. He exudes almost zero confidence in his back-4, & his gaffes just keep stacking up by the day. Ronaldo’s free kick from CL Semis last season, his lunge which led to Rooney’s penalty @OT this season, or lately the atrocious back-flap from Nani which again handed United early advantage against us. Big players turn up in big games. He quiet clearly, doesn’t. He is still riding the crest of his performances from last term, & it baffles how Wenger can be so naïve in persisting him all along. He is no junior, which makes it all the more intriguing. Forget making the English squad, at 32, this guy can’t make the cut for Ecuador. Or Estonia. Or El Salvador.

Lukasz Fabianski has been reduced to the role of a ‘Cup Keeper’ under the Wenger regime. Wonder if he’s even good enough for that!? The first time I chanced upon the Pole, was in a tie against Chelsea in he FA Cup. Didier Drogba owned him that evening. Switch to Premier League. Same story. 4-1 to the ‘Blues’. Switch to Carling Cup. A 5-goal trashing at the hands of, wait for it, Spurs. Last night against Porto, & ‘two school-boy errors’ (quoting Captain Cesc) later, he remains in tatters. He is young (i.e. 24), & has a career ahead of him. Agreed that one gains big game temperament only after testing oneself in match day environs, but lack of basic know-how is just not accepted. Seeing the 2’nd goal from last night, you’d wonder if the guy were nuts (Watch the Highlight’s here!). Either the nerves got to him, or he was a sea. Both ways, not a trait, a keeper with potential is supposed to possess. He clearly needs more games to strengthen his case. Till then, I’d prefer not seeing him at all.

PS: And please don’t start him in any game against a team featuring Didier Drogba. The guy is a demon & is very efficient at ruining the very psyche of cute/lost-looking players. Ask Senderos (Added ‘lost’ to include him in!).

At 21, ‘Don’ Vito Mannone is far from a finished product. It was the Italian who btw enacted a Van der Sar, if it wasn’t already obvious. One of the more stellar shows by an Arsenal keeper, in any era I dare say. He was insurmountable that day. Inexperience got to him & ended up giving away silly goals in the subsequent fixtures. His biggest shortcoming seems to be keeping mum in the gravest of situations. ‘Dons’ do that, but c’mon, its football babes. Unless you shout at your defenders, how will they ever know what your plans are!? Again, full of promise & poise, but needs time to stand a chance & be counted. All in all, not eligible enough to man one of Europe’s top teams presently. Hope he gets there soon. I seriously do, especially after watching the other two ply their respective trades, at the Emirates for a while now. Love his name though. So close to Don Vito Corleone, aye!?

If these three are not worth a shot, then who is? Doesn’t a Club as big as Arsenal, deserve better keepers? Don’t world class players like Arshavin, Fabregas, Van Persie, Gallas, etc, deserve more assurance at the back? Don’t the faithful in you & me deserve to see Arsenal complete clean sheets game afte game? Arsene, for once has got it horribly wrong. His track record with goal-keepers has been torrid to say the least. Except for perhaps Seaman, whom he had inherited, he has seldom brought a decent custodian. Jens Lehmann, for all his achievements, remains an enigma to date. Other include Rami Shaaban (who?), Richard Wright(who?), Mart Poom (who?), & our present 4^th choice keeper, Wojciech Szczesny, who again is highly rated by the wily Frenchman. Let’s face it, Arsene doesn’t ‘know‘ the code as far as No. 1’s are concerned. With all due respects for the Professor, if he will please see things as they stand, & opt for an experienced & proven GK, I’m sure it would serve for the greater good. Ok, we can have all these potentially fulfilling players in our ranks, but only for the Reserves side. Not for a team vying for 4 trophies, at least on paper i.e. C’mon Arsene, get flexible & buy us a good, steady & above all, a non-eccentric keeper this summer. Please!

Now let me leave you guys with a Poll to decide for yourself, which of the three, is our best bet till the end of this term. Here we go:

Poll: Who Should Be Arsenal’s First Choice Goal-Keeper?

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