As my colleague Carl Eldridge has speculated the absence of keeper Manuel Almunia from the squads that appeared against Barnet and Sturm Graz must throw some doubt over the Spaniard’s future at Arsenal.
There has been constant speculation about a new goalkeeper arriving at the Grove. Almunia’s failure to be selected for both pre-season games so far has been put down to a “fever” but who knows? Almunia has travelled with the party to Austria. Lukasz Fabiański has started both games, giving way to Vito Mannone at half time who was in turn was replaced by Wojciech Szczęsny for the last twenty minutes at Underhill and to Szczęsny again for the second half against Sturm Graz.
Is this Arsčne Wenger’s plan B if we don’t manage to land another goalie before the start of the season? If so I have severe doubts. Fabiański has proved far too prone to mistakes when appearing for the first team. He had one good game at the Boleyn Ground in the FA Cup last season, then let us down in the next round in the Potteries when we went out to Stoke City, undone yet again by a Rory Delap long-throw. He also made a horrible error in Oporto. Fortunately that didn’t cost us in the long-term.
For my money Vito Mannone is the best of the current three senior goalkeepers. Yes, he did make some errors in his short run in the first team last season but he also had some excellent performances. On raw talent Wojciech Szczęsny is the most gifted and he did very well on loan at Brentford last season, winning the hearts and minds of the Griffin Park faithful with some outstanding displays for the Bees. I think it would be asking a lot to drop him into the deep end of the Premier League pool at just twenty years old though. Goalkeeper is the technically most complex position in football. They tend to mature and have their best seasons later than outfield players.
Fabiański, although slightly shorter than ideal for a top-class goalkeeper appeared to have all the right stuff in his early first team appearances. He has however proved himself very fallible and error-prone. He seems to have something of the Alex Manninger about him, capable of making great saves but also prone to let errors get to him. Even the best goalies make mistakes. David Seaman, amongst the best in the world at his peak made errors. He could always put them behind him. Fabiański appears to have Manninger’s tendency to let errors pray on his mind.
For all his faults Manual Almunia is, I think, a better goalie than Lukasz Fabiański. If we’re unable (or unwilling to spend the money) to secure a better keeper, at least until Wojciech Szczęsny has had the chance to mature a little further, then I’d pick Almunia over Fabiański but Mannone over both of them. I don’t think we’re giving ourselves anything close to a fair go in winning trophies next season without reinforcement in this key position.
Nothing would delight me more than to be proved completely wrong. I don’t think events will prove me so however.
Keep the faith!
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