Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Arsenal are second in the Premier League. Huddersfield are third in League One. Even if Arsene Wenger fields our second choice option in every position we should win.

He won’t of course and I personally hope that he only rotates half the team at most. Because the only thing that can stop us tomorrow is a big dose of complacency. That’s what plagued us in the first half of the season.

Over the last few weeks we have built up a sense of confidence and momentum. I hope we keep that going tomorrow. Obviously some players will be rested ahead of the Everton game but I hope that Szczesny, Song and Nasri all play.

On the subject of goalkeepers, I don’t understand how people end up writing sentences like ‘Arsenal will get a massive boost as Almunia returns to the squad after injury’. Almunia is a nice guy but he’s had his chance and not made the grade. The competition for Arsenal number one is between Fabianski and Szczesny – and right now Szczesny looks the part.

Whilst we wait for our fate in the Champion’s League draw later this morning, what do we make of this week’s keeper speculation?

Not so long ago, the situation must have seemed fairly straightforward.  There was a trio of promising keepers coming down the production line, no need to splash a huge amount of cash, just find a mature, competent journeyman to cover the gap between Lehman and Fabianski.   I really don’t think that Almunia was meant to be more than a stop-gap.  But football isn’t a science and players don’t always develop as planned.  What looks like a wealth of talent turns into a confusion of four first-team keepers but no obvious first choice.  Fabianski doesn’t develop at the hoped for speed.  What’s a manager to do?  Frustrating business, especially in the one role where you can’t give time on the pitch through playing out of position.

But we might slowly be seeing a solution.  Everything that you read about Almunia points to the exit.  I think that it’s just a question of whether there is a good deal for him somewhere this January or whether he has to wait for the summer.  I think that he will do a could job for someone, just not at the top end of the Premiership.

Mannone is safely parked out on loan at Hull where he has just kept his third clean sheet in four games.

So that leaves the two Poles – Fabianski and Szczesny.   A lot of speculation about this week that the the younger Pole, Szczesny, will get a second start against Stoke.  Some go further, suggesting that the nature of Fabianski’s injury is the same as Almunia’s – Wenger’s humane habit of not wanting to humiliate a dropped player.

Szczesny made a very decent league debut on Monday in a big game. He handled well and didn’t look like missing any cross that he tried to claim.  He wasn’t always exactly where his team-mates expected him to be for a pass-back and his kicking needs plenty of work, but it was a good confident display on the fundamentals and he topped our Man of the Match poll .

Is Wenger getting all decisive on the keeper question or is Fabianski a bit short of fully fit and he’s hedging his bets? Either way it looks like Szczesny gets a second go.  My guess is that Wenger hasn’t quite made his mind up yet, but at least the choice is getting clearer.

What do you think?

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It’s widely reported that Wojciech Szczesny is stalling on his new contract. On the one hand I wouldn’t blame him.  Arsenal’s strategy over keepers has been far from clear!

Plus that’s the way contract negotiations seem to go these days – a well-placed leak here and there, adding a bit of pressure.  On the other hand, I would have thought things weren’t developing to badly from his point of view.

So what happens next with Arsenal goalkeepers?

Do we think Almunia is really that badly injured, or did a lighter knock give Wenger the excuse to let Fabianski have a run in the team?  Either way, I think it’s good thing.  As I’ve posted before, Arsenal know everything they are ever going to know about Manuel Almunia.  It’s time to find out about Fabianski for real.  I hope his run goes on a while.

I wouldnt be surprised if the one definite Arsenal goalkeeper move was the departure of Almunia.  Vito Mannone has gone out on loan.  I would have thought that was a good signal for Szczesny as well.  It could be to give more experience, but it strikes me more as a shop window job.

Aresnal certainly don’t need four first-team keepers and probably don’t need three.  Don’t forget we’ve also got James Shea back down the track.

Personally I think Arsenal should bid for a better and experienced keeper than all of the above but you don’t always get what you want and Manchester United are in the market too.

Plan B is probably Fabianski number one and Szczesny number two, with the departure of Almunia and Mannone.  Szczesny will probably wait to see what happens in the window before he puts pen to paper.

Spent five minutes this morning trying to get a Polish colleague to teach me how to say Wojciech Szczesny in the hope that it may come in useful someday!  I got as far as ‘voytec shelsnee’ but she still wasn’t completely satisfied with the beginning of the surname.

This afternoon I see that Szczesny has made the squad for Belgrade, making it an all-Polish goalkeeping line-up after Almunia got the elbow an elbow injury in the first half of the game on Saturday.   A lot of Arsenal fans are calling for Szczesny or Mannone to be given a chance rather than Fabianski but I think that’s more out of desperation more than anything else.   The slogan seems to be ‘better the devil you don’t know’ at the moment.

The truth is that despite Arsenal having four first-team keepers we don’t have an unimpeachable number one.   We have two that have come up short on too many occasions and two that are largely untested.  Buying a keeper is probably the most difficult of all the positions.  You don’t get to see the younger keepers against serious opponents very often.   The solution for a club the size of Arsenal was to buy a tried and tested keeper, but for whatever reason it didn’t happen and can’t happen this side of Christmas at the earliest.

So what should Arsenal do?   Bob Wilson said last week Szczesny wouldn’t get a game because the risk is too great.   What would it take to change the balance of risk?

The truth is that us fans don’t have a better idea that Wenger and his coaching staff as to who is the best choice tomorrow.   But what the heck, we can still have an opinion!   We’ve seen enough to know that Fabianski is a risk.   Would fans rather risk the unknown?

What do you think?

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With the clock ticking, not to mention an increasing injury list, Arsenal need to close the deals on Schwarzer and Squillaci.  Arsene Wenger obviously believes that many footballers are over-valued and, in an objective analysis he’s probably right, but there are times when any club or any business has to pay the going rate to get the assets they need.

Arsenal’s time is now.  We are used to being outspent by Chelsea and Manchester United – and still competing.  Now we have to contend with Manchester City and Tottenham spending big as well.  This could be a crucial season for Arsenal and we need a squad that is big enough and has some experience woven in with the young talent that we have in plenty.

We have ten days to buy a keeper and a central defender.  I think we need another defensive midfielder as well to cover Song but I’m losing hope on that one.

Time to get moving and pay what it takes.

It’s easy to feel pessimistic about Arsenal’s goalkeeping situation.  Ths whole thing seems to badly handled. We have four first-team keepers.  But nearly every Arsenal fan believes that none of them are up to the job.  Various hints and quotes from Arsene Wenger suggest that he feels much the same.  Two may be up to task in the future.  Two must be feeling thoroughly demoralised by now.

But it is still possible to be an optimist.  There are still nearly two weeks to go until the end of the the transfer window and according to various reports there are still several options out there.

Mark Schwarzer  -  This has been the story that just won’t go away despite the best efforts of Fulham.  Schwarzer clearly wants a move.  Arsenal clearly want a keeper.  Fulham probably couldn’t turn their noses up at a sizable wad of cash.  Still a possibility.

Shay Given  -  It is clear that City see Joe Hart as the future.  He has the talent and motivation of the motivation of  the England jersey.  Mancini saying that he hopes Given will stay but will understand if he doesn’t want to, must tell the Irishman all he needs to know about his chances of first-team football.  Still a possibility there.

Maarten Stekelenburg  -  Ajax have cashproblems, according to their financial director Jeroen Slop. Which has to mean they are open to offers.  Stekelenburg is an experienced, international goalkeeper.  Still a possibility there.

So, three experienced international keepers out there. Thirteen days until the window slams shut.  Come on Arsene, Ivan, give us optimists a reward!

Here we go again! Various media reports that Mark Schwarzer really has put in a transfer request now. Direct quotes from Mark Hughes who now expects a fresh Arsenal bid. This sounds like a solid story other than for the fact we’ve been here several times already.

This could be good news, we need a new keeper (see several thousand previous posts). But if true the timing would pose a short-term dilemma for the Liverpool game. Would you play Almunia if it was obvious he was about to be replaced, or Fabianski unsure whether he was being replaced or being confirmed as a number two?

Or tell Mannone or Szczesny that this is their chance to show that they are the future?

Looks like the Schwarzer transfer request story this morning is a dud. Very explicit denial issued by Fulham.

Many Arsenal fans, myself included, are so keen to see a successful move for a new keeper that we’ll buy pretty much any story going.

Several media sites report that Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer has handed in a transfer request. Not that surprising. At 37 this is his last chance for a big club and Champions League football.

Rather bizarrely the Telegraph reports that Arsenal want him to provide competition for places! Just goes to show how even national newspapers are thrown together quickly. Or that Almunia’s mum works as a webpage sub for the Telegraph!

I hope that he comes to Arsenal now. Preferably before Sunday. He will be a real step forward and the amount needed to bring him in should leave cash for another central defender which we also desperately need.

Fingers crossed!

One week to the new season. Three weeks to the end of the transfer window. I’m quite an optimist but even I don’t think Arsenal are ready yet. The friendlies just seem to confirm the strengths and weaknesses of last season. That is to say, great going forward but too weak and disorganised at the back to avoid dropping points.

Chamakh looks good and Wilshire is clearly ready for the big league. Nasri is looking great.

But at the back it’s same old same old. We need another mature, experienced, imposing central defender and a goalkeeper who is more than just an agile shot-stopper. They need to good at reading the game and being in the right place. They need to take charge and organise.

There are loads of exciting rumours out there, but the clock is ticking. Just hope a couple of them are true.