The season is only a few days away and still no new goalkeeper - I'm left clutching at straws like the spurious* rumour about Mark Schwarzer handing in a transfer request and setting off a bizarre triangle of goalkeeper moves... The only thing is it doesn't seem like Friedel wants to go anywhere, and Fulham say they have no intention of selling Schwarzer, and I can't imagine anyone being interested in Almunia.... hmm. That leaves us with two possible choices for the number one slot for the start of the season: Almunia or Fabianski. Its a bit like having to choose between spending an evening with Craig Bellamy or Gary Neville. But seriously even if a new top class keeper was to magically appear tomorrow it's unlikely they could jump straight into the first team, so realistically we are looking at at least a month of highly probable mishaps. Is there any worse feeling in football than seeing your well earned lead fumbled away by a goalkeeping blunder? Arsenal fans should know as we have had more than our fair share over recent seasons. But surely Fabianski's shocking mistake to game ratio will mean Almunia will get the nod. I really can't see any reason why Fabianski should overtake Almunia, they both make mistakes: but Fabianski makes them twice as often.
With regards to signing a new keeper, it got to the stage where i'm not too fussy to be honest, anyone with half decent pedigree / experience would be more than welcome. I don't buy into the Shay Given rumours at all, but maybe something will happen with Schwarzer. I am actually a fan of big goalkeepers rather than the small athletic type. When small keepers fly out to divert a top corner shot away to safety it looks very impressive, but I often think a keeper with a long reach may have saved the same shot a lot more easily, and then not get noticed as much. Also there is a clear advantage in one on one's where the huge guys can spread out and make it very difficult for the striker to find a gap past them, plus the obvious benefit in dealing with crosses / long throws (it would great if we could play Stoke without conceding 3 set pieces per game!)
In other news Wilshere and Giibs got their first England last night so congratulations to them, and Theo had a good game too. Hopefully England games over the next few years won't be as mind-numbingly dull as the last few! And nice to see Walcott actually get some credit in the papers this morning rather than the usual getting slagged off for skinning 3 defenders then failing to find Rooney in the box with a cross (usually because Rooney didn't even bother to make a run...). Anyway I feel my Arsenal bias is kicking in a bit too much now so that's a sign I should stop writing for today ; ) I'll post something before the Liverpool game on Sunday, see you later.
Mr F
*how come only rumours get to be spurious? can anything else be spurious?.... strange....
With regards to signing a new keeper, it got to the stage where i'm not too fussy to be honest, anyone with half decent pedigree / experience would be more than welcome. I don't buy into the Shay Given rumours at all, but maybe something will happen with Schwarzer. I am actually a fan of big goalkeepers rather than the small athletic type. When small keepers fly out to divert a top corner shot away to safety it looks very impressive, but I often think a keeper with a long reach may have saved the same shot a lot more easily, and then not get noticed as much. Also there is a clear advantage in one on one's where the huge guys can spread out and make it very difficult for the striker to find a gap past them, plus the obvious benefit in dealing with crosses / long throws (it would great if we could play Stoke without conceding 3 set pieces per game!)
In other news Wilshere and Giibs got their first England last night so congratulations to them, and Theo had a good game too. Hopefully England games over the next few years won't be as mind-numbingly dull as the last few! And nice to see Walcott actually get some credit in the papers this morning rather than the usual getting slagged off for skinning 3 defenders then failing to find Rooney in the box with a cross (usually because Rooney didn't even bother to make a run...). Anyway I feel my Arsenal bias is kicking in a bit too much now so that's a sign I should stop writing for today ; ) I'll post something before the Liverpool game on Sunday, see you later.
Mr F
*how come only rumours get to be spurious? can anything else be spurious?.... strange....
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