Arsenal's shock defeat: Why Wojciech Szczesny should be the number one goalkeeper - Part 1
Arsenal’s veteran goalkeeper Manuel Almunia's goalkeeping howlers were the highlights of an uninteresting performance against West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates this past weekend. Arsenal lost three crucial points at their home game which was their first
defeat of the Barclays English Premier League this season.
Arsenal underwent a horrible 90 minutes, which was mostly controlled by newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. The Gunners were not playing their usual high tempo and quick passing game. They were dreadful in the park, lacking their usual inspiration with
obvious fatigue hitting the players.
Had Arsenal earned all the three points available to them, they would have only been one point away from Barclays Premier League leaders, Chelsea. It was a great chance for the Gunners to put some pressure on Chelsea at the top of the table after their 100%
record had ended earlier in that day by Manchester City.
A win would have put Arsene Wenger’s team one point behind Chelsea with a trip to Stamford Bridge to come this weekend and anything less than that was unthinkable.
Arsenal’s Spanish goalkeeper was supported by Arsene Wenger and a great section of their supporters to come good this season, after their boss was unsuccessful in his efforts to land a quality goalkeeper at the Emirates during the summer transfer window.
The 34-year-old keeper has shown, time and again, that he has the talent to be a good goal keeper, but his decision making and lapses in concentration have let Arsene Wenger’s squad down on a number of times. Last year, Manuel Almunia was shelved by "injury"
in the latter stages of the season. His deputy Lukasz Fabianski started for Arsenal in Almunia’s absence. Some of his performances were nothing short of shocking.
For now, Gunners veteran keeper Manuel Almunia is "injured", so this presents a chance for ‘The Professor’ to promote Wojciech to the starting eleven. Wojciech Szczesny is a young Polish goalkeeper who was exceptional on loan at Brentford last year. Here
are some of the reasons why Wojciech should be the number one goalkeeper for the Gunners on a regular basis.
Fabianski is a disaster waiting to happen
There is nothing to say more as the above statement reflects the complete story. Whenever Lukasz Fabianski is between the sticks for the Gunners, they look very unstable at the back, and it appears that Fabianski has a knack for conceding easy goals. Even
during last week’s fixture against arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, Fabianski’s performance was not up to the mark.
Last year, Fabianski's high profile blunders (against Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, FC Porto to name just a few) provoked Wojciech to comment that some of Arsenal’s goalkeepers are not doing the fundamentals right. We can assume who his pot-shot was
aimed at.
Mannone does deserve his chance, but in the Carling Cup
There will be much argument as to whether Wojciech Szczesny is worthy of promotion ahead of Vito Mannone. Last season, when both Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski were side-lined because of injuries, Mannone got his opportunity. Last year's game against
Fulham at Craven Cottage will be recalled for Mannone's heroics between the sticks.
The Italian goalkeeper, without any doubt, possesses a lot of talent, but is prone to odd mistakes. Besides the errors, the young goalkeeper was a catastrophe during his loan spell at Barnsley, but that should not be taken into account. Vito Mannone has
shown he has the aptitude to be a great goal keeper in the future, but the Italian goalkeeper needs to be eased into the team and the number of games in the Carling Cup might do him a lot of good.
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