Arsene Wenger asks Manuel Almunia to step up as Arsenal prepare to face-off against Everton
Arsene Wenger has come out and challenged Manuel Almunia to fight it out amongst other goalkeepers in the squad as far as his first team spot is concerned. The Spanish goalkeeper has been out with injury for the best part of 2010-2011 season for Arsenal.
During this time, Lukasz Fabianski has cemented his place as the number one goalkeeper at Emirates Stadium.
Not only that, Wojciech Szczesny has also entered into the limelight at the London club due to his solid performances for the Gunners. The young goalie recently signed a new contract at Arsenal which will keep him at the Emirates Stadium till 2015.
Arsene recently came out and established the fact that no player at Arsenal had a guaranteed spot in the first team as all the selections are based on performance and form. When the manager was asked whether the experienced Spanish keeper had a place at
Arsenal in the future, Wenger answered, "Of course Almunia has a future at the club. He has been out for a long time, but he must come back and show the performances in training and his quality. You can never stop a player from playing."
It has been suggested that Wenger might sell Almunia in January 2011 when the winter transfer window opens for business. However, Wenger deflected such reports as he said, "At the moment what we are focused on is to win together with the squad we chose at
the start of the season. We are on a train which wants to go to the terminal station - and that means nobody moves out when the train is moving."
The Frenchman added to his remarks saying, "I don't give assurance to anybody for game time. I just told Wojciech Szczesny, he has the quality to be an Arsenal goalkeeper, and that is down to him to show that. We cannot say on one side that we are in top-level
competition and also give the players guarantees. The only guarantees are their performances."
Wenger’s team won their last match against Wolverhampton Wanderers by two goals to nil. The ex-Monaco man said, "This season is by far the most open I have experienced. If you look at some teams who are in the middle of the table, the quality of the teams
they have, it is quite frightening. It will be very interesting until the end and as I said many times the team who can get together all the different ingredients needed in every single game for the longest will win it. At the moment, Chelsea has a good advantage
but apart from Chelsea everybody looks to have a chance, but also looks certain not to be in the top four."
Wenger also touted his team’s chances of extinguishing their title drought which has been in place at the Emirates Stadium. Arsene said, "I am convinced we have the potential and have the right spirit, we have shown that again against Wolves on Wednesday
night. We go to Everton where we will want to show a similar commitment that we have at Wolves."
Talking about his team’s injury problems and specifically Thomas Vermaelen's fitness concerns, Wenger stated, "We know a lot medically nowadays, but there are some mysteries that we do not know about. At the moment we have no rational explanation for his
pain. There is no reason to have surgery and there is no logical explanation for his pain. We have to be patient and just hope it will go. That means rest at the moment."
Arsenal are currently third in the English Premier League with 23 points from 12 games. The Gunners have won seven, drawn two and lost three matches.
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