Arsene Wenger needs Maarten Steklenburg to break Arsenal goalie jinx
No other team in the English Premier League (EPL) has their goal keeping woes as well documented as Arsenal. Be it Fabianski, Almunia or Mannone none are fit enough to be a goal keeper in a side that is trying to win the EPL and participating in the Champions League season after season.
Last year Arsenal were real title contenders, no one counted them as a threat. But yet with all the attacking prowess that they have they surprised all and sundry to be among the top 3 with just a few games left in the season, only to be let down miserably by their goal keepers that eventually led to their downfall.
Arsene Wenger is out in the market in searrch of a recognized goal keeper. Akinfeev, Neuer and Steklenburg are all linked with a move to the Emirates but it will come down to the money and whoever is the cheapest will the Wenger’s preferred choice.
Steklenburg was virtually unknown before the World Cup in South Africa despite being a rock at the back for Dutch Giants Ajax Amsterdam. But it was his stellar performances at the World Cup where he led his side to the finals of the World Cup. That made the world take note and now he is every manager’s top choice for goalie.
Maarten Steklenburg (a name that all fans would struggle to get on the back of their replica jerseys) was born on the 22nd of September 1987 in 1982.As a junior he played for a host of clubs including the likes of Zandvoort 75 and VV Schoten before finally landing at Ajax academy at the tender age of 15 years.He made his Ajax debut at the age of 19 in February 2002 against NAC Breda.
The very next season he helped Ajax win the Dutch Eredivise making 10 appearances for the first team but since then Ajax has been going through a sort of trophy drought as they have not won the league ever since.
In the 04 season Steklenburg made another 11 appearances for his club side and it was not until the following year that he staked a claim for the teams #1 jersey when he made 27 appearances for Ajax between the posts. The same season he also helped the Dutch outfit to win the KNVB Cup where they defeated Ji Sung Park’s PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the final. Both the Ajax goals were scored by another of Arsenal transfer target Klaas-Jan-Huntelaar.
Steklenburg bolstered his CV with another trophy next season when Ajax won the Johan Cruyff-schaal (The Dutch equivalent of the Community Shield). That very season Ajax embarked on another successful Cup run in the KNVB Cup, where Steklenburg helped his side win the penalty shoot-out in the final against AZ Alkmar. Ajax and Steklenburg made it a hat trick of KNVB Cups the following year in 2010 when they beat Feyenoord 6-1 in the two legged final.
In 2008, Steklenburg was named Ajax Amsterdam’s player of the year but a string of injuries coupled with a poor run of form and the emergence of Kenneth Vermeer from the Dutch U-21 ranks meant that the keeper lost his place in the Ajax starting line-up for much of the 09-10 season. The keeper bounced back next season when he re-established himself as the first choice Ajax keeper under the tutelage of Martin Jol.
Steklenburg made his International debut just 15 days shy of his 22nd birthday against Liechtenstein in September 2004. His performance was good enough for Van Basten to take the goalie to the 2006 World Championships in Germany but he only served on the bench with the Veteran Edwin Van Der Sar in sublime form.
Following Van Der Sar’s retirement from international football Steklenburg was finally made Holland’s number 1 goalkeeper and since then he has gone on to win 34 caps for his country.
Steklenburg is the only Dutch keeper in their history who has been sent off in an international match. Steklenburg saw a straight red for fouling Josh Kennedy in 2008 in a friendly against Austria.
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