Arsenal’s recent 3-1 defeat against Olympiacos was disappointing in a number of ways. It was viewed as an opportunity for a number of second-string players to start vying for a place in the first team. The likes of Marouane Chamakh, Andrey Arshavin and Sebastien Squillaci have always existed in and around the first XI, without really staking a claim to a regular starting berth.
Unfortunately these also happened to be the players that disappointed on the grandest scale on Tuesday night. Chamakh applied himself to no real end (accidental assist aside), Arshavin failed to make any impact and didn’t look at the races at all, whilst Squillaci proved that he is totally unable to marshal a defence.
Even youngsters like Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong disappointed after a wildly impressive showing against Manchester City the week prior.
But the real dissatisfaction when it comes to Arsenal has to be the lack of strength in depth they have when it comes to goalkeepers. Lukasz Fabianski lived up to his ‘Flappyhandski’ moniker until an inadvertent challenge with Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen saw him leave the pitch with a gash in his knee.
Arsenal fans may have thought that things couldn’t have got any worse. That is, until the introduction of third choice keeper, Vito Mannone. It could be argued that he was at fault for both Olympiacos’ second and third goals. Come back Manuel Almunia, everything is forgiven!
It may be a little unfair to judge Mannone on the basis of one performance, particularly since he has never had regular game time at the club. Yet so is the life of a reserve goal keeper, the best of whom are able to come on in during difficult games and perform to a high level. Two major mistakes during a European outing simply doesn’t fit the billing.
It may not be fair, but Arsenal fans need to know that should Wojciech Szczesny pick up an injury or be absent for any other reason, there is another safe pair of hands at the club. At the moment Fabianski and Mannone just don’t look ready and that’s not good enough at a team competing on as many fronts as Arsenal.
There is a clear need for another world-class striker to join the club, but perhaps the goalkeeping position is one that also needs to be assessed. Chesney is a top class talent, but Arsenal still need somebody in reserve that they can trust.
But what’s your take? Am I being too harsh on Mannone and Fabianksi? Or is it time that Wenger went shopping this January?
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Agreed. We’ve needed a top class keeper since the decline of Lehmann, and we’ve been fortunate that we eventually got Szczesny from within our youth ranks, but whenever he’s not playing I can’t help but feel very uneasy when the opposition attack. Fabianski looked promising when we first bought him, but he’s not imporved and may have even got worse since he lost his confidence. Mannone was also seen as a promising young talent, and was VERY impressive in the 09/10 season when he put in a MOTM performance against Fulham, but even he hasn’t really improved since then. I know it’s harsh to jude a player on one or just a few games, but when second string players are given a chance they should put 110% into their performance to give the manager a hard decision to make when it comes to taking them back out of the squad, ESPECIALLY when you’re a goalkeeper, becuase theres only one spot up for grabs.