I am now officially excited about the start of the new season after weeks of post-World Cup and post-Wigan ennui, but I can’t remember feeling less confident ahead of an opening game than I am right now. Broadly speaking, I remain a ‘pro-Wenger’ Arsenal fan, chiefly because I don’t see that there is anyone else out there who could do a better job right now, but the lack of transfer activity this Summer is seriously concerning. It is unarguable that we are about to start this season with a weaker squad than we finished the last, given that we’ve lost three centre halves (four if you count Senderos), and only gained one, Laurent Koscielny, who is very much an unknown quantity.
As is customary, we start the season in the midst of an injury crisis with only two fit centre halves ready for the trip to Anfield, and the prospect of two teenagers starting in midfield, Wilshere and Frimpong, one of whom has yet to make his league debut. The captain isn’t match fit and neither is Robin Van Persie. Nicklas Bendtner is out until October. And all this against a Liverpool team playing their first home game in the Premier League with a new manager, a revitalised Steven Gerrard and a big-name new signing in the shape of Joe Cole.
But by far the largest concern is the fact that, if all the whispers are true, Arsène Wenger is about to start the new Premier League season with Lukasz Fabianksi in goal. Arsenal don’t have a goalkeeper of the quality of Pepe Reina, Edwin Van der Sar, Petr Cech, Brad Friedel, Mark Schwarzer, Heurelho Gomes, Joe Hart, Tim Howard or Shay Given. Of those we do have I would opine that Manuel Almunia is the best. Fabianski is not only the worst Arsenal goalkeeper I have ever seen, he is probably the worst top flight goalkeeper I can recall, having watched football back to the early 1980’s. I think I described him as a 5 foot 10 nervous breakdown that can’t catch last season. For those who think Arsène Wenger has ‘lost it’, he represents exhibit ‘A’ in the case for prosecution. If we played a season with him between the sticks we’d do well to finish in the top six, however many goals we score at the other end. It is genuinely mystifying, baffling but most of all deeply, deeply worrying that our manager thinks this lad has what it takes to represent our club.
Everyone will have read about the club’s apparent attempts to sign Schwarzer from Fulham, as well as the non-story about getting Shay Given on loan (as if they’re going to loan us anyone when they’re trying to unseat our position in the top three). With all the upheaval at Villa I’d try to sign Brad Friedel – I reckon he’d leap at the chance to have one more season in the Champions League and he could represent the quick fix we need while we wait for Wojciech Szczesny (henceforth known as ‘Spellcheck’) to fully mature into the ‘keeper everyone thinks he’s going to be.
I don’t doubt that the club are still trying to make more signings and I would be surprised if we don’t bring in another centre half before the end of the month, (whether anyone has heard of him is another matter). But we all know how reluctant Wenger is to pay even a few hundred grand over what he considers the odds, despite the threat to our chances of winning anything this season. For my money we’re nailed on to start the 2010-2011 season with a defeat, possibly a heavy one.
Shipping in three or four goals, mostly to poorly defended set pieces or from crosses, may be the nudge that the boss needs to sort out the unholy mess we have at the back of the team before we are out of the title race before the leaves start falling off the tree. I have no doubts that we’ll score on Sunday, but I cannot see us managing to stop the Scousers scoring at least twice. All in all, it should make for exciting viewing.
Source: Cannon Lore, The Online Gooner on 13 Aug 10
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