Almunia - My bizarre first request at Arsenal

By Nick Teale
 
Manuel Almunia recently made his 150th Arsenal first-team appearance. But when he first arrived at the Club, he made a bizarre first request.
 
Having been plucked from relative footballing obscurity in Spain, the 32-year-old bided his time at Arsenal and became the Club's No 1 in 2007. Since then he has stood in as captain on numerous occasions.
 
Almunia has made 154 appearances for the first-team, keeping 64 clean sheets in the process. Speaking to Arsenal TV Online's 'Spotlight' programme, the keeper explained what happened when he first arrived in England.
 
"The first day I arrived I remember nobody was here at the training ground because everybody was on holiday," he explained. "I came to meet Tony Colbert, the fitness coach, to do some tests.
 
"I came with my agent and we did some physical tests. It was a general test of my physical fitness - jumping, reactions, a bit of everything.
 
"I went back to Spain and waited for a phone call to say everything was all right and I asked when I had to join the team to start pre-season."
 
And during his first visit to the Club's London Colney training centre, the Spaniard made a strange request.
 
"I asked one of the staff at the training ground to show me the boot room," he said.
 
"I went to the boot room to see the boots of the players I used to see on TV. I touched all of the boots, of Ljungberg, Pires; I was impressed.
 
"My first impressions were that I was in another world, I was dreaming. Even in Spain at Real Madrid and Barcelona they did not have anything as good as this training facility."
 
The keeper arrived in 2004 - during the summer following Arsenal's 'Invincible' season. Reflecting on his first months with the team, he admits that at first it was a bit strange to come to the Club on the back of a loan spell at La Liga side Albacete, who finished 14th prior to Almunia's departure.
 
"It was a bit hard because I came from a low team to a team where everybody is an international and known around the world," he said. "But being natural and polite to the people and giving a good impression you can go anywhere."
 
Manuel was talking to Arsenal TV Online's 'Spotlight' programme. To see this feature-length interview in full, tune in to TV Online tonight from 8pm (UK time).

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[Friday, March 12, 2010]

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