Vito Mannone... keeping Almunia out of the side at present
Wenger - Our goalkeepers are good enough
By Chris Harris
Arsène Wenger believes that Arsenal have enough quality in their goalkeeping department to keep them on course for success.
A commanding No 1 is a pre-requisite for any successful football team and Arsenal have had their fair share down the years from Bob Wilson to Pat Jennings and David Seaman.
The Club’s current stable of keepers includes Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone and all have endured lows as well as highs between the posts this year.
Critics suggest that Arsenal lack a world-class No 1 but Wenger defended his goalkeepers when the issue was raised at the Club’s Annual General Meeting.
According to the Frenchman, the unique nature of the position and rule changes in football have both served to handicap goalkeepers.
“Yes I believe we have [enough quality],” said Wenger.
“Goalkeeper is a very difficult position. Why? It is the only position where you have only negative stress. People speak only about you when you have made a mistake.
“A striker has positive stress – he has a pressure to score but if he scores he is always ‘a hero’, he is always ‘fantastic’. But a goalkeeper is only spoken about when he lets a goal in or when he makes a mistake and it is a difficult position.
“As well the modern rules, every rule that has come out in football has taken something away from the keeper.
“That means basically today he must be good with his feet, good with his hands, be very quick, be highly focused for 90 minutes, not make any technical mistakes and it makes the job very hard.
“You see on Wednesday night even if a young goalkeeper makes a mistake [like in the Milan Champions League game] you say he is not at the level to play in this league. But even the most experienced goalkeepers make mistakes.”
[Thursday, October 22, 2009]
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