On the official Arsenal website today, our esteemed leader has been complimenting the standard of young English goalkeepers like Scott Carson and Ben Foster. I find this slightly ironic, because for all Wenger and the backroom staffs' qualities, finding a decent, steady goalkeeper doesn't seem to be one of them. Now, I know that Mad Jens had a fantastic season last year, but lets face it, he is just as liable to lose it/go walkabout at any moment. He's also no spring chicken. Take into account that his backup is Almunia - hardly a name to strike fear into opposing strikers, AND that we have no younger decent backup learning his trade, and you see why I think a MAJOR priority, for next season if not this, is to find a reliable, commanding goalkeeper that will be with us for years to come. Unfortunately, since Arsene has been in charge, I can't think of one GK we've had that inspires total confidence. To make things worse, you then you look at Carson, Kirkland, Foster, Gordon from Hearts, Boruc from Celtic and others and it makes you think 'Why, when we are supposed to have one the best scounting networks around, couldn't we have spotted these guys like these and got them under contract first?' My only conclusion is that Arsene and the guys wouldn't know a decent goalie if he came up and punched him in the face.Wenger is so committed to attack, that in an ideal world, he wouldn't play goalkeeper but instead, field 5 technically excellent, 5ft 4, 7 stone attacking midfielders. Am I bang on the money, or being overly pessimistic? My feeling is that not having a ready made replacement for Jens shows an alarming lack of forward planning, and could leave us in the position of desperately hunting for a GK in the close season, leaving us at the mercy of clubs driving the price up or, God forbid, having Almunia as our 1st choice for next season. Thoughts?
