View From The Sphere

Should Manuel Almunia be dropped in favour of Jens Lehmann following latest blunder?

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Manuel Almunia once again demonstrated why he is behind Lukasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny in the pecking order at Arsenal after adding yet another disastrous blunder to his repertoire on Saturday at The Hawthorns.

So I must ask – why on earth is the Spaniard still on the books at the North London club? And more importantly, should Jens Lehmann be between the posts for the remainder of the season?

Arsenal slipped 5 points behind Manchester United following their 2-2 draw with West Brom on Saturday. Many Arsenal fans would have been optimistic about their team recording another 3 points on the road against a lesser team in West Brom (no offence Baggies). However, a certain Spaniard, who probably got bored in goal and had a ‘Monk’ moment (referring to a movie character in ‘Mean-Machine’ played by Jason Statham), ultimately cost his team enormously in terms of tracking down Fergie’s United. Unbelievably, the 33-year-old decided to steam 25-yards out of his area to intercept a long ball played up field. Stupidly, Almunia misjudged the flight of the ball and instead clashed with centre-back Sebastien Squillaci which left Peter Odemwingie rolling in the Baggies second.

I mean come on, is this guy for real? Fortunately for him we managed to show some resolve and claw our way back to earn a point. However, had Manuel Almunia not suffered that moment of idiocy, I believe we could have bagged all three precious points.

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Let’s not forget, this was not Almunia’s first major error this season, or in fact in his Arsenal career. The third-choice Arsenal goalkeeper, and for good reason, was dropped early on in the season after an error-strewn performance at the Emirates against the same opposition. Since then Fabianski and Szczesny have been fighting for the number one spot, but due to both sustaining injuries, Almunia has returned to the first-team line-up…great.

If his goalkeeping attributes weren’t bad enough, the Spaniard shockingly claimed today that Arsenal are in safe hands! He was quoted in The Daily Mail saying:

‘I have had some very bad moments this season but now I am content because I am playing again.’

‘I am a professional and I would never leave a club or a project unless it was the decision of the manager. I will always defend my club. I am an Arsenal player and that’s where I want to succeed.’

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1 comment

  • Chair says:

    I think Lehmann should be starting in favour of Almunia. Almunia is absolutely rubbish and needs to be dropped, he keeps on making mistakes which cost us games. Wenger says Lehmann decision making isn’t there yet, well I would agrue that Almunia has been at Arsenal for 7 years and his decision making is still not there. He is absolutely rubbish. I think Lehmann should start from now till the end of the season, for a couple reasons:

    1. He is better than Almunia.
    2. If Van Der Sar can do it then I’m sure Lehamann can
    3. He is a great keeper and knows what it takes to win and I’m sure he would inspire the team.
    4. He is the legendary invincible keeper.
    5. I know he hasn’t played for a year but I’m sure he can’t do any worse than Almunia

    I would start him but I know Wenger won’t and I’m sure Almunia will play the next premier league game. Oh well we’ll either draw or lose that game with him in goal.

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