NUTTY JENS – BETTER THAN ALMUNIA?

For as much as I rate Almunia, he’s never going to be a steady number 1, and I agree with Jens Lehmann when he says Almunia will not win you games. Don’t get me wrong, Almunia hasn’t exactly done a lot wrong and he’s one of the few keepers in the Premiership who hasn’t made many costly mistakes. However, he does make the saves you expect all top keepers to save, and we leak a lot of goals from set-pieces which isn’t entirely down to Almunia, but the back four does not feel confident with him behind them.

Arsenal fans have been crying out for a top class keeper for the last 2-3 years or so since Lehmann was “past his best” – but I believe he has another 2 years left in him and he is still an absolutely top class keeper. I believe he has the lot, he’s agile for his size, he’s good with crosses, he can kick a ball, he’s a great shot stopper and more importantly he fills the back four with confidence. He made a couple of mistakes at the beginning of the season, and he ranted on a bit about Almunia not being as good as him, but I think he’s been taught a firm lesson by Mr Wenger. He has not let the team down since, and after watching his recent performances, especially against Man U, I’d be happy for Lehmann to stay on as our number 1 for another 2 years. People talk a lot about spending big money on a keeper like Given or Gordon but are either of these really as good as old Nutty Jens? I don’t think so.

There is a lot of talk about us buying this keeper and that keeper, and people moan about Wenger not buying good enough keepers in the past, but I’ll tell you right now you have got to be pretty special to play for one of the top 3-4 teams in the premiership. There are not a lot of consistent keepers in the world, that’s the goalkeeping business for you. Who would you buy in the premiership within reason – Scott Carson, Chris Kirkland – neither are good enough. Fact.

One last thing on Almunia, because I think I may be a little harsh on him, I think he is a great, great back-up keeper but he’s not a great number 1 at this stage of his career. I think he has all the ingredients to become a great number 1, but the career of a goalkeeper is a long one and he’s got at least 7 years left to prove me wrong.