Last night saw us take on Partizan Belgrade in Serbia and the team ran out 3-1 winners after goals by Arshavin, Chamakh and Squillaci. There was also room for a penalty miss by Arshavin just before the hour mark and an unlikely rounding off of a good display by Fabianski with a fine penalty save in the 84th minute. I’m not going to start saying that I think that Fabianski has now turned the corner, because one performance doesn’t mean that he is suddenly a world class keeper. Though credit where it’s due, by all accounts he played well and it could be great for his confidence if he has to face Chavski this coming weekend. Arshavin’s penalty was piss-poor, it must be said. When you hit the ball almost straight down the middle, it gives the keeper a great chance to save it, and save it he did.
The starting eleven was: Fabianski, Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Gibbs, Song, Denilson, Wilshere, Rosicky, Arshavin and Chamakh. Fabianski stepped in for the injured Almunia and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be fit for the Chavski game. To be honest it’s hard to know what to hope for. Should we pray for the return of Almunia? It just wouldn’t be right to hope for Fabianski to get injured and, anyway, there is no need to hope for such a thing to happen as it is one of those fated things when you are an Arsenal player. It’s a sure as a RvP breakdown within three months of regaining full fitness. As bizarre as this may sound, Fabianski may be the better option for the Chavski game as he would be in the best state, mentally, after his performance against Partizan.
Never thought I would hear myself saying I would pick Fabianski ahead of Almunia. There must be someone smoking a joint somewhere in my vicinity for me to even think such a thought. Could he get through two games in a row without making a mistake of James Milner’s head proportions? Hmmmm, somehow I doubt it, but we may be about to find out. It was interesting to hear Wenger say that finally Fabianski managed to show on the football field what he does in training every day. You do wonder whether a player that makes so many routine mistakes in games, both big and small, can ever truly overcome those confidence demons to truly make it as a top class keeper. If Fabianski does manage to do so, it would be an amazing turnaround and would endear him to the fans. I just don’t see him being able to pull it off, to be honest.
Due to the 03:45 kick-off last night, my having to get up for work at 05:50 and Fabianski playing in goal, I decided to stay in bed and not get up to watch the game. The last thing I wanted was to get up, be furious after seeing yet another goalkeeping mistake and then going to work both knackered and in a foul mood. So, I can’t really comment on the game as I have yet to arrive home after work and watch the highlights. I just managed to see the bite-size highlights on ATVO.
Hope this post was somewhat coherent as I wrote it in a haze of tiredness.
Take it easy.
Arsenal News 24/7
The North Bank - "It's got va-va-voom" (An Arsenal blog) 
Flapper did ok last night but he is not the answer to our keeper problem.At 25 he should be showing composure on the field but he doesn’t.He looks like a man, who will make at least two mistakes per game.Manninger was booted out the door for less,Jaysus Luckic was kicked out by Graham because he didn’t command his area.Reina would be a perfect signing and wouldn’t cost the 56 million we made last season.Offer the Bank of Scotland 10 million, they will be glad to get it.
Yeah, apparently he inquired about Reina alright. He would have been a very good signing as I think that he is the best keeper playing in the Premier League.
Fabianski having a good game and saving the penalty last night should help him a lot,confidence-wise. If he plays against Chavski, hopefully he can repeat that performance.
I agree that our keepers have been exposed by a lack of cohesive team defending. They undoubtedly need more protection.
Wenger made a “big” offer for Reina in the summer & was rebuffed. Who knows who else he tried to buy, apart from Schwarzer and would he really have been any better than what we have. We have who we have until Christmas at least. Glad Fabianski had a good night. In no way convinced as yet but as pigs are flying now, who knows, maybe he will suddenly start showing that he is world class. I do think our keepers suffer a lot becasue of the mistakes we make further up the field (midfield & defence). Saying that if we had a ‘World Class” keeper maybe he would have saved our bacon (as pigs are in vogue)more often.
Unto the chavs on Sunday-and a much needed win under our belts. Almost a 2nd eleven out there, considering who was in the sick room.
It really is a shame that we’re reduced to thinking about who is ‘least likely’ to make a major error in the next game. It should never have come to this, and I can’t understand why it has. Maybe because it’s got nothing to do with pass and move?
Yeah, it’s a sad state of affairs when a club the size of Arsenal is reduced to choosing between a no1 and a no2 that, on their day can put in a good performance but that both are more than capable of making massive mistakes which cost us goals and points.
But, yes, one way or the other Wenger really needs to be making a final decision on whether or not any of our ‘top’ two keepers have a future at the club.
Lehmann was dropped for a lot less than our current keepers have already gotten away with.
Fingers crossed it gets sorted sooner rather than later.
I would definitely go with Fabi in goal for the chavs even if Manuel is fit. He played a blinder and therefore deserves to be kept in the side. Otherwise wenger would not be rewarding good performance. Its not like MA has been good this season – he has made more errors than Fabi (admittedly he has played more games).
I would now give Fabi the gloves until he makes a big mistake. If that mistake comes after say 15 games time then he will have to some degree proved himself at this level and deserves the job full-time. We need to know all about him and Chesney before January IMO so we know whether we need to buy.