Gunners in safe hands - Wenger

Fri, 23 Oct 17:05:18 2009

Arsene Wenger believes whomever he puts in goal at West Ham on Sunday will do Arsenal justice.

Experienced Manuel Almunia is fit again following six weeks out with a virus. However, for the last two matches - against Birmingham and in the away UEFA Champions League draw with AZ Alkmaar - young Italian Vito Mannone has retained his place.

"Yes, I believe we have enough quality," the Arsenal manager said. "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."

He added: "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."

Wenger added: "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."

Mannone, 21, hopes he has done enough to become first choice on a regular basis.

The Italian, outstanding at Fulham last month, said: "I am very pleased to keep my place.

"I just keep doing what I have been doing in the last few weeks and so far the boss has chosen me so I am happy."

Mannone told Arsenal TV Online: "I can see he has kept faith with me. I am working hard to repay him with my performances."

 

Comment 1 - 9 of 9

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  1. I would agree with the goalkeeping assessment of David­ Dein (AKA Dale A) were it not for my suspicion of what­ his agenda his as Usmanov's sidekick lol.­ peter.ansell2 your point about the defence has been­ concentrated on by our coaches for so long now and I­ think fundamentally they have found a working formula.­ What goes wrong is just because of Gallas's natural­ jitters which then have a ripple effect on unsettling­ everybody else around him. But he is a world class­ defender whom Arsenal can not yet afford to replace so­ they just need more bonding sessions in my view so that­ everybody else can hold their nerves when he gets­ jittery. Don't forget we got him free plus 25­ million for Cashley. AW's natural stinginess will­ make him hang on to that most profitable business­ killing for as long as Gallas keeps his form.

    From sanchez.santos, on Sat 24 Oct 11:53AM

  2. manone ah sedak sket dari almonia..
    dok ke gitu­ en.wenger?

    From fattah_evh88, on Sat 24 Oct 8:13AM

  3. mannone should be arsenal's first choice­ goalkeeper
    i have never rated ALMUNIA
    go on you­ gunners
    Margaret Tottenham

    From Margaret, on Sat 24 Oct 7:47AM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Manonne is still too young. almunia has faults but he­ is consitent. Manonne we should hang on to and develop­ further but i would prefere to see Almunia back.

    From Tom, on Fri 23 Oct 5:42PM

  5. mannone has shown a better quality for the­ now.there's no doubt he's the better person.

    From KENU, on Fri 23 Oct 5:31PM

  6. At least Italians generally look quite ok with stress,­ they generally sleep in shrub lands all day and when­ called upon generally look panicked and dramatic which­ is perfect for a goaly

    From Stephane G, on Fri 23 Oct 5:25PM

  7. Stick with Mannone, Almunia will have to wait.

    From perry08, on Fri 23 Oct 5:22PM

  8. My Arsenal goal keeper ratings as follow:

    1.­ Mannone
    2. Almunia
    3. Szczęsny
    4.­ Fabianski

    Mannone, though still making errors, has­ proven most agile anddid very well in situations­ Almunia haven't in recent form, the game against­ Fulham, Almunia would have lost that game, other games­ were Mannone made errors, Almunia made same juvenile­ errors. I would have put Szczęsny ahead of­ Almunia for his agility and the Carling cup game, he­ was excellent, very efficient and stopped everything­ that came his way. But he is stil very young for a­ goalie and has not played enough. Almunia retains 1 or­ 2 simply for stability and age, nothing else.­ Fabianski, IMO, was given the same chances as Mannone­ and he played badly, not recovering well, unlike­ Mannone, he recovers from errors well, while Fabianski­ does not. I think Mannone should be allowed to play­ against West Ham and we see from there..

    From Dale, on Fri 23 Oct 4:34PM

  9. all our goalkeepers together with the defence are­ suspect with set pieces including corners. We need to­ get the defence sorted to be really in with doing­ anything this season. Stop giving free kicks away in­ front of goal and deal with crosses with some degree of­ confidence.

    From peter.ansell2, on Fri 23 Oct 2:08PM
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