A new striker? A better centre-back? A playmaker to finally and permanently replace Mesut Ozil? Arsenal have a lot of needs ahead of this summer’s transfer window, but none as pressing as finding a new goalkeeper.
Bernd Leno, Mikel Arteta’s current No. 1 put the issue in stark contrast when speaking ahead of Thursday’s second leg against Slavia Prague in the UEFA Europa League. The German’s contract has two more years left to run, but he was still asked about his future. His answer was far from reassuring.
Then again, maybe Leno’s non-committal verbal tap dance is reassuring if you believe Arsenal could do better between the sticks. It’s not an unreasonable point of view since Leno has hardly thrived this season.
He’s kept nine clean sheets, not a shabby number when taken in isolation, but Leno’s numbers were always going to be judged by how they compared with those of Emi Martinez. Arteta chose Leno over Martinez, despite the latter looking like a special talent following Project Restart.
Martinez showed off some nifty distribution, the Mother’s Milk of modern goalkeeping. What happened to good old-fashioned command of your area and making a few saves?
Martinez made plenty of those en route to helping Arsenal win the FA Cup. It seemed as though the club had saved a bundle by finally taking a budding star out of mothballs after 10 years spent on loan or toiling in the reserves.
Arteta and his goalkeeper coaches had other ideas, though. The main one was to restore Leno to the starting position. In fairness, there’s something to be said for a player never deserving to lose their job because of injury. Leno was crocked by Neal Maupay’s snide challenge at Brighton back in June. Before then, Leno had been one of the few bright spots of an otherwise depressing campaign. Man, those are becoming familiar…
When Arteta came to choose between in-form Martinez and used-to-be-the-man Leno, it seemed like he couldn’t go wrong. Whoever he picked would be a competent No. 1 while the other could either stay to be one of the better backups in the division or else be flipped for some cash. A Champagne problem indeed.
It feels beyond smart-aleccy (real term) to second guess Arteta’s decision after the fact. Ultimately though, managers are paid the big bucks to get these type of decisions right. It’s hard to give him a pass for the way this one has turned out since Martinez was sold to Aston Villa.
The bigger issue may not even be how Martinez was Arsenal’s better option than Leno. That dubious distinction belongs to Arteta’s attempts to replace Martinez with Runar Alex Runarsson.
Mikel’s hand-picked and frail stopper lasted just a few games, during which he made a litany of mistakes but perfected that deer in the headlights expression. The Runarsson deal sums up the danger of trusting metrics to predict the future.
Arteta and the stats boys liked Runarsson’s ability to distribute, but the fact the Iceland international couldn’t get in the Dijon starting XI ought to have sounded a few alarm bells. Not playing regularly for a side 16th in Ligue 1 last season was hardly the ideal finishing school ahead of graduating to the Premier League.
Runarsson dropping a turd or two (and the rest) prompted Edu and Arteta to act in January. They played things safer this time by turning to a known commodity, Brighton’s Mat Ryan. He’s a steady sort who knows this league well, but Ryan also lost his starting berth with the Seagulls to Robert Sanchez.
Ryan’s a decent deputy, but he’s due back at Brighton soon. Arteta needs at least one ‘Keeper this summer. There’s a convincing case to sign two.
The problem is not many are likely to want the job considering how busy goalies are kept in this team.
Things get tricky when you realise history is not on Arteta and Edu’s side. Arsenal’s recent track record of recruiting goalkeepers has been, well, shite. It’s worth repeating. Shite.
There’s more blame to go around than for just signing Runarsson and ditching Martinez. Before Leno, there was Petr Cech.
You could understand Arsene Wenger’s logic. A dependable veteran who’d seen it all and won it all at Chelsea would give Arsenal’s nearly men an edge. Problem was Cech was past his best when 2015 rolled around. In fact, his performances for Arsenal were so bad I’m still convinced he was an enemy agent.
What’s more likely is Cech wasn’t quite as good as many thought. Remember when Arsenal won 5-3 at Stamford Bridge in 2011? Look back at a few of those goals, specifically those scored by Andre Santos and Theo Walcott.
For all the talk of Cech being world class, there were plenty of years after his initial success at Chelsea where he looked anything but. Granted, Stephen Hunt using his dome for target practice in 2006 hardly helped Cech’s cause, but I firmly believe his reputation and stats were padded by a few seasons playing behind Terry, Carvalho, Gallas and Makelele.
Wenger signed Cech because he wanted an upgrade over David Ospina. The Colombian played like a boss against Chelsea in the 2017 FA Cup final, but he always looked brittle enough to break at any moment. Nobody was ever fully convinced by Ospina.
If Arsenal do go hunting for a new ‘Keeper, Arteta and Edu will need to be a lot smarter in the market. Spending big at the position has become something of a cautionary tale after Kepa Arrizabalaga cratered at Chelsea. That’s how you flush £71 million.
Honestly, Arsenal don’t need to worry about suffering a similar fate since there isn’t enough money for an Alisson Becker or Ederson. What there has to be is an acknowledgement of how important a new goalkeeper is to the Arteta rebuild.
A tougher, more efficient back four provides a platform for success, but it won’t cover for a clown tending goal. Similarly, more goals are needed in this team, but Arsenal won’t get far trying to win 3-2 or 4-3 every week. Remember all those years with Manuel Almunia as the last line of defence? Shudder. As in shoulda signed a better goalkeeper.
This summer’s the ideal time to right a mistake that’s lingered for too long.
The 49 Steps 