Author Archives: Michael Roberts

Lehmann – Almunia – Gallas – Wenger – Dein – Sven

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Well Arsene Wenger has announced that Jens Lehmann is ‘injured’ and will be missing for at least two weeks with an achillies problem. You wonder about the timing of this ‘injury’ and I suspect that it’s the same sort of injury Thierry Henry had at the end of last season. There has been a lot of talk about Lehmann’s costly mistakes of late but Arsene has spoken out and said that Jens is still a top quality goalkeeper.

It’s pretty convenient how Lehmann has become injured following shocking mistakes at Fulham and Blackburn, and a few people thought he should have done better at the near post against Lampard in midweek.

I thought that highly-rated Fabianski might be given a shot but with Arsene’s pecking order it will be Manuel Almunia who fills in for the German. The boss is confident that Almunia can handle the responsibility and admitted it was close in deciding a number one this season. Personally if Lehmann is fully-fit and on top of his game then there really is no contest – but sadly that isn’t the case.

Some people love Almunia and some people hate him. I’m still undecided, even though he’s been at the club over 3 years and seen a decent amount of playing time. I suppose I’m still gutted about the time I travelled all the way to Manchester for the Carling Cup game only for him to let in a pathetic shot after 30 seconds. Man, that was a long trip home!

But as you may or may not have already seen (via Arseblog) that Almunia did win the Arsenal Crossbar Challenge so you can’t say he doesn’t deserve his place in the team!

Unfortunately Willie G will be out for some time and Kolo will captain the side if (and it looks likely) that Gilberto will not take part in the Man City game. I never thought I would say this but Willie has impressed me already this season and we’ll miss his drive – we really could have done with him in the second half against Blackburn.

Meanwhile the manager has said his future will be sorted out ‘soon’ and dismissed talk that delays had anything to do with David Dein. Arsene has always been laid back about signing on the dotted line but is a man of his word so I would be shocked if he did anything other than extend his future.

And of course tomorrow afternoon, we meet Sven’s men who are flying at the top of the league after beating West Ham, Derby and Manchester United. Whatever you want to say about Sven, winning the first 3 games of the season is impressive and Man City are the only team in the league that still have a 100% record. Most people think we will easily beat them but they haven’t conceded a goal yet with Dunne and Richards in fantastic form so I can see tomorrow being a frustration afternoon – especially with Arsenal’s knack of wasting opportunities in front of goal.

On the plus side it looks like Adebayor will start and at least he isn’t scared of shooting.

And hopefully Gilberto will start because Arsenal have problems keeping clean sheets without him.

The smart money would be on 0-0 tomorrow but hopefully Arsenal can grab a goal and nick it 2-1 against a supremely confident Manchester City.

No more blunders please!

Video Link: Arsenal Crossbar Challenge – French TV (YouTube – 3:02)
Download Link: Click Here (Rapidshare – 26MB)

Jens Lehmann: It’s Time To Move On

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When I wrote yesterday’s article it was virtually after the game, so I suppose I could have been a little harsh.

But looking at it, Wenger really has to drop Jens.

How many mistakes does he have to make, really?

We all know Lehmann is a quality goalkeeper – there’s no doubt about that. His saves against Riquelme, Solskjaer, Scholes and various others over the last few seasons have literally saved us points, got us to European Finals or won us trophies.

The question is how much power does Lehmann have?

Because in any other circumstances he would be dropped. Just look at Jerzy Dudek, Fabian Bartez, Sander Westerveld – these goalkeepers made less errors than Jens has but that didn’t stop teams like Liverpool and Manchester United dropping them.

If you compiled a list of mistakes Lehmann has made since he has joined then it would be very long indeed. Even in the invincibles season he managed to tarnish the win at White Hart Lane by conceding a stupid foul against Robbie Keane to give away a penalty.

Is Arsene scared of dropping Jens? Will Lehmann sulk and disrupt the dressing room if he’s not playing?

Jens will be 38 years old this year. If he hasn’t got rid of his lapses in judgement by now he never will – or maybe the fact of the matter is the big man is just passed it.

I can’t see the harm in giving Lukasz Fabianski a chance, who is highly rated at the club and Poland’s number one. Arsene has a knack of giving the young guys a chance throughout the different positions in the team so why not at goalkeeper?

Seriously though, does any other team in the world have this many problems with their goalkeeper?

Arsenal Suffer From Another Lehmann Mistake

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Unfortunately most people will talk about the goalkeeping mistake from Jens Lehmann which allowed Blackburn to equalise this afternoon.

I didn’t see the game, but managed to catch the goals.

Arsenal led after 17 minutes when Robin Van Persie pounced on a scrappy goalmouth scramble involving Fabregas and Eduardo. Good work from Cesc and Clichy led to a header from Theo to setup Eduardo, who managed to flick the ball goalwards under pressure from the Blackburn defence. Fabregas followed in only for the ball to drop to Van Persie, who luckily for Arsenal is ruthless enough to just put his foot through the ball and open the scoring.

Then the other goal came in the 71st minute, when David Dunn played a smart one-two with Matt Derbyshire and let fly with his left foot. The ball was hit with some pace but it was straight at the German keeper, and somehow it flew through his outstretched hands and into the top corner.

Lehmann’s face after the goal said it all.

It’s only two games into the new Premiership season and Jens has made two huge blunders. The first was literally seconds from costing us points and the second did cost us all three points.

As I mentioned, I haven’t seen the game but I don’t care whether Arsenal deserved to win, or Blackburn deserved to win or whatever – the fact of the matter is results and points hinge on goals conceded or scored.

If Blackburn deserved a point then I couldn’t care less. The fact was Arsenal were leading 1-0 and if Jens doesn’t gift them an equaliser we would have come home with 3 points. If Rovers hit the bar, hit the post or came close the fact is that they didn’t score from those opportunities so I’ll take that every time.

The problem is that to have any chance to challenging for the league Arsenal need momentum and a great first 10 games of the season.

I’m just afraid that if these mistakes continue to happen then we won’t even get that far.

Great Week For Arsenal Can Get Even Better!

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Like most people I was without Setanta, but a two nil win away from home in harsh conditions is an excellent in anyones language. And luckily the second leg is on ITV.

Although I missed the game, I did manage to see the goals.

From what I have heard Sparta had some opportunities early on Arsenal were second best, particularly in the second half. But if we play badly and still managing to win by 2 goals then that’s got to be a good thing.

The first goal came from Cesc in the 73rd minute after a fantastic run from Gael Clichy. The young Frenchman robbed the ball just passed the halfway line, beat two defenders and laid it on a plate for Fabregas – who finished smartly in the bottom corner.

It was a stunning and direct goal. More of that please!

It was touching to see the togetherness in the squad once Cesc scored the opener. Every single player congratulated Fabregas and it was nice to see the props the little Spaniard gave Clichy for his part in the goal. He paid respect to Gael here.

The second goal came from Hleb, who has a thing for scoring in the last minute. Sagna made a smart run down the left and fizzed the ball to Alex who smartly finished passed the Sparta keeper.

Overall, a great week for the Arse.

A win on the opening day of the Premiership season and one foot in the Champions League proper. I know it’s early on in the season but we have to build and enjoy these moments!

In the Premiership it was eventful too, with United only managing to draw at Pompy. Chelsea beat Reading, but don’t look so water-tight at the back without John Terry or Carvalho, and Spurs lost against Everton at home.

Ouch.

Hopefully Arsenal can cap off a great week by getting a result at Ewood Park on Sunday, which is another game I won’t be able to watch.

Gallas – Lehmann – Pedersen – Eduardo – Sparta

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A lot has been made of the appointment of Gallas as captain, especially as Gilberto felt let down and not knowing who the captain was going to be before it was announced. Arsene touched on this point here and while I understand he can’t tell everyone everything I agree with Arseblogger that a quick 5 minute chat wouldn’t have really taken much effort. But of course Arsene is a very busy man, with running Arsenal Football Club and all!

Well Gallas has a 100% record as Arsenal captain so let’s hope he can keep it up tonight against Sparta Prague. It looks like Arsenal will use the same team as on Sunday, although I’d probably prefer Diaby or Denilson in the middle alongside Cesc but it looks like it will be Flamini because the two D’s are out injured.

Wenger has also backed Lehmann after his big mistake at the weekend. I have to say I’m a big fan of Jens and despite some erratic moments he is a top quality goalkeeper. He is capable of making those vital saves like the one at Old Trafford last season among countless others. For me Almunia is way off Lehmann when it comes to ability but I hope Fabianski can mount a serious challenge to keep the German on his toes.

The speculation about Pedersen (which I found strange anyway) has been denied by Wenger on the official Arsenal website. I’m not sure why that made the official site because I couldn’t see it happening anyway. I the vast majority of attacking signings Arsene always looks for pace, and while Pedersen is a quality player he is all about his delivery – not beating players. And it would be weird if he did join because we don’t have any players to head the ball!

Mark Hughes was less than happy with the rumours though so it’s not all bad.

Eduardo will have to wait for his competitive Arsenal debut and is out of tonight’s squad because of an ankle problem, also sustained by Denilson and Diaby. Something wrong with the training pitches?

And Tomas Rosicky has talked about the strange feeling he’ll have playing against a team he joined when he was only 7. Let’s hope the emotional experience doesn’t effect his performance.

Finally, does anyone else hate Setanta?