DROP ALMUNIA

[mrgnu1958]

Casper thingymajig...OH NOOOO hes at Notts county

[Kiki]

Look at the internationally renowned IHHFs Best Goalkeeper Stats

Jens record

2008 - 9th Best
2007 - 10th Best
2006 - 2nd Best

[g88ner]

Look at the internationally renowned IHHFs Best Goalkeeper Stats

Jens record

2008 - 9th Best
2007 - 10th Best
2006 - 2nd Best

Impressive I guess, but to be honest I can only trust my own eyes and, in my opinion, Lehmann has become overrated due to his popularity and the team he was in... I genuinely don't believe he was ever that great.

Just my opinion, though

[augie]

I dont think you'd play with Club's like Arsenal, AC Milan, Borussia Dormund Stuttgart unless you were World Class.

AC Milan??? - he played 5 games mate!

As for Stuttgart and Dortmund... I'm really not sure playing for them makes you world class. After all, Almunia plays for Arsenal (which is a MUCH higher standard) and is he WORLD CLASS???

But then again, if by definition you think Almunia and any Dortmund/Stuttgart 'keeper are world class, then Lehmann is definately world class, too.

You can quote the list of clubs jens has played for g88ner and maybe knock him a bit but put it up against almunia's and they aint even in the same universe Almunia's highest acheivement before joining us was being one of the keepers at celta vigo where he was considered sooo good that they fcuked him out on loan to a 2nd division side and this is celta fcuking vigo not ac milan, barcelona or any of europes elite that we are talking about The guy is 33 and wasnt considered good enough to be 1st choice at any half decent club until he became 1st choice for us at 31 years old What kind of reflection does that have on us ? I really dont envy gerry peyton and the goalkeeping coaches having to work with the dodo's we have at the club

[olgitgooner]

buy Christ...

Now G88ner you're finally talking sense. I reckon he'll be expensive but should perform a few miracles for us. unfortunately aw reckons he's too old at 33.

Yes, he would perform a few miracles, but what fucking use is a few extra loafs and fishes when you have Eboue in your team?!

As for walking on water... Bergkamp did that for years!

ANY Arsenal goalie makes a couple of mistakes........he gets crucified for it!!

[TeeCee]

Sorry, but knocking Friedel is wrong. I've seen that guy single handedly keeping teams in games, particularly against Arsenal!! I can't remember any time walking away from an Arsenal match saying 'thank fuck for Almunia, he kept us in that'.

I would say at least half of the Premiership keepers are better than Almunia, simple as that. It's piss poor that we put up with it. Does Wenger know Almunia's limitations?? Well if he does he's an even worse manager than I thought because if Wenger admitted how average he was, he wouldn't be in the team or anywhere near it. We've had some great keepers at Arsenal in the last 25-30 years and Almunia isn't fit to lace the boots of most of them.

[g88ner]

I would say at least half of the Premiership keepers are better than Almunia, simple as that.

Do you really think half the Premier League goalkeepers are better than him, or are you just letting off steam?? because that statement really baffles me.

Either way, it's your opinion and that's fair enough... I strongly disagree, though.

[g88ner]

The guy is 33 and wasnt considered good enough to be 1st choice at any half decent club until he became 1st choice for us at 31 years old What kind of reflection does that have on us ?

I'm not disagreeing.

Almunia is clearly not in the same league as Seaman, but what can you do? I genuinely think the standard of goalkeeping in world football has fallen way below that of out field players, and apart from Casillas and Buffon, I think most are pretty ordinary... Almunia included.

BUT It's all well and good suggesting Jaskelienan, Green, Friedel, Frey, Hart, James, etc. but are they REALLY any better??? I'm not so sure - hell, even Cech looks VERY dodgy on crosses and he's supposed to be one of the world's best!

Shay Given was perhaps an option, but did we really have the chance to sign him?? would Newcastle have sold him to us, and when he was available, could we have outbid Citeh??

I'm sure Wenger wants the best 'keeper available, but the fact Milan, Sp*rs, Arsenal and many other top clubs are struggling to find a reliable, decent 'keeper suggests that they really are few and far between!

[mrgnu1958]

ok jeskylineman it is then..SORTED!

[Bergkamp-Genius]

We could have got Given last season. Friedel would also be better.

I don't get the hype about Friedel either. He makes mistakes, and from what I've seen, he just isn't that great. And if he was, why did no top club want him when Villa signed him on a free from Blackburn?? and why didn't he hold out for a Champions League club??

I genuinely think it's a case of the grass being greener on the other side, whereby people name these 'keepers to replace Almunia, even though they're probably not any better! - and if we did have Jaskelianen, Green, Friedel, James, Frey or Hart in goal, we'd STILL be moaning because they're not world class either!

Given, from what I've seen, is a quality 'keeper, but are you sure we could have signed him last season?? after all, Man City would surely have gazumped any offer we made?

Yes i agree with you Gooner, in the case of Almunia it's definitely a case of familiarity breeds contempt, none of us are in any doubt that he is not a great keeper, but there are few out there that would come to us, or more to the point we would pay the price for, that would be an improvement on him and certainly not any of those mentioned.
Everyone mentioned so far on this thread as a great replacement i have seen make numerous clangers through the years and you could add to this list even higher rated keepers like Cech, the difference is we don't focus on them because it doesn't effect us, but guarantee if we had the likes of James,Green or Jaskelainen playing for us their errors would be a bit more prominent in our minds and we would have as much contempt for them as we do have for Almunia.
Given would have been a good buy and in my mind a definite improvement and whilst your right when he actually was sold last year there was little chance of us attracting him once City took an interest we should have been looking to buy the likes of Given long before Citehs new found wealth, but thats a different issue.
Other than that there are a handful of top quality keepers in the world Buffon, Casillas and a few more and they are all way out of our price range beyond that on the next level there is a mass of keepers that much like Almunia can look very good at times but can also be a liability at times swapping one for another will change little apart from giving us another hate figure to blame for losing games that recent history has taught us we would have conspired another way to lose anyway.

[g88ner]

Yes i agree with you Gooner, in the case of Almunia it's definitely a case of familiarity breeds contempt, none of us are in any doubt that he is not a great keeper, but there are few out there that would come to us, or more to the point we would pay the price for, that would be an improvement on him and certainly not any of those mentioned.
Everyone mentioned so far on this thread as a great replacement i have seen make numerous clangers through the years and you could add to this list even higher rated keepers like Cech, the difference is we don't focus on them because it doesn't effect us, but guarantee if we had the likes of James,Green or Jaskelainen playing for us their errors would be a bit more prominent in our minds and we would have as much contempt for them as we do have for Almunia.
Given would have been a good buy and in my mind a definite improvement and whilst your right when he actually was sold last year there was little chance of us attracting him once City took an interest we should have been looking to buy the likes of Given long before Citehs new found wealth, but thats a different issue.
Other than that there are a handful of top quality keepers in the world Buffon, Casillas and a few more and they are all way out of our price range beyond that on the next level there is a mass of keepers that much like Almunia can look very good at times but can also be a liability at times swapping one for another will change little apart from giving us another hate figure to blame for losing games that recent history has taught us we would have conspired another way to lose anyway.

Good post, and pretty much sums up my opinion on the subject!

[o2ba_gooner]

Drop him? in preference for who? Mannone? give me a fecking break

We're stuck with him for the moment at least. AW should have gone for Given when he had the chance - what did Citeh pay for him £3M? If we couldn't afford that we shouldn't be in the EPL!

[OneBardGooner]

he is not shit he is just average, an average goalie being played in the first team when he is clearly not up to it, same with eboue, diaby and denilson song, need i go on.

you're right.... Almunia will never make amazing saves, will always make silly mistakes, because he's an average keeper. He'd do well for West Ham, Fulham, Blackburn.. .clubs of that ilk, but not good enough for a side which should be looking to win the CL, League and FA Cup every season.

Saying that, second goal was nothing to do with him.

After he fucked up and gave away the pen - His decision making went to (even more) shit - and so the second goal was all to do with him...Because there were no manure players near him and he should have come for the ball.....

[OneBardGooner]

We could have had Shay Given - and he was keen to come to us...AW blew it...Given will save them a good 9 - 12 points this season..why? because he is a Top Class Keeper unlike Almunia - who although seeming like a well nice dude - Just ain't good enough for us...sad but True.

[Bergkamp-Genius]

he is not shit he is just average, an average goalie being played in the first team when he is clearly not up to it, same with eboue, diaby and denilson song, need i go on.

you're right.... Almunia will never make amazing saves, will always make silly mistakes, because he's an average keeper. He'd do well for West Ham, Fulham, Blackburn.. .clubs of that ilk, but not good enough for a side which should be looking to win the CL, League and FA Cup every season.

Saying that, second goal was nothing to do with him.

After he fucked up and gave away the pen - His decision making went to (even more) shit - and so the second goal was all to do with him...Because there were no manure players near him and he should have come for the ball.....

You can't blame him for the second goal, the ball is going straight to one of his own players, no attackers any where near him, he didn't need to come for the ball. It's OK in hindsight saying he should have this and should have that, but how at the time was he supposed to know one of his own players was so incompetent that he was going to almost impossibly put the ball in the back of his own net while under no pressure, the sad thing is had Diaby been in the exact same position in the oppositions box he would have probabaly put that wide.
If people are going to chastise Almunia stick with actual errors he has made rather than looking to blame him for every error made by others within 20 yards of his goal.