Goalkeeper Crisis

Last night was amateur night in Portugal with Arsenal's goalkeeper being the major culprit.

In an earlier post I wrote that Manuel Almunia will make a high profile mistake in a high profile game. But then I forgot about Lukasz Fabianski.

Sure Almunia is prone to errors that have cost Arsenal goals, but Fabianski's mistakes go to the next level. If Almunia has the goalkeeping skills of a drunk then Fabianski has the goalkeeping skills of a crackhead. With Almunia, you hope that he doesn't fuck up but with Fabianski - you know that he will.

However, Fabianski has produced some fantastic saves for Arsenal. You only have to go back to the stunning double save he made against Wigan Athletic in the Carling Cup - first denying a shot from Daniel de Ridder and then showing exceptional reflexes to push Amr Zaki's follow up shot onto the underside of the crossbar. But unfortunately, it's Fabianski's costly mistakes that will always be remembered.

The list is starting to get long: the Carling Cup quarter-final against Blackburn Rovers in 2007, the FA Cup semi-final last season against Chelsea and the 3-1 away defeat to Stoke City last month are games that show why Fabianski is not Arsenal class.

Maybe one day Fabianski will show the world why Wenger rates him so highly, but I'm afraid it will have to be at another club. Perhaps a loan spell at another club is the answer, but it's hard to see any Premier League club wanting to take him on. Almunia is 50/50 for Saturday. This means that Fabianski may get another chance for the home game against Sunderland. It's a tough decision for Wenger. Play the Pole and risk him making another costly mistake or he keeps a clean sheet and restores some of his damaged confidence. On the other hand you drop him and play Mannone, thus damaging Fabianski's confidence even further.

Last season after the semi-final defeat against Chelsea, Wenger decided to play Fabianski at Liverpool. He conceded four goals that night. Let's hope that history doesn't repeat itself because Fabianski's mistakes certainly will.

Keep It Arsenal