On the seventeenth of August, 2013, Arsène Wenger’s reign was called into question. A weakened Arsenal side, who had not improved during the offseason, were on the receiving end of a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa, a side who battled relegation for most of the last campaign. There was one player who will look back on this loss with a certain element of pain. A player who, like his manager, has suffered criticism since Saturday’s encounter at Emirates Stadium. The player that I’m referring to is Wojciech Szczęsny, who recklessly gave Paul Lambert’s side a penalty after hauling Gabriel Agbonlahor down inside the eighteen yard box, the 23 year old was booked for his offence, and although the Polish international saved the subsequent spot-kick, Christian Benteke managed to head in the equaliser from close range. A few moments after the Villans equalised, Szczęsny’s irresponsible nature was again brought to light after going on a wild dash outside of his area in a scuffed attempt to clear his lines. The 6ft 5in ‘keeper made a mess out of his clearance and the ball eventually fell to Fabian Delph, who came whiskers away from putting the Villa Park outfit ahead. Laurent Koscielny gave Villa another penalty, which Christian Benteke tucked away, sending Szczęsny the wrong way in the process. Finally, in the dying embers of a disastrous match, at least from an Arsenal perspective, Antonio Luna stormed through the defence and found himself in a one-on-one situation. Szczęsny had two options; come out and force the left back into taking his shot early or make himself big, narrow down his angle and eventually save the forthcoming effort should it have been on-target. Szczęsny failed to do either, remained static, and let Luna cap of an emphatic win for Aston Villa with a début goal. When leaving the pitch, Arsenal’s players were met with a chorus of boos with fans demanding that money be spent on improving the squad.
There is still time for Wenger and co. to bolster the side and one of the areas that may get a reinforcement is between the sticks. In this piece, I will look at who may arrive and what they will potentially offer to an Arsenal outfit suffering at this present moment in time.
First on my shortlist is Asmir Begović, a goalkeeper who is accustomed to English football.
Joining Portsmouth in 2003, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international had to wait a considerable amount of time before putting on the gloves for the first team. Spending terms on loan at the likes of Macclesfield, Yeovil, Bournemouth and Ipswich, as well as La Louvière in Belgium, Asmir matured and learnt the tricks of the trade in the Football League. Once he returned to Fratton Park, Begović only made seventeen appearances for Pompey, eleven coming domestically, but Premier League sides were already sure of his talent. Eventually, after a long and drawn out process, Begović chose the Potters as his team of choice. After playing a sporadic role behind Thomas Sørensen during the second half of the 2009/10 season, Begović was given his opportunity to prove his worth against Shrewsbury in the League Cup, however in an extraordinary turn of events, the Bosnian refused to play. The next few months were rocky for Begović, but he made peace with then-manager, Tony Pulis and when Sørensen picked up an injury, was named Stoke’s first choice shot-stopper. Despite being ahead in the pecking order, Pulis opted to play Sørensen in all FA Cup matches, so Begović did not play a part in the Staffordshire side’s run to the final, where they lost by a goal to nil to Manchester City in the penultimate game of the tournament. The following two seasons were very similar in terms of how his form developed. To kick off the 2011/12 season, Begović impressed many by keeping five clean sheets in six matches. What followed was nightmarish, as Stoke’s number one conceded eighteen goals in the seven matches. Despite this, Begović earned himself a new five year deal, expiring in 2016. Again, at the start of the 2012/13 season, Begović was on top of his game and only conceded twelve goals in the opening fifteen games, but the 26 year old’s form deteriorated as the campaign wore on. Although he wasn’t as impressive as he potentially could have been, he managed to win Stoke’s ‘Player of the Season’ award. To start the 2013/14 Premier League campaign, Stoke travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool. Despite losing 1-0, Begović was seen by many as the man of the match after making nine saves, some of them sensational.
How do the stats back Asmir Begović up? Well, last season the Bosnian kept twelve clean sheets in thirty eight appearances, made an average of 1.95 saves per game and conceded 1.18 goals per game. In comparison with Wojciech Szczęsny, the Pole kept two less clean sheets, made .37 less saves per game, but conceded an average of .22 less goals than Begović. Bear in mind, Szczęsny only made twenty five appearances due to injuries and lack of form.
Five Serie A titles, three Italian Cups, one Champions League, one FIFA Club World Cup, one Copa América, two Confederation Cups, two Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year awards, one UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year award and valuable experience in the Premier League; Júlio César has all the makings to improve Arsenal’s goalkeeping department, but not in the way the other names in this piece will. The Queens Park Rangers ‘keeper is entering the twilight years of illustrious career, but would still offer a lot to Arsenal.
César joined Inter Milan for a figure in the region of €2.45m after spending the early years of his career in Brazil. Once Roberto Mancini landed the managerial job, Cesar was instated as the clear No. 1. The next five seasons were prosperous for both Júlio César and Inter. With César between the sticks, Inter went onto win four consecutive Scudettos, with the ex-Flamengo favourite receiving many plaudits for his excellence in goal. Júlio César’s finest campaign was under José Mourinho in 2009/10, though. Inter steamrolled to the treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League), with Júlio playing a massive part in the success, however when ‘The Special One’ left for Real Madrid, Inter’s reign of dominance soon ended as Il Biscione finished sixth in the following season. César’s play was serious effected by this and many said the shot stopper could no longer play at the highest level. Júlio left Italy for Queens Park Rangers, a side in the Premier League who were owned by billionaire Tony Fernandes. With the Hoops meeting his wage demands and building an impressive squad, things were looking bright at Loftus Road, but after the West London side made too many recruitments without giving them enough time to gel, Rangers suffered the agonising pain of relegation. This has left many of QPR’s players in a tricky situation as most are too talented for Championship football. César is one of those players and now a new challenge awaits. Why would Arsenal want a player who can’t offer an extensive period of performance at an adequate standard? Wojciech Szczęsny’s development, that’s why. Should the 33 year old make the move to North London, he won’t become an immediate starter, however he will challenge Szczęsny to start. Last season, the Warsaw native was at his best when served a plate of humble pie by Arsène Wenger. Wenger opted to start Łukasz Fabiański instead, sending a clear and rather blunt message to Wojciech. In this scenario, QPR’s number thirty three’s seniority would work for Arsenal, as his ten years advancement on Szczęsny would make sure that the current Gunners ‘keeper wouldn’t get forced out of the first team, but mature and lose a lot of the brashness, that many have cited as a major weakness. Another advantage in signing Júlio César is his fee, as it is believed than an offer in the region of £2m would secure his services and although his wages are excessively high, this investment has the potential to become a resounding success. With a significantly weaker defence than Arsenal, César kept four less clean sheets in an appearance less than Szczęsny, but managed to make an average of 3.50 saves per game – 1.82 more than Wojciech. Júlio’s strongest traits including his reflexes, shot stopping from close range and one-on-ones. In terms of economical success, Arsenal won’t find a better goalkeeper this summer.
Let me introduce you to Fernando Muslera, Galatasaray’s first choice goalkeeper. Lazio won the race for Muslera and in the summer of 2007, he joined the Biancocelesti for €3m. Muslera endured a shaky start to his stint at the Stadio Olimpico, many doubted whether he had it in him to perform at the highest level. Fernando ignored his critiques and went on to nail down his place in the starting line-up. Becoming somewhat of a cult-hero after making key saves against the likes of Juventus, Milan and Roma, Muslera was enjoying life in Rome. Whilst building a reputation as one of the fiercest ‘keepers in Italy, Muslera caught the eye of Uruguay’s national team manager, Óscar Tabárez. Tabárez was big admirer and made Fernando Los Charrúas’ number one for the FIFA World Cup in 2010.
A string of heroic penalty saves – including against Ghana in the quarter finals – boosted his reputation further. A year on, Uruguay won the Copa America with Muslera in goal. A club who had taken notice of Fernando’s exploits over the summer were Galatasaray and in a deal that involved Lorik Cana joining Lazio, Muslera became the most expensive goalkeeper in Turkish football history, joining the Cimbom for the sum of €12m, putting pen to paper on a five year contract. Fernando’s first two seasons at Türk Telekom Arena were a great success. In his début campaign, Muslera set a Turkish Süper Lig record by making nineteen clean sheets, which earned him the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year award. The following season, Muslera continued in such fine fashion, making the league’s Team of the Season. At the peak of his powers, now is the perfect time for Arsenal to invest in Muslera. He won’t be cheap though and as Galatasaray aren’t strapped for cash, an offer as high £20m might not be sufficient enough to bring him to London. Will he be worth it, though? That largely depends on how desperate Wenger is for a new goalkeeper. Muslera is one of the best ‘keepers on the planet, in his prime – the right time to move to English football, almost every area of his game is superior to Szczęsny’s and that reliability protecting the goal that Arsenal have missed since Jens Lehmann’s glory days would all be part of the package in signing Fernando Muslera.
Vicente Guaita is another ‘keeper that Arsenal are interested in, if you believe media reports. After a successful eleven years in Valencia’s youth set-up, Guaita graduated to the first team for the 2008/09 season and filled in as the second choice goalkeeper. After making a solid début in the UEFA Cup against Marítimo, things turned rather bleak in the way of starting opportunities due to arrival of César Sánchez and return of Renan, who had been number one before suffering a groin injury. Things soon went from bad to worse for Guaita as César Sánchez signed a new one year extension and Miguel Ángel Moyà arrived from Mallorca. In order to gain experience on the pitch, Segunda División side Recreativo loaned Vicente in the summer of 2009. Recreativo finished comfortably in mid table, with Guaita only conceding 24 goals in 30 appearances, the 6’1″ shot stopper won the second division’s ‘Trofeo Ricardo Zamora’, an award given to the goalkeeper with the best goals-to-games ratio. Guaita returned to the Mestalla and after both Sánchez and Moya picked up injuries, was named as a starter by Emery, making 21 appearances domestically. In May, when Valencia secured their third place finish, Guaita signed a new four year contract expiring in 2015. Since then, Vicente has fought off competition and despite missing games through injuries, became first choice goalkeeper. Last season, domestically, Guaita kept six clean sheets in fourteen appearances, made an average of 2.21 saves per game and conceded an average of 1.07 goals per game. If signed, Vicente would add leadership from the back as the 26 year old has built up quite the reputation as one of the most commanding ‘keepers in La Liga. Guaita often reminds me of an acrobat as his reflexes and athleticism are second-to-none. In a few years, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was putting on the gloves for his country, as Iker Casillas, Victor Valdés and Pepe Reina are all in their thirty’s and not getting any younger. In terms of concrete interest, Vicente Guaita is most likely to join this summer but it’ll interesting to see how desperate Arsenal are for him.
Stats supplied by www.squakwa.com.
