Arsenal have retained the FA Cup and added another trophy to the closet. A happy ending to a satisfactory season that saw Arsenal crowned as champions of England’s premier cup competition for the second time in a row.
Now, the Gunners’ goal for the 2015/2016 season is clear: Challenge for the Premier League title and Europe’s elite trophy.
To do that, Arsenal need to strengthen the team by adding some quality players. The first area they should address is the goalkeeping department.
Earlier in January, the first choice goalkeeper at that time – Wojciech Szczesny – made two horrendous mistakes that cost Arsenal a match against Southampton.
To make things worse, the keeper was involved in a smoking incident in the Saints’ locker room that resulted in him being dropped.
The aftermath of the incident saw the emergence of Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina.
Ospina has been pretty good and won the boss’ admiration, with Wenger saying: “If you look at the stats, Ospina is the best keeper in the league. You might not share that opinion, but if you look purely at mathematics.”
Ospina’s numbers have been good, with eight clean sheets out of 18 matches. However, the Colombian’s size is a serious handicap for him as he is unable to get the shots other keepers can because of his height. He is under 6’0” and nowadays, with the way the ball moves and the size of the players, a goalkeeper needs to really be 6’3” at least.
Look at the goalkeepers who’ve won the Premier League since Arsenal last lifted the trophy in 2004: Petr Cech, Edwin van der Sar, Joe Hart, David de Gea and Thibaut Courtois. None of Arsenal’s keepers are even close to that level. Szczesny arguably possesses many of the physical attributes an elite keeper should have, but remains mercurial and requires a lot of discipline.
If Arsenal really want to challenge for domestic and European titles, they should spend some money on an elite goalkeeper that will carry them all the way to the podium.
