One Champions League, one La Liga, one Copa del Rey. Whatever the method of measure, there stands remarkably little to disguise the fact that the 2014/15 season has been a well and truly phenomenal one for FC Barcelona. Though, whilst a certain Latino trio have been busy breaking records at one end of the pitch, is the situation at the other in Catalonia really all that dissimilar to that of North London’s very own Arsenal Football Club?
From Claudio Bravo and Marc-André ter Stegen, to David Ospina and Wojciech Szczęsny, it would certainly take a devout fanatic to wholeheartedly argue the case of one pairing being significantly superior to that of the other, or that indeed any are assuredly ‘world-class’. However, despite neither club being able to boast the presence of a Manuel Neuer, a Thibaut Courtois, or David de Gea, what both are undoubtedly in possession of are two highly competitive, enthusiastic, and proven shot-stoppers more than capable of delivering silverware to their respective trophy cabinets.
Copa América rivals Bravo and Ospina especially, have both undertaken tremendous strides over the past twelve months, with the South American duo earning a combined 31 clean sheets between them since setting up sticks in their new surroundings last summer. Such records, despite initial apprehensions that their slight 6ft statures would leave them unable to contend in two of football’s most challenging competitions, demonstrates if little else, a resilience and resolve which surely every admirer of the beautiful game can only sit back and savour.
Their colleagues too, in the figures of Ter Stegen and Szczęsny, at just 23 and 25 respectively, still hold considerable potential, with exceedingly few in world football able to exhibit such greatly potent goalkeeping partnerships. Though, whilst again of course the pair have come across their notable critics, both the German and Pole alike exude the mental and physical qualities needed to not only realise their own capabilities, but also push those of their club competitors. As a side who strode so triumphantly towards their deserved treble this season, have the Blaugrana perhaps proven that Arsenal need not necessarily look towards the likes of Petr Čech and Fernando Muslera in order to challenge on all fronts once again?
Indeed, if there’s anything at all that Arsène Wenger’s 19-year Arsenal tenure has taught us, it’s that the Frenchman’s firm belief in his men more often than not finds itself rewarded, with the renaissance of Francis Coquelin only the latest example of his faith coming to fruition. A similar degree of confidence within David and Wojciech might very well be one of the admittedly numerous ingredients needed to drive Arsenal towards that ever-elusive 14th Premier League title. Though, just as our Catalonian counterparts have so impressively illustrated, Wenger’s side have to prove themselves in each and every area of the pitch over the coming campaign, and world class keeper or not, silverware won’t simply be decided by which team has the better man between the posts.
