Almunia not to blame for Arsenal's woes

The general consensus in England right now is that Manuel Almunia is an outfield player pretending to be a goalkeeper, a man who will inevitably cost Arsenal the Premier League title. Gunners legend Ian Wright, writing for the Sun, believes the biggest man to blame is not the Spaniard though, insisting Arsene Wenger must take his share of the critics...

You cannot blame Manuel Almunia for Arsenal's shock defeat to West Brom. Just like you will not be able to point the finger at his understudy Lukasz Fabianski if he costs the Gunners once more in Belgrade tonight.

That's because, ultimately, there is one man who must carry the can for the current goalkeeping crisis at my old club. And that is Arsene Wenger.

The Arsenal boss knows better than anybody the standard of his keepers. He has had numerous chances to strengthen that department in the last couple of seasons but refused to take them. Now his unwillingness to invest in a world-class stopper has come back to bite him and his team's bid for much-needed silverware.

Especially on Saturday. Almunia has come in for a lot of flak for his performance in his side's 3-2 home loss to the Baggies - and rightly so. The Spaniard may have saved Chris Brunt's first-half penalty after he brought him down but were it not for his two second-half howlers then Roberto di Matteo's well-drilled underdogs would not have left the Emirates with all three points.
He and any top class keeper should have easily stopped Gonzalo Jara's near-post shot that put Albion 2-0 up on 52 minutes. And he should not have gone walkabout in his area to gift Jerome Thomas the visitors' third with 17 minutes remaining.

Poor old Manny is having a hard time at the moment but it is not all his fault. Goalkeeping is a cut-throat business - just ask Robert Green - and keepers need to be kept on their toes. They're at their best when being pushed for the jersey.

Almunia showed that when he was vying with his predecessor Jens Lehmann. Whenever he was called on, he showed what a good keeper he was. Lehmann left for Stuttgart in June 2008 and, since then, Almunia has had no one to seriously challenge him. He has been in the comfort zone for 2½ years, knowing however he performs he will start the next game - unless, of course, it's the Carling Cup.

That is not healthy for any player at any club. And a club like the Gunners needs competition in every position. When I was at Arsenal, I remember David Seaman being pushed by young Austrian keeper Alex Manninger. Alex kept Dave on his toes and did ever so well when he had to stand in for him. We knew Dave was our No 1 but, if he was ever out, we could rely on Alex. Arsenal don't have that now.

Almunia is a worry and, if he is out, there is an even bigger concern. Clubs like Arsenal need what is known as a 'top-four' keeper. Chelsea have one in Petr Cech, Manchester United have Edwin van der Sar, Liverpool have Pepe Reina and Manchester City have either Joe Hart or Shay Given.

Is Almunia in that class? In my opinion, no. If he was good enough, surely he would have been capped by his country. I am not convinced and I don't think Wenger is. Why else was he linked with other keepers, including Mark Schwarzer, this summer?

Almunia must know his boss was looking to bring in a new face and that would have unsettled him further. Wenger claims Almunia has an elbow injury and is out of tonight's Champions League clash in Belgrade. Fabianski will replace him. But the Spaniard does not need pushing out of the team - he needs pushing for his place.

Wenger must sign a keeper in January or it is likely to be another trophyless season.