Scezney really that good?

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Originally Posted by Penguin

If we don't 'carry' Chesney we'll be carrying someone else anyway.

It's unrealistic talking about the likes of Neuer and other world class names. We need three or four other players including a striker, a midfielder(or two if Cesc leaves) and a CB. There's even a case for buying a new wide man especially if Arshavin goes. We can't afford to buy top players in all those positions and all of the proven keepers would take a HUGE chunk of the transfer kitty.

On top of that MO is dead right about the possibility of Chesney leaving if he is pushed back to 2nd place again. He even threatened to do so himself earlier this season!

Keep the faith in Chesney and keep a wise head like Jens in the squad or coaching staff to keep him in check.

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this

Both De Gea and Neuer are supposed to be going for around 18M euros. With everything else we need to strengthen, don't think we can afford to drop that amount on a keeper.

And don't forget that Man Utd will be sniffing around for a replacement for Van der sar. The prices will go up that little bit more.

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Originally Posted by Boss

this

Both De Gea and Neuer are supposed to be going for around 18M euros. With everything else we need to strengthen, don't think we can afford to drop that amount on a keeper.

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Pretty much. We aint gonna sign a worldy if we signed any 'keeper it'd be Mark Schwarzer-esque and I'd rather stick with Chesney. Plus like as @Marc Overmars; says we could lose him if he becomes no.2 and he could yet become a worldy so its not worth the risk imo.

Ah yes, I forgot. We need to pander to the players rather than build a winning team. Rookie keeper, rookie CBs, rookie midfielders and RvP. Should be enough to clinch the title.

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

Ah yes, I forgot. We need to pander to the players rather than build a winning team. Rookie keeper, rookie CBs, rookie midfielders and RvP. Should be enough to clinch the title.

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Stupid comment.

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Originally Posted by Syn

Stupid comment.

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True, we have no chance of winning the title.

In case you forgot we aren't exactly sitting on a £500 billion summer war chest. The proven world class names will cost a bombshell and we wont have enough to strengthen on more important areas such as defence and our forward line. But yeah good in theory I guess.

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

Ah yes, I forgot. We need to pander to the players rather than build a winning team. Rookie keeper, rookie CBs, rookie midfielders and RvP. Should be enough to clinch the title.

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No but Chesney is a bit of a special case in as much as finding someone better will be hard and he isn't that bad, other areas need strengthening more.

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

True, we have no chance of winning the title.

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That's again not funny or clever. I suggest you read the discussion properly before weighing in.

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Originally Posted by The Wengerbabies

No but Chesney is a bit of a special case in as much as finding someone better will be hard and he isn't that bad, other areas need strengthening more.

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so was cesc, though. We pandered to him (not saying it was the wrong thing to do) and now he is not happy with the same system that gave him the chance (and i don't blame him either).

Have to agree with MO on this one, I don't want to take the risk with losing this one. Could be the one that got away, and I like the fact he is vocal and expressive. He is a good young keeper and again I allude to common consesus on here that with his emergence we've got more critical areas to firm up as a priority.

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Originally Posted by budesonide

so was cesc, though. We pandered to him (not saying it was the wrong thing to do) and now he is not happy with the same system that gave him the chance (and i don't blame him either).

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Chesney is different though as there is no real viable alternative. He may improve, he may not at the moment though he is pretty average imo. I think we should give him the chance to improve because as I've said we won't sign anyone better because we can't.

He started quite well with a run of tight play at the back and looking like the best we've got but then things went a bit awry, dunno whether it was him looking shakier due to a drop in the level of the rest of the defence or vice-versa, I suspect it's half an half. Fabianski was looking good before his injury so as long as we invest in other positions around the GK (decent replacement for Clichy, re-inforce the midfield and maybe a new CB) I'm happy with him continuing as 1st choice (or dropping to 2nd if Fabianski gets a chance and takes it).

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Originally Posted by Syn

That's again not funny or clever. I suggest you read the discussion properly before weighing in.

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I've read the discussion and I already know what will happen if we try to wing another season with rookies in goal. So do you I suspect. Is Chesney really that good? No, not at the moment. Could he be good? Time will tell along with the experience time brings. As I've already said, if the full range of our ambition is to secure a CL spot then we might scrape by on talent alone minus the experience in the key areas of the team. If we want more than that we'll need the players to achieve it. Unless the suggestion is the lot we have right now are capable. Plainly they aren't. I'm assuming nobody missed the last 10 weeks of our season. Or the season before that, or the one before that and so on.

:popcorn:

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Originally Posted by Maestro

Have to agree with MO on this one, I don't want to take the risk with losing this one. Could be the one that got away, and I like the fact he is vocal and expressive. He is a good young keeper and again I allude to common consesus on here that with his emergence we've got more critical areas to firm up as a priority.

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People said that about a striker last year, before it became painfully obvious we needed a striker. It took a solid three months of being berated in the "Striker needed", thread before it eventually became common knowledge we were lacking in that department. Lack of an experienced keeper (a decent keep of course) will hurt us next season just as it has all of the seasons before.

Don't get me wrong, if we had the money to bring in a top quality keeper, who is much better than what we have then fine. But we have the defence, defensive and offensive mid as well as striker problems to address which I personally think are more of a priority .....where the bulk of likely limited funds should be spent

...but if we are gonna do a City splurge, then hell yeah ..go for it, knock yourself Wenger go buy a £15M+ keeper

I don't believe you need to have a household name as a keeper, someone adequate is good enough IMO. Almunia lost the plot, so it was never going to take a lot to be an improvement on him. As I said above, I'd favour experience every single time but in this case I believe Chesney is made of the right stuff and will be a very good keeper for us. I think our keeping situation is exacerbated because of how poor Almunia became, if you take him out of the equation, you will see that Fabianski was almost flawless during his 2 month run in the side and Chesney was generally consistent too.

Of course you can't ignore there garbage defending our keepers have to contend with in front of them as well.

We have issues in the side but I'm reasonably confident when I say the position of goal keeper has moved way down the 'to do' list.

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Originally Posted by Maestro

Don't get me wrong, if we had the money to bring in a top quality keeper, who is much better than what we have then fine. But we have the defence, defensive and offensive mid as well as striker problems to address which I personally think are more of a priority .....where the bulk of likely limited funds should be spent

...but if we are gonna do a City splurge, then hell yeah ..go for it, knock yourself Wenger go buy a £15M+ keeper

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But you see, next season, it shall so happen that his every cock-up will be severely punished by the opposition to the derailment of our objectives. Then come close season next year will be talking about why we had to rely on an untested kid in such an important area of the ptch.

The issue then is, why has wenger allowed this to become the state of the squad? In my opinion, the goalie position is not even an area where you actively try and develop a player from scratch (for a top club anyway).

Point taken but with a good defence in front of him and a team that puts in a shift when without the ball, I think he is good enough and it has been done before ...actively grooming a young keeper

On the current state of the squad and Wenger ...honest answer is I don't know why Wenger let it get to this, only he knows the full truth

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Originally Posted by budesonide

But you see, next season, it shall so happen that his every cock-up will be severely punished by the opposition to the derailment of our objectives. Then come close season next year will be talking about why we had to rely on an untested kid in such an important area of the ptch.

The issue then is, why has wenger allowed this to become the state of the squad? In my opinion, the goalie position is not even an area where you actively try and develop a player from scratch (for a top club anyway).

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On the current state of the squad and Wenger ...honest answer is I don't know why Wenger let it get to this, only he knows the full truth

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That's the real problem, years of neglect. That's why it seems such a bad idea to give the guy another year and potentially another three.

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

That's the real problem, years of neglect. That's why it seems such a bad idea to give the guy another year and potentially another three.

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You think if we tread water for a 3rd year that they won't consider simply not offering him another extension? We're patient but we're not THAT patient.

When the errors of the past are repeated next season, I doubt we'll be blaming playing an inexperienced keeper like Chesney. There are more experienced keepers about, but we have limited resources and a multitude of problems. Prioritising dealing with our problems is crucial if we are to progress. Im my opinion, we could get a keeper with tha qualities of Pat jennings, David Seaman and Jens Lehmann rolled in to one and he'd still look a mug behind our defence. So in the transfer window, we have bigger priorities than a new keeper. Lets sort them out and if there are still resources available for better than we have in goal, by all means improve that position then.

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Originally Posted by Darth Vela

You think if we tread water for a 3rd year that they won't consider simply not offering him another extension? We're patient but we're not THAT patient.

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As long as we're in the top 4 he'll be offered an extension

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Originally Posted by GB.

When the errors of the past are repeated next season, I doubt we'll be blaming playing an inexperienced keeper like Chesney. There are more experienced keepers about, but we have limited resources and a multitude of problems. Prioritising dealing with our problems is crucial if we are to progress. Im my opinion, we could get a keeper with tha qualities of Pat jennings, David Seaman and Jens Lehmann rolled in to one and he'd still look a mug behind our defence. So in the transfer window, we have bigger priorities than a new keeper. Lets sort them out and if there are still resources available for better than we have in goal, by all means improve that position then.

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:gp:

The keeper situation has always been exaggerated because of the shit defence. Sort out the defence and having an average keeper (what I think Chesney is atm) won't be a huge issue. Improve the attack and conceding goals won't be as costly.

Even though I want him gone, I'm as baffled as the next fan as to why he's neglected evident promlems year after year and then top it off with some poor signings ...I mean did he really think Squillaci was a good player and Alumina was good enough to retain as our #1? Seriously?

There is something seriously wrong he's not telling us or this guy is just not good enough anymore and the game has passed him by. I mean right now if you gave me a choice between Zimm and Wenger I'd go Zimm anytime, I don't Zimm would take shit from players and he wouldn't buy shit players ....okay okay I shouldn't smoke before I type, but do you get where I'm coming from

I feel really sad for his seemingly impending demise, once a very good manager ...and an even greater mental patient

R.I.P

:rose:

Arsene Wenger

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

That's the real problem, years of neglect. That's why it seems such a bad idea to give the guy another year and potentially another three.

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Originally Posted by The Wengerbabies

:gp:

The keeper situation has always been exaggerated because of the shit defence. Sort out the defence and having an average keeper (what I think Chesney is atm) won't be a huge issue. Improve the attack and conceding goals won't be as costly.

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One wouldn't be overstating the importance of cech,van de sar,valdes,cassillas etc. to their teams though? In my opinion Gomes was the difference between us and the spuds this season.

:gp:

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Originally Posted by GB.

When the errors of the past are repeated next season, I doubt we'll be blaming playing an inexperienced keeper like Chesney. There are more experienced keepers about, but we have limited resources and a multitude of problems. Prioritising dealing with our problems is crucial if we are to progress. Im my opinion, we could get a keeper with tha qualities of Pat jennings, David Seaman and Jens Lehmann rolled in to one and he'd still look a mug behind our defence. So in the transfer window, we have bigger priorities than a new keeper. Lets sort them out and if there are still resources available for better than we have in goal, by all means improve that position then.

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Originally Posted by GB.

When the errors of the past are repeated next season, I doubt we'll be blaming playing an inexperienced keeper like Chesney. There are more experienced keepers about, but we have limited resources and a multitude of problems. Prioritising dealing with our problems is crucial if we are to progress. Im my opinion, we could get a keeper with tha qualities of Pat jennings, David Seaman and Jens Lehmann rolled in to one and he'd still look a mug behind our defence. So in the transfer window, we have bigger priorities than a new keeper. Lets sort them out and if there are still resources available for better than we have in goal, by all means improve that position then.

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Keeper's a crucial component of the spine of any good team, VDS, Cech, then a commander in the centre of defense, Ferdinand, Terry, a conductor in the middle, Scholes, Lampard, and a go-to guy up front, (Man Utd were struggling until the Mexican arrived), Drog. We can buy utility and pack it around a jellied spine and see how we go or we can start the job of rebuilding properly. I'd rather see the latter, it gets us where we want to go sooner and with fewer false starts.

Anyway, it'll be Chesney, TV and JD, Jack and Aaron (bless) and RvP for some of the season with that Moroccan guy on cover. Wenger will probably buy a tippy-tapdancer for the midfield, if that. Probably enough to keep our hopes alive until the real business begins.