Copa America and Euro 2016 to decide which keeper Arsenal will keep?

Unless Arsenal suffer yet another piece of horrible luck on the injury front then we can say with almost 100 percent certainty that the Czech Republic international Petr Cech will be starting for the Gunners when the new season begins. Or should I say that he will be our starter in the Premier League at least?

After that, however, the question of who will be our next choice between the sticks, and perhaps this will involve the Champions League games as well as the FA cup and Capital One cup competitions, is much harder to predict. We have the Colombian international star David Ospina, who is hoping to help his country lift the Copa America this summer, against the Poland international Wojciech Szczesny who will be in action at Euro 2016.

Ospina has done very well for us over the last two seasons, apart from a couple of errors which have arguably been highlighted way too much. He is apparently wanted by a number of decent clubs and this could make it difficult for us to persuade him to stay as back up to Cech, but if Arsene Wenger gives him some playing assurances and with the former Chelsea man in his mid 30s, I do not think it would be impossible by any means.

Our on loan keeper Szczesny has also been prone to some high profile errors but he is still very young for a keeper at 26-years old and his season in Italy’s Serie A with Roma has definitely been good for him. Again we have the problem of whether he would accept playing second fiddle, but I reckon the real issue is which one we want to keep.

At the minute there seems to be no clear preference from the boss, so will it all boil down to their respective performances in the two summer tournaments? And if so, which do you think will get the nod?

Tags Cech ospina Szczesny

9 Comments

  1. Don’t rule out Martinez playing back up.

    Also ospina is only a little older than Szczesney and a fine keeper less prone to concentration lapses, but challenged easier in the air.

    Personally I would give ospina a few league matches, aswell as any cup matches, where he is less vulnerable from set pieces. I also wouldn’t sell anyone at this stage, instead only offering Szczesney and Martinez and/or Macey loan deals with recall clauses for one of them.

  2. Judging by the latest reports, I very much doubt that Ospina will be at Arsenal, next season and there’s also a possibility that Szczesny won’t be returning back to the club, especially after his last comment, about learning more in 6 months at Roma than he did in 10 years at Arsenal.
    So, Will Wenger surprise us… again? by signing a new back up keeper? probably someone like the 40 year old ex Fulham star,Mark swhatshisface? ? ? I hope not… would rather see one of our reserve youngsters, step up instead.

    And now!.. we wait to hear about Vardy’s medical, that’s supposed to be done today? …. I hope that he gets abducted by Aliens, for one of their medicals, instead. ? damn you Wenger.. Is that the best that you can do? ?

    I can’t wait for the next edition of #AskMesut ?⚽

  3. Whoever we keep, i hope they learn a lot from Cech who won’t be with us forever. I like both Ospinna and Szczesny but they can’t be making silly errors and expect to be Number 1 with us.

    OT: Well well well.. According to Fox Sports Claudio Ranieri has confirmed Arsenal’s bid for Vardy through Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport. In addition according to ESPN, Arsenal have set medicals for Vardy this sunday and he is expected to fly in and complete them.
    Finally, Henrik Mhiktaryan is expected to choose Arsenal over Chelsea but this is according to the Sun :/. This is already a very interesting summer for us and i hope it gets better by these rumors being true.

  4. Mhiktartyan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    If we sign him, we will murder a lot of teams!!!!!

    Xhaka……..Elneny…

    Cazorla
    Sanchez….Vardy……..Mhikaryan

    **..Ozil will be resting due to Euros,hence Cazorla in the hole
    Xhaka probably will be resting too, but can resist adding him..

  5. One of them must be kept as back up for Cech this season as he is not young and has been lately prone to injuries……I have not seen Martinez in action that much but I dont want him to play 12 straight games for us next season if Cech were to have serious injuries…

    Regarding Vardy, i welcome the news…at worse , he is more than a solid replacement for Welbeck who will be out maybe until March next year…

    1. On the plus side: Yes – Vardy is a good option so long as the price is right.

      On the negative side: I think it would be a sucker’s bet to go big money for a 29 year old with one magic season. The price MUST be right.

      Certainly you are right about needing cover for Welbeck. They say March 2017 and that usually means he might get one actual start vs. an easy team by May 2017 if all goes perfectly. Realistically, Welbeck may only be reliably available by start of the 17/18 season.

  6. As far as the Euro’s deciding which GK to keep?? Who knows. Their performances may be a factor but there are many other factors that could also drive the decision. No way to know for sure.

    1. Not even sure szczesney will be first choice for Poland? Really not much to choose between him, fabianski and boruc, which for me says it all.

      Would be a real worry if we let szczesney and ospina go then Cech picks up a typical arsenal style injury. To be fair we could raise £15-20m on the pair, which might tempt jack Butland to arsenal if handed some assurances about game time.

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