Is Martinez ready to step up full-time with Arsenal goalkeeper open to move?

David Ospina is open to joining Fenerbahce this summer, but what would that mean for Arsenal’s other goalkeepers?

The Colombian shot-stopper has been linked with the exit door since the arrival of Petr Cech back in the summer of 2015, and after two years of playing as back-up to the former Chelsea star, is believed to be eager to leave in search of regular football.

Ospina himself has now admitted that he would be motivated by such a move, should a fee be agreed with Arsenal.

He said: “Istanbul may be a new adventure and motivation for me.

“If my club are persuaded, it’s okay for me.”

Emiliano Martinez is currently the only senior goalkeeper fit enough to play, with both Ospina and Petr Cech sidelined with injuries, and he has three clean sheets from his four 90 minute outings this term.

He is set to continue his run in the first team against Crystal Palace on Monday, and Arsene Wenger has moved to praise the 24 year-old, stating he knows of the Argentine shot-stoppers quality.

It remains to be seen just how highly he does rate his current stand-in goalkeeper, and the question may well be answered should the club allow Ospina to leave, while not bringing another keeper in.

Wojciech Szczesny could pose the Argentine’s biggest problem however, with the Pole on loan with Roma this term, and may well return to the club this summer. I believe his run of first-team football would convince him to turn down the chance to vie with Petr for the number one spot, but I’ve been wrong more than once before.

Questions have also been raised over Cech’s ability this term, with his mistakes against his former side poses as his most disastrous performances, and we may well be looking to bring in a top rival for the Czech.

Should Martinez get the chance to prove his worth? Could Szczesny return? Does Cech need replacing?

Pat J

Tags Arsenal Cech Martinez ospina Szczesny

18 Comments

  1. He may well have to, I think he’s a decent goalkeeper but unsure if he can compete at champions league level. I’d really like us to sign Roman Burki from Dortmund. He’s a class keeper! Pickford would be a could pick up but only if Ospina leaves

    1. Well that is OK considering we are not going to be in the Champions League in case you had been missing the new recently…

  2. Year in, year out at this stage of the season we always have goal keeping crisis then we look up to the inexperienced Martinez to save the season. One would ask, why hasn’t this been fixed? That question is as mysterious as why hasn’t Mr. Wenger gone?

    1. GK crises?
      Martinez deserves some trust, he was highly rated when we got him as a kid and he was highly rated in the reserves, he isn’t a teenager anymore either. 24 years old now.
      3 clean sheets from his 4 games so far also says he should be given some trust.

      The other teams do not have a WC GK for a 3rd choice backup, City and Chavski have OAPs with no winning background, players who know they will never get a game and happy to collect a wage.

      I do not want a 3rd choice GK happy to just be here, I would like to see one who wants to develop and wants to push into the 1st team and desire a future with us… For me having a 3rd choice GK who is not good enough and about to retire would be more of a crisis.

    2. Haha but we hve cech,ospina. That is more depth than any pl team. We hve two good goalie’s. I will not call any of them world class i think cech is past his best but he is very good. Ospina is good but pl is a physical league and sometimes he fumples alot due to the physicality and aggression of the opponent. Maybe we need a really good goalie or a wc. But i think our fbs position is the one that needs serious surgery

  3. For me, do not spend cash on a GK.
    Cech is still a top GK, his experience and communication really does help the defence.

    Szcz should be backup and fighting to take number 1 spot, he has better stats than Cech this year and let us not forget that he did share the golden glove with Cech when Cech had Chavski parking the bus in front of him while Szcz had Arsenals leaky def in front of him.

    Martinez stay as our 3rd choice.

    Over the next 12 months Szcz should either have stepped up or getting ready to ship out, if he steps up then I would guess Cech wouldn’t be happy with being number 2 and would want to either move to a lwer team to stay number 1 OR he will look to retire.

    in 12 months time the GK will either be
    A) Cech, Martinez + Macey.
    or
    B) Szcz, Martinez + Macey.

    Why do we need to spend on getting a top GK when Szcz form has been that of a top GK?

    I would hope that cash is spent on getting top transfer targets for outfield positions.

    1. Szczesny, like many other Arsenal players, has had more than enough time, and opportunities to impress, and he hasn’t. Needs to be sold.

      Cech isn’t a top keeper anymore because he makes too many mistakes. I’ve lost count at how many times he gets beaten at his near post. That’s really poor! He’s had two seasons, and hasn’t been as impressive as I thought he’d be.

      I’d prefer Ospina to be first choice, but he’s likely to go because of the lack of playing time.

      Personally I’d like us to sign a new keeper, and I wouldn’t mind Martinez as second choice. Before that though, the priorities should be: LB, DM, RW, LW if Sanchez stays, and plays CF, or CF if Sanchez stays, and plays LW, or LW and CF, if Sanchez goes. Although there’s probably nothing on the market, haha!

      1. http://www.squawka.com/comparison-matrix#serie_a/2016/2017/wojciech_szczesny/717/717/226/0/p|premier_league/2016/2017/petr_cech/641/641/27/31/p|champions_league/2016/2017/david_ospina/727/727/1264/0/p|serie_a/2016/2017/joe_hart/717/717/82/0/p|bundesliga/2016/2017/manuel_neuer/682/682/124/99/p#goals_conceded/clean_sheets/saves_per_goal#90

        Szcz, Cech, Ospina, Hart and Neuer comparison for 90 mins.

        Neuer, one of the best GK in the world and Szcz is so close to him on stats.
        I put in Hart as well so you can see what a EPL GK is doing and we have been linked to Hart as well which makes this comparison interesting.

        Remember this is per 90 mins, Szcz clean sheet stat is 0.43 while Neuer is 0.5, 0.07 difference.
        To put that in perspective, Hart is 0.18 and Cech is 0.3… See the gap?

        For ppl who can’t be bothered to click the link, saves per goal is last on the list and last one I wanna talk about.

        Who do ppl think would be 2nd out of the list? Ospina with his great reflex saves?
        Neuer will be top 😛 and he is with 3.31
        Szcz is 2nd with 3.04
        The worst was Ospina with 1.31

        In all honesty, from what I have watched, Ospina is not good enough for a top 4 club. He is likable because he doesn’t cause stress at the club but he was the GK that failed to command the def while we crumbled to 10 goals over 2 games! The def was heavily blamed but Ospina could have commanded that back line better and I believe an experienced GK like Cech would have gave commands which would have protected him more.

        We both agree though that other areas are what we would consider more important ^.^

  4. given more games, i think he is a reliable no. 1 and easily could challenge cech. he is only 24 and i prefer him to the pole on loan at roma. gooner = forever

  5. Am worried about martinez. He is a good goalie but there are some things that you learn with time. Like how to go for the ball during corners, if we get a team that outmuscles us then am worried about Martinez. In that front it will be a good opportunity to see how he copes when he faces a team which has such traits. Hope we win as we need maximum points before our tough fixtures start.

  6. I appreciate the efforts of admin to keep posting, but for me, and I don’t think I’m alone in this ,such minor questions seem irrelevant. I appreciate the forum must go on but personally who gives a F£ck about the goalkeeper when AFC is rotten to its core?

    The Arsenal I grew up with is but a distant memory replaced by a financially driven machine.

    Who will stop it if not the fans? Protests have made a mark but the complacency amongst tourist and season ticket vendors will ensure Wenger signs for another 1 or 2 years of mediocrity.

    Use your voice however you can or witness the consequence.

    1. Spot on. People still insisting on Wenger to stay next year same day we will be having the same debate if he stays. Problem is we hve a board that doesn’t give a s.h…i…t at all. Its funny how they stil are waiting for wengers decision seriously. Our club needs serious rescuing or we will just be there was a club called arsenal

  7. I was too harsh with Martinez when speaking about him before now. I thought he was only an academy graduate, but he’s 25. I like how he hasn’t shown a blunder yet, not that I can recall one anyhow. He looks tall calm and confident. I prefer him already to Ospina. Ospina has great reflexes but his handling is pretty poor for an international GK. When he’d use his fists instead of catching, punching the ball into play or out wide, which he does allot, I used to think he does that showing off trying to make it look better. But I know now that he does it because his handling is poor, allot of the time he wouldn’t even try claim the ball. It takes the pressure off when a keeper can just wrap his hands around it. Cech has been below standards too, the defenders aren’t making it easier for them, esp when any of Ramsey, Oxlade, Ozil, Walcott & Coquelin are back there defending the in swingers. But you’d still expect more composure from such experienced GK’s. Martinez has not shown an obvious vulnerability as of yet, not like the two older keepers have. Cech’s is trying to get across goal or getting down low quick enough, he lost a tad bit of his speed, just enough to make a small difference. Martinez deserves a chance. Wenger is usually bad at judging goalies but this lad so far reminds me slightly of a young Cech Loris or Courtios, in that they look relaxed and are a good height/physique. Ospina is short for a goalkeeper, but has a good leap, though what’s the point if you rarely use your advantage against the outfielders. I think we may need a new no1, I wouldn’t completely write Cech off, but I’d like to see a new keeper coming in and I’d give Martinez his chance to battle him for the gloves, the thing is though we’d probably need to give assurances to any new goalkeeper. Martinez might be happier being our no2 than the others, and he may still surprise us greatly.

  8. I thought Martinez distribution has been solid as well, which is another reason I don’t like Cech. Ospina just looks like an accident waiting to happen for me.

  9. Martinez should be promoted if either Ospina or czech leave after tha end of the season. There is no need wasting our few resources on goal keeper when we have some positions to be giving attention to, such as striker, winger, LB and DM.

  10. Seems a bit pointless haggling over a GK when our club is rotten to the core…Wenger is under no pressure at all to deliver and complacency has set in the club, its roots reaching deep down after a decade on non achievement. We used to laugh at the spuds but who can confidently claim we will even put it a decent show at fart lane? I fear for that game coz i think they will murder us.

    What’s the point of competing in a competition we have no desire to win? Year after year we fight hard to finish in the top four but show no desire to compete and the same failings consistently resurface.

    The buck stops with Wenger and now the chickens have come home to roost. Let’s enjoy Thursday night football until the realisation that in football if you stand still then you have gone backwards

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