Ospina exit agreed? Do Arsenal need to replace Cech in goal?

Arsenal have apparently agreed a deal to sell David Ospina to Fenerbahce, but are we happy with Petr Cech as number one? The former Chelsea shot-stopper has been immense over the years in the Premier League, and has a number of records to show for it, but Cech has come under criticism this season.

The 34 year-old come under pressure for a string of bad displays, highlighted by his destructive performance against his former club where he was at fault for at least two of the three goals, and there are now question marks over whether his age is taking it’s toll on him.

He has previously recovered following imperfect seasons with the Blues, but does his age mean that we cannot rely on a such a resurgence from Petr next year?

David Ospina has been a worthy back-up since joining the club from Nice three years ago, and was somewhat unlucky to lose his place to Cech on his arrival from our London rivals, after six months of superb performances when displacing Wojciech Szczesny as number one.

The Colombian is now said to have agreed a move to Fenerbahce this summer, in a £6 Million deal, having grown frustrated with his lack of first-team football, and with his place in his international team at risk ahead of the World Cup tournament in 14 months time.

Szczesny is currently on loan with Roma, and is supposedly of interest to a few clubs in the coming window, but with Ospina supposedly going, and with Cech struggling, he may be needed at the Emirates.

Arsene Wenger has previously put his trust in the Pole, but with pressure on our place inside the top four, his return to our first-team may prove too risky.

Would you trust in any of our current senior trio to kick-off the new season in goal? How about Martinez? Do we need a new number one?

Pat J

13 Comments

  1. I would prefer us recalling Sczceny then he competes with Petr for the spot.there arent many quality gk in the market

    1. Think we’re pretty much stuck with Cech. Not that that’s all bad, I thought he was real good last season but this year he has been very mediocre and hasn’t made many game changing saves(the one on Toure in FA Cup being exception). With so many other areas in team needing improvement any funds spent will likely be in more high need positions. So Martinez making the jump or bringing Szcesz back are most likely options to back up Cech. Good luck to Ospina if true, he deserves more action.

      1. Glad you brought up that save in the cup. That was a world class save, not even a fingertip that was something else, I think the force was with him that day. Not many keepers you see make those kind of saves, the only time I remember them made is when the likes of Buffon, Neuer, De Gea etc. And I remember Cech doing it every now and then for Chelsea, I remember a match against us when he was in unbeatable form, and that CL final he was a bit like that. That save basically made the entire result possible, it’s what the best keepers do. Hopefully we’ll snap up his old goalkeeping coach at Chelsea and Cech will work the magic on a more regular basis, good to know he still has it.

        1. One of the reasons I got excited over Cech was for his GK coach and then we didn’t take him… GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

          I was hoping Cech GK coach could also coach Szcz, might still happen…

  2. In the world cup prior to Ospina joining us, I watched some of his games for Colombia and he was awesome. When Arsenal announced he was joining us I was very pleased. Ospina did not disappoint, in his first season he took his chance when it came and played the second half of the season, his statistics were awesome, in PL Games per 90 minutes played, for every two goals ospina conceded, hart, de gea and courtois conceded three. All of Ospina’s other stats like saves per game, clean sheets etc were better. Obviously these stas were a reflection on the defense as a whole and Kos was on top form. Ospina’s reward for this outstanding performance was that we bought Cech and relegated Ospina to number 2.

    When we bought Cech I commented at the time that we did not need him. Basically Ospina is far too good to sit on the bench and is our most underrated player. If he does leave I will wish him the best of luck, we just have to hope that we do not come up against him in a european competition because we will find out just how good he is. Messi rates him highly, judging by his comments after an international match.

  3. Dear all, Im not a Wenger fan if it was me and I watch every Game I would get shot of
    Giroud–Wiltshire ==Ozil (hes useless )– Walcott–Gibbs—Mertasacker–Welbeck these and some others are the reason we dont do well Underperforming every game Surely Wenger has got eyes if I can see he should also. Im a gooner now for over 68 years abd this is one of the worst perfomances ive witnessed in a long time , No pride ,No ambition , No guts cumon and be proud of your club or get out if not the fans should boycot the games make the buggers hurt in their bulging Pockets PHew bye now

    1. Giroud is a super sub atm, WTF you doing moaning about him? If you watch Arsenal like you say then you will know he has helped us and more than good enough to come off the bench and score.

      Some supporters can never be pleased, I am happy with how Giroud has performed this season as a super sub and I know many other supporters who are also happy with Giroud.

  4. Why is he going to Turkey if he’s far too good for Arsenal bench, Giroud is a French international starting striker, but he’s deemed bench quality for us. Walcott has something like 17 goals, he has more than Mane, more than Zaha, more than Rashford and Martial, but I don’t want him near our starting 11. Ramsey is a star player for Wales but he’s been on our bench most of the season.

    I think if he was as good as his fans thought he was well then more than one club in Turkey and one club in France would want him, and not even the top teams from those countries. There is good reason why no prem team want him, same with Italian, Spanish, German, Fabianski had more suitors than the Colombian no1. That season when he was letting in two and others let in three, I’d like to see the stats of which teams had the most shots against, that was the fist season in a long time that Arsenal tightened up in defence, it was surprising and our forward play suffered that year. My money would definitely be on Arsenal having the least shots on target.

    Everybody should know by now that for a GK Ospina has very bad handing capabilities, very good reflexes and shot stopping qualities, but bad decision making and poor handing. Which takes away from any excellent save he’s made as he’s put the ball back into play. He is also not brave enough to go through any number of players for a high ball, he wont even go through his own, he’s bad at reading the flight of the ball and has no intent on making sure of it, when Ospina plays you have to rely on a certain amount of luck.

    I don’t care one little iota if people don’t agree with that last paragraph above, “It’s the truth ..and it can hurt sometimes. You must the type of guy that thinks goalkeeping is all about the dives the keeper makes, then look out for great reflexes, a gymnast, and think wow he’s great at saving shots, that’s all you need for a goalkeeper.

    1. I tend to agree with you, I like Ospina but when looking critically at him, he is lacking qualities which a top GK needs, he doesn’t command the def well enough to help counter his flaws…

  5. Despite having an underwhelming season I feel Cech still has the quality to be our number 1. Wouldn’t mind bringing Szczesny back however right now his value is high so it could be worth cashing in. If Szczesny and Ospina leave I would like us to sign a young GK like Pickford, Butland or Lafont- someone that can rotate with Cech for a year or two and then be ready to become our no.1 goalkeeper. I am personally a huge Ospina fan and wish him all the best for the future if he does leave.

  6. I like Szcz, he has done well on his loan and he hasn’t been so immature in the last 12-18 months, seems to have grown up from what little I have seen about his childish actions.

    He has some great stats, helping Roma sit 2nd with the 2nd best def record in Seria A, yes Roma have good defenders BUT Szcz has still had to make a number of saves which can be seen in his saves per goal.

    I also haven’t forgotten how Szcz shared the golden glove with Chelseas Cech.
    Let that sink in!!!!!
    Chelsea who was known for the strength in defense and Arsenal who was being called leaky… Szcz equalled Cech clean sheet for that season!

    Szcz big flaw was his mentality and being kicked out on loan appears to have been the motivation he needed to grow up.

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