The manager has everything just as he wants it so why has he not bought a goalkeeper?
Arsene Wenger is the the manger who has it all; his own pre-season schedule, training ground and stadium as well as personally picking every player currently on Arsenal's books.
We are one of the few clubs to have not embarked on a money spinning pre-season tour which is even more beneficial in a world cup year. Despite our strong links with Stan Kroenke, Wenger has still managed to resist the call to go to the States.We have a perfect Austrian retreat which invariably has glorious weather and the required seclusion for the players to complete intensive training regimes. We then have the Emirates Cup in the familiar surroundings of the Grove for the players to get up to full speed. The only spanner in the works this year is the international involvement at both the World Cup and next week's friendlies.
The manager's involvement in the bespoke design of the training ground has been well documented and all of this demonstrates his complete control over everything at the Arse.
Which makes his neglect of the goalkeeping position even more infuriating. We have a large amount of money in the bank after nearly breaking even so far in the transfer market this summer and making a big saving on wages after the depatures of Gallas, Campbell, Eduardo and Silvestre. Yet, we are still yet to make a signing and the fact that we have been most strongly linked with Mark Schwarzer is very underwhelming.
Joe Hart is sitting at Man City waiting to be put out of his misery. He is clearly the top candidate to be the best goalkeeper in the country and yet we have not bought him.
The desperate need for a keeper has been apparent for over a year now and it is a position that no club has every been able to get away with neglecting. So why, when he won't risk any slight distraction in pre-season, does the manager persist with sub-standard keepers? They jeopardise every piece of painstaking work he puts into everything he does.
He still has three weeks to solve the problem but Almunia looks like beginning the season as Wenger's no.1 at Anfield next week and if he remains there the wait for silverware will continue.