Former Arsenal keeper speaks out about Wenger

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Bob

Manuel Almunia – “He (Wenger) is like a father to the players” by AM

Manuel Almunia, who was released this summer, has spoken highly of Wenger and how respected the Frenchman is among the players. The former custodian said that –

“Everybody respects him and they trust him, always. In all my years at Arsenal, I didn’t see any players rebel against Arsene Wenger and that is strange at a big club. He is like a father to the players and everyone has so much respect for him.”

The Spaniard has joined Watford this summer after pulling the curtains to an Arsenal career which saw him guard the posts 170 times. His career was littered with inconsistency and he made some big mistakes during his time, which made him bear the brunt of the fans more often than not. Szczesny eventually took the number one jersey and hasn’t looked back since. Almunia didn’t feature at all last season and he knew his time was up.

Coming back to his above interview, when he was talking about Robin van Persie’s departure, Almunia said –

“I think Robin saw that Arsenal didn’t sign players as good as he wanted them to be this summer. I know him well and he always wanted to win, he had been at Arsenal for a long time without winning and that was another main factor.”

Almunia was signed on a one year contract by Watford after their former No.1 Scott Loach left the club to join Ipswich Town. Legendary Italian Gianfranco Zola is at charge at Watford and they have made excellent progress this season. Almunia made his debut earlier this month, in a League cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers, where he managed to keep a clean sheet. Watford won that match 1-0.

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Adebayor & Hleb – Would you welcome back these two former Gunners?

 

There can be no disputing that signings are needed this summer, and there are two former Arsenal players likely to be available.

Firstly, Alexander Hleb has made it no secret that he regrets leaving the club and wants a return. Virtually unused since signing for Barcelona, the Belarussian playmaker has had loan spells at Stuttgart and Birmingham, both without much joy. He’s been quoted as saying:

‘I love Arsenal. It is always in my heart but now is too early to speak about a new club. Everything is possible but I am just saying if I get this chance, of course I’d come.’

Would we take him back though? We’re not exactly short of ‘creative’ players, by which I mean, technically gifted attackers who like to pass the ball, rather than get on the end of things and score goals. Hleb was notable for his lack of goals and end product, but he’s better than someone like Rosicky or Diaby, so if he were happy to be backup, he might be a decent cheap option? Then again, he won’t exactly be popular with the fans for jumping ship as soon as Barca came knocking. Overall, I don’t think he’d be worth it.

Another former Gunner who’ll be looking for a move is Emmanuel Adebayor, who finds himself in the unique situation of not being needed by Manchester City and out on loan at Real Madrid (how much sense would that have made three or four years ago?).

Let’s face it, he’s not that good, which is why he’s down the pecking order at City. He’s something of an emergency loan for Mourinho, who has been without first choice striker Gonzalo Higuain for much of the season, and is unlikely to be offered a permanent move.

While I don’t exactly rate him that highly, he’s probably better than Chamakh and Bendtner and would be worth thinking about if he were available for cheap.

Again though, the question is, could the fans forgive him for his behaviour when he wanted away? Not to mention his provocative celebrations in front of our fans when scoring against us for City.

So, in the end this article doesn’t seem so worthwhile. I guess it’s a sign of how desperate I am that I’m longing for Hleb and Adebayor – the last time we had both of them we had what looked like a title-winning team and they were standout performers. Still, no thanks.

Click HERE to see the original article. This article was first published on ArsenalInsider

Written by Mark Brus

Tags: Alexander Hleb, Arsenal, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gonzao Higuain
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