Arsenal Transfers: Why Vito Mannone Is Emblematic of Gunners' Goalkeeping Gaffes
What's one word to sum upย Sunderlandย goalkeeperย Vito Mannone'sย Arsenal career?ย Unpredictable, a distinguishingย trait inย Arsรจne Wenger's keepers.ย
Rewind back to late September 2009.ย
"Vito played a fantastic game on Saturday and consistency is the first sign of quality,"ย Wenger said when asked to comment on the Italian's Man of the Match performance vs.ย Fulham, viaย Neil Maidment at Reuters. "He has the potential to be a very good goalkeeper."
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Andy Johnson would have scored a hat trick if it wasn't for the brilliance ofย Mannone.
"That's the best game I've ever played," remarkedย Mannone, who made eight saves, via Matt Barlow at The Daily Mail.ย
The week before,ย Mannone deniedย Wigan Athletic six times, so in the span of a week he had registered 14 saves over two Premier League games whilst having two clean sheets.ย
Instead of emerging as a challenger to Gianluigi Buffon's position in the Italian national team,ย Mannone has fallen on hard times.ย
| GAME | DATE | |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Arsenal 3-1ย Birmingham City | October 17, 2009 |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Arsenal 2-2ย West Ham United | October 25, 2009 |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Belarus 3-0 Italyย | October 12, 2010 |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Olympiakos 3-1ย Arsenalย | December 6, 2011 |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Hull City 3-1 Ipswich Town | January 7, 2012 |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Portsmouth 2-0 Hull City | March 27, 2012 |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Manchester City 1-1ย Arsenalย | September 23, 2012 |
| ERROR LEADING TO GOAL | Norwich City 1-0ย Arsenalย | October 20, 2012 |
Conceding eight goals due to mistakes over four years isn't a major concern for a goalkeeper playing 55 games per season, butย Mannone averages 14 games per season since the 2009-10 campaign.ย
"I would have coaches and everyone around me trying to pick me up and asking 'Why aren't you smiling?'"ย Mannone told theย Hull Daily Mail. "Everything seemed to go against me and that's when you're thinking about negatives."
Wenger was open aboutย Mannone's situation last September.ย
"I was quite surprised that no club went for him as I would have let him go because we have many keepers,"ย Wenger admitted toย Henry Winter at The Telegraph, shortlyย after praisingย Mannone for showing mental toughness on loan at Hull.ย
What Paolo Di Canio would have said: "Mannone is as useless asย Massimo Taibiย and we would have sold him but no club wanted himโnot even as third-choice."
Now a Sunderland player under compatriotย Di Canio, the Italian Felix Magath, hopefully forย Mannone, he doesn't become the Italianย Wes Foderingham.
Mannone isn't an isolated example of a goalkeeperย consistently costingย Arsenal.ย
Wojciechย Szczesny,ย ลukasz Fabiaลski,ย Manuel Almunia andย Richard Wright spring to mind.ย
Maciej Szczesny's frustrations regarding how his son,ย Wojciech, is being handled byย Wenger gives you an idea about theย blasรฉ approachย Le Professeur has towards goalkeepers.ย
Since 2002,ย Wenger hasn't signed a goalkeeper who was featured in a Ligue 1 or 2 Team of the Year.
| LIGUE 1 OR 2 TEAM OF THE YEAR | YEAR | SIGNED DIRECTLY? |
| Emmanuel Adebayor (Metz) | 2003 | No, signed viaย Monaco (2006) |
| Sรฉbastien Squillaci (Monaco) | 2004 | No, signed via Sevilla (2010) |
| Bacary Sagna (Auxerre)ย | 2007 | Yes |
| Samir Nasri (Marseille)ย | 2007 | Yes |
| Laurent Koscielny (Tours) | 2009 | No, signed viaย Lorient (2010) |
| Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux) | 2010 | Yes |
| Gervinho (Lille) | 2011 | Yes |
| Olivier Giroud (Tours andย Montpellier) | 2009 and 2012 | Yes (viaย Montpellier) |
The two big misses areย Grรฉgory Coupet andย Hugo Lloris.ย
Coupet was famous for his role in Lyon's dynasty, andย Lloris became a three-time Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year.ย
Whenย Petr ฤech was atย Rennes (he didn't make a Ligue 1 or 2 Team of the Year), Wenger failed to project the Czech's upside but managed to accuratelyย gaugeย that Alex Song (Bastia) andย Gaรซl Clichy (Cannes) would develop into top-flight footballers.ย
Wenger's weakness in the transfer market is finding world-class goalkeepers.ย
Read the opening paragraph via The Guardian on May 24, 2001 and spot what's wrong with it:
"Arsenal have signed goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord, the Dutch club have announced.
When asked if Dudek was on his way to Highbury, a Feyenoord spokesman said: "That is correctโArsenal have said it."
"
Dudek never joined the Gunners asย Wenger sunk the deal telling Sky Sports: "We decided we didn't need another goalkeeper."
The Pole, who joined Liverpool, later revealed thatย Feyenoord's decision to strong armย Wenger was the reason the proposed transfer collapsed.ย
Withoutย Dudek's miraculous double-save to stopย Andriy Shevchenko from scoring plus the Poles' heroics in the penalty shootout, saving the spot-kicks of Andrea Pirlo andย Shevchenko, Liverpool wouldn't have won the 2005 UEFA Champions League final.ย
Meanwhile,ย Wenger opted for Ipswich'sย Richard Wright forย ยฃ6 million, who lasted one season.ย
Even Wenger's best goalkeeperย signing, Jens Lehmann,ย part of the Invincibles, didn't make theย Top 50 Greatest Gunners,ย let alone rank aboveย David Seaman, Pat Jennings or Bob Wilson.ย
Wenger's first ever goalkeeper at Arsenal,ย Seaman, who Le Professeur inherited, is still his greatest ever goalkeeper.ย
Who is the lastย Arsenal keeper to make the PFA Team of the Year?ย
Seaman, 16 years ago for the 1996-97 PFA Team of the Year.ย
Statistics courtesy ofย WhoScored.com,ย Fox Soccerย andย Squawka.com


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