It's Time for Arsenal To Replace Manuel Almunia

Good afternoon from a very humid but wet Dublin. I've walked the dog, done the shopping and been to the bank and it's time to eventually get around to my blog.

The main piece of news today is that the comments widely attributed to the boss in a Kenyan newspaper yesterday were in fact untrue. He never gave them a one on one interview and the club have made an official statement to confirm that.

Thankfully the only item from that supposed interview I went with yesterday was the piece on Almunia and I think that it may well have been wishful thinking on my part. I'm sure that the comments attributed to him about Almunia had all more or less been said by him before except the bit at the end where he was supposed to have said that there will be announcement on the goalkeeping situation after the World Cup.

The boss has never been that open when talking about players before and I should have spotted that the comment couldn't have come from him but as I didn't read the whole interview I'm using that as my excuse. My opinions on Almunia are well known and I have never thought he was good enough to play for Arsenal so I latched on to those comments as a ray of light for me. No matter how often he makes good saves Almunia cannot control his area, come for the ball, kick it well or be decisive enough to compete at the very top of the game and that is where Arsenal want and need to compete.

The addition of Koscielny and the statement from the boss that he wants to sign another defender show that he is determined to sort out our defensive problems and that can only be a positive thing. If he can admit that Almunia just isn't up to the job and find a quality replacement for him that will be another huge step and one that every single Arsenal fan will welcome I'm sure.

The boss spoke about Koscielny and he seems very impressed with him. He said "We identified Koscielny as a very, very strong centre half, he can be an outstanding addition to our team". I know it seemed to take for ever for the deal to be completed but at least it was all tied up in the end. It also puts to bed the theory that any players named in the "transfer linked" section on the club site are not actual targets as Koscielny was definitely named there on at least one occasion.

There is a story that Barcelona president Sandra Rossell will be meeting the boss at the World Cup to talk about their desire to sign Cesc but I would be shocked if that happened. The boss has already said that Cesc is not for sale and we want no more offers for him from Barcelona. If he is to stick to that statement he has no reason to meet Rossell and with the continued statements from Barcelona regarding our captain I'm sure he has no desire to meet him either unless it is to tell him where to go. However, I think he's far to dignified to sink to that level.

With the third place play-off tomorrow and the final on Sunday the World Cup is almost over and if the transfer market is going to take off I imagine that it will happen by the middle of next week. Speaking of the World Cup my fantasy World Cup is coming to an exciting end and personally I think it might be decided by whoever manages to identify players that will do well in the Germany versus Uruguay game tomorrow. I don't think I can win my league at this stage but I would be happy with a top ten finish out of the 93 teams in it. Tht's it for today.

Here's a few goals from Kevin Campbell in his Arsenal days.

See You Tomorrow.