After the interest in Marcos failing (although possibly being restored) should the new attempt to lure 22 year old French goalkeeper Sebastien FREY currently at Italian side PARMA to Highbury. He has 2 years on his current contract, but would relish a move to Highbury, (who wouldn't!) to join the French ranks, and with Parma apparently already looking for a replacement. Should this deal not come off, then a further summer attempt for the Brazilian #1 might be made again.
Like Frey quite a bit but an interesting choice might be David James. With West Ham likely to go down and have to sell, a veteran England keeper who has been brilliant at times-nearly denied two points on his own last month-and would not be outrageously priced might be a good stop-gap if Frey or Recbar or Marcos all fall through. He's not as steady as Seaman, but if we find a solid partner for Sol in front of him and also finally fulfill our attacking potential it would hardly matter I susoect. He's not nearly the first option but could be a good one to consider-awaiting the slaughter...
I agree - we need to buy English player for once! Did you know we had 9 FRENCH players playing against Man United last Saturday! Technically, it was a bit like Manchester United 'v' France, rather than Arsenal. Also, if we do buy that Brazilian goal keeper, Wenger will have the same problem that he just had with Silva going to China. ooohhh someone with an Arsenal contact should mention Brad Friedle (spelling?). He's good and I like him. At least USA doesn't have that many friendlies, do they?
Wenger's top priority for next season is a replacement for David Seaman. Not some guy just because he's English but a "world class" keeper. David James has been mentioned. Well ever since he's was labelled "Calamity James" while at Liverpool his credibility unfortunately suffered. He redeemed himself to some extent at Villa but I don't regard him as a "world class" keeper. A keeper who really impressed me in the World Cup is the Turkish keeper Rustu Recber, who was instrumental in Turkey reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup. For me he was better than Oliver Khan of Germany. Rustu's international experience would make him an ideal replacement for Seaman. The other keeper I like is Sebasten Frey who plays for Parma. In my opinion, he should represent France instead of Barthez. If Wenger signs either one of these two keepers I'd be more than happy!
Frey would seem to be the best fit. Young (22), French (will fit in nicely), and probably someone Wenger can get cheaply. As for Friedel, he's, what, 32? 33? And I don't see Blackburn letting him leave unless someone coughs up a lot of cash. He was being mentioned as one of the Premiership's best keepers earlier this year. What about Dudek? Wenger wanted to sign him 2 years back, but has he fallen that far out of favor at 'Pool?
We actually had a large discussion about Rustu back in the summer. I agree that he is incrdible at times but it turns out he is a cortizone junkie. Many sources believe that once daily cortizone shots quit giving pain relief he will be forced to retire. Im surprised he has made it so far this season.
Opta stats has FREY listed as the 2nd best keeper in Italy this season, ahead of Toldo and ahead of Buffon. Impressive for a guy who is only a year older than our very own Stuart Taylor.
Hold on a minute there. We started 6 English players (Seaman, Keown, Campbell, Cole, Parlour, Jeffers), one more than ManUre, who started 5 (G. Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Beckham, Scholes). We started only 3 French players (Vieira, Pires, Wiltord), and only brought on one more (Henry) as a sub, and that was just to take the piss to counter Sir Red Nose's introduction of Forlan. Where did you get 9? Hell, do we even have 9 French players at the club? And as far needing to buy an English player, unfortunately, they tend to be overrated and overpriced. How about we just buy the best available player like we always have?
The US probably has as many friendlies as anyone, but for the most part, Bruce Arena splits them between European and US-based players. We've had three (El Salvador, Argentina and Jamaica) in recent weeks, all with US-based players. He's been quite reasonable in not pressing Friedel, Keller et al to come back for friendlies on the theory that US soccer does better if they don't jeopardize their positions in Europe.
The real issue isn't whether the new keeper is English neccessarily or the same class as Seaman. Ideally Frey or Marcos or Recbar will be here. But money is also an issue-do we have enough to bring them in and meet their terms and still fill other key needs. James or Nigel Martyn could be solid short-term solutions without breaking the bank or undermining Wenger's ability to address other pressing needs such as a long-term partner for Sol or a replacement for Bergy. This will be a real testof Le Boss' managerial acumen I suspect.
After watching Taylor a few times, he appears "Da Man" once Seaman decides to retire . . . is there a story I'm not aware of? Does Wenger think he's not ready and wants to see him develop further? Or does Wenger only see him as a backup? Is Taylor inconsistent and being a young keeper, if his confidence is down, it may stay down? I don't know, I agree with other posters saying the need to find a partner for Campbell (when Keown retires) and a replacement for Bergkamp when he retires. Cygan has been alright but I don't think he has the same tenacity and fire like Keown. I love how Keown thrives on playing against the best strikers. Sure he's older but he's got something left in the tank . . . As for Bergkamp - hard to replace the dutch legend and one of my favourite players of all time (the reason why I started following the Gunners). I think he'll play a couple of more seasons though.
I think Taylor is the right man to fill Seaman's boots. What we need is another backup keeper. Shabban's still injured (I think) so maybee a young lad from France would be nice.
We can't get an exact duplicate of DB10, but van der Vaart would certainly be a fair enough replacement. Perhaps Dennis could give him a call and tell him the dangers of going to Italy, and how wonderful London is.
lol blame BBC Radio 5 - they're the one who said it and I wasn't bothered to count the number of French players we had! Then again, I think the commentator on that day was that bias Liverpool fan. I like the idea from Bruce. At least he can give chances for other players to play at the International stage. I'm more confident in Taylor now. He did well this week and the Arsenal fans behind him were shouting his name. He must have saved about 5-6 goals from Manchester City!
Taylor had an excellent game yesterday, he needs to do that more consistently when he gets his chances in order to convince Wenger that he can take over from Seaman, who is surely playing his final campaign at the top level. I haven't seen enough of Frey to make a judgement and I don't rate Recber at all. And was the "sign David James" post a joke? If it was, I'm not laughing. If Wenger is really astute, and I believe he is, I think he will be keeping an eye on the money situation at Leeds. If they are still deperate for money in the summer, a bid of around £10m for Paul Robinson should be enough to pry him away (I'm sure the mention of Nigel Martyn was a joke too as he's only about a year younger than Seaman). The other points about replacements for Keown and Bergkamp being found sooner rather than later are well made. Cygan hasn't impressed me this season and at nearly thirty isn't going to last too long anyway. Another Frenchman, Phillipe Mexes at Auxerre, has impressed me recently and has just made his international debut. Buying him from France shouldn't present too much of a problem financially and having so many of his international team-mates at Highbury must be more of a help than a hinderance. There are all kinds of strikers being talked about and I think we need to clear out Kanu as well at the end of the season. The bloke just has no impact when he is played. Aliadiere's injury early in the season was unfortunate as he looked like a good young player when he made a couple of sub appearances and scored against West Brom. It may be that with Henry, Jeffers, Wiltord and Aliadiere that Wenger puts off buying in a replacement for Bergkamp this close season as Dennis surely has another year in him.
Rumors of Sorensen from Sunderland, probably unfounded. http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/030225/4/du1if.html
Poom or Frey would be my choice, but only until Taylor gets enough experience to get out on his own. I think he'll be a more than capable replacement for ol' Safe Hands (Safe Hands ver. 2.0???). This whole keeper deal is gonna end up being Arsene choosing some unknown guy from Nepal who's absolutely bloody brilliant (isn't that how he does all these things?), but in any case, I still wish Seaman could live forever! Vive le Safe Hands! OPArse
I've seen a good bit of Sorenson and I think he's a very good keeper. He's only 24 and has bags of Premiership experience. He's played plenty of internationals for Denmark too, including the World Cup, so the big games for Arsenal shouldn't faze him. And at the rumoured £4m, I think it would be a good bit of business.
Premiership experience is good, but CL Experience is even better. No doubt Arsene will keep this at the top of his mind. Vive le AFC! OPArsenal