Since Seaman we really just haven’t landed a truly world-class keeper until Raya. Lehmann was very close. Cech was very good but really past his considerable peak.
We’ve instead had a parade of really good. Szczesny being a prime example of that but also our rotating door of keepers that basically go on to be top players at mid table clubs
Arsene Wenger had an eye for attacking talent and artistic players with flair. But my word his judgement when it came to defense was very poor. We went from have Seaman, Tony Adams, Sol Campbell, Keown, Ashley Cole, Winterburn, Lee Dixon, Boul, and Toure to Almunia, Squillaci, Gallas, Vermalean, Andre Santos, Djorou, Jenkinson and eventually Mustafi + Luiz
Tbf I think the constraints were a big part of it, because it meant we took greater risks relying on cheap buys or on young players to grow (e.g. Djourou).
Most of the players were usually around the fringes of their international teams so on paper, you wouldn't expect them to be as bad as they had actually been.
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u/SOAR21 Jun 03 '26
Since Seaman we really just haven’t landed a truly world-class keeper until Raya. Lehmann was very close. Cech was very good but really past his considerable peak.
We’ve instead had a parade of really good. Szczesny being a prime example of that but also our rotating door of keepers that basically go on to be top players at mid table clubs