Former Newcastle United midfielder Robert Lee believes Arsene Wenger has missed a trick
Former Newcastle and West Ham United midfielder Robert Lee believes that had Arsene Wenger bought a goalkeeper and a top quality centre back in the summer transfer window before the ongoing 2010-11 season, his side would have been leading the English Premier
League in the campaign.
Arsenal are currently placed second behind Manchester United and trail them by five points with a game in hand. Despite having the third best defensive record in the League in the season, 40 per cent of the goals conceded by Arsenal have been due to cheap
mistakes.
“I think if Arsenal had a goalie and probably a centre-half….I think Arsene Wenger buys fantastic players who he picks up for next to nothing and makes them world stars. He's done it throughout his career at Arsenal and made them a lot of money, but goalkeepers,
to me he has a weakness and just isn't able to see a goalkeeper,” Lee said.
He added, “I'm a bit biased, but I played with Shay Given for many years at Newcastle and I still think he's the best Premier League goalie. He's been sitting there in the Manchester City reserves for the whole season. He'd probably cost you 4, 5 or 6m but
so what, if that wins you the title, which I think he would.”
He criticised Wenger for not having a good eye to buy a goalkeeper, as Arsenal have struggled in this department since Jens Lehmann moved to Stuttgart. Manuel Almunia was the understudy to him and he never made the position his own and was continuously replaced
by Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone and Wojciech Szczesny.
The 45-year-old said that Arsenal also need a top quality centre half if they want to challenge for trophies in the future. The former West Ham United midfielder sees Manchester United as the favourites to land the Premier League title come the end of the
season. He believes that United have not played up to their standards in the season but still they have managed to grind out results in their favour.