Without a New Keeper, Arsenal Won't Win a Trophy Again This Season

From the 2010 World Cup, we see that goalkeepers are perhaps the most important position. They don't do much, because most of the time, the defence shields them. But on average, even for a very good defensive team like Spain, Germany and Holland, the defence fails 3 to 4 times every 90 minutes. It is during these few precious moments that differentiate between a winner and a lower. Spain's keeper, Iker Casillas, perhaps the best in the world, made a one-on-one save against Robben just minutes before Spain seized the lead. In the first half, Casillas made another important save.

Perhaps Asenal never won a trophy because 1) it has too many young players, 2) their defence is weak and 3) they never had a truly good keeper since David Seaman left. Almunia couldn't keep a clean sheet for the last 15 minutes, which resulted in Arsenal throwing away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Barcelona back in 2005.

If the whole world can see it, I don't understand why Wenger couldn't, or wouldn't. Perhaps Wenger has become too big for Arsenal. He has a say in everthing and noone dares to talk back. If he doesn't win another trophy this season, he should share power with someone who can stand up to him, a David Dein-like personality. If this doesn't work out, for the sake of Arsenal, Wenger should go.

Aftermath of Stress Test

So the stress test wasn't very stringent. European banks are probably still hurt by the drop in value of the PIIGS bonds in their balance sheet. Default risk of PIIGS is still real. But let's look at some vital signals of risk assets.

Exhibit 1: JP Morgan Non Investment Grade Index has fallen to 750. Lower highs, lower lows, since the peak in June 2010. This indicates that risk appetite is slowly rising.