Mad Jens out for City game

Some Arsenal fans may be rejoicing this weekend, even before we try and beat Man City on Saturday afternoon. The reason for this - the news that our half-crazed goalkeeper, the infamous Jens Lehmann, has been confirmed by Le Boss as being out for this weekends clash with Sven Goran Erikssons impressive City side.

“Jens is out and he will miss two weeks I think,” said Arsène Wenger on Thursday afternoon. “Maybe more - I don't know. He is going to see a specialist in Germany on Friday. He had this injury before but it has got much worse. "

And with the horror-show start to the season that Arsenal's erratic goalkeeper has had, Arsenal fans would be forgiven for thinking that dropping Lehmann was a must, but I have got to disagree. And that's not saying Jens is a good keeper, but unfortunately he's the best we have at the moment. Rumourings of moves for Craig Gordon, Scott Carson and Artur Boruc have all dwindled, with the first two having already got their summer moves, and with no sign of Boruc moving this summer from Glasgow. While we did bring in a new goalkeeper, I'm not entirely convinced he can do a job for us that is expected of a top four club for a season or so yet. "Wookash" Fabianski is highly rated but it's almost certainly too early to tell whether he can make it at Arsenal, and it would be a big gamble if he played on Saturday. Therefore the only real choice for Wenger to turn to is Manuel Almunia, who is almost as erratic as Lehmann, and not as brilliant as Lehmann at his best. If Almunia and Lehmann were fizzy drinks, Manuel would have to be called "Lehmann Lite". Not quite as powerful or strong as Lehmann, and just isn't as good as the real thing. But isn't as likely to explode either.....
As for other injury news, there are another two casualties at the moment, with another having recovered in time to play Man City.

"William Gallas is out and will be out for some time,” said the manager. “Emmanuel Eboue is out too. But Emmanuel Adebayor is back."

While the news of Gallas' injury is a blow to Arsenal, Eboue's absence hurts us less now that summer arrival Bacary Sagna seems to have fitted in instantly during pre-season and the start of the season so far. He doesn't go forward as well as Eboue, but is significantly better at defending to make up for that. He's not really an exicting player, but you can depend on him to do exactly what you want him to do, no more, no less. Meanwhile, the news of Adebayor's recovery can only be positive news. The Togolese forward gives his all for Arsenal, and his tireless running opens up spaces for those who are most dangerous such as Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas.