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Arsenal's pre-season is exposing a very real danger
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- Arsenal's pre-season is exposing a very real danger
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal | Charles McQuillan/GettyImages
Arsenal are underway in pre-season, but to be honest, it's been rather bleak. They got off to a flying start against Girona , but their recent two losses against Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund have left plenty to be desired.
Goals that Arsenal should not be conceding have been conceded. On a few occasions, pop-shots from outside the box have found their way into the back of the net, with Kepa Arrizabalaga the main culprit. He has conceded five goals in the last two games, despite being subbed off in both games.
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The likelihood of Kepa being an Arsenal player for the new season seems slim. After all, they just signed Illan Meslier , which would be a pretty pointless signing if the Gunners intend to keep Kepa.
Thankfully, Meslier is surely an upgrade, right? Well, he's not, actually.
Arsenal's backup GKs are posing a real threat of the wrong kind
If pre-season is proving anything to Arsenal fans, it's that both options the club currently has to replace David Raya in case he is injured are, for lack of a better word, dire.
In a Premier League game, Arsenal should not feel confident calling up Kepa or Meslier if they need to. Raya is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but it's the position in which Arsenal have the worst depth.
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Arsenal won't sign another goalkeeper before the summer transfer window closes. They made the decision to sign Meslier , and now they're stuck with the options they have.
He's played okay in pre-season, but only okay. The only saving grace is that he's been better than Kepa when he's played in these friendlies, but even in his cameos, his distribution has stuck out like a sore thumb for all the wrong reasons.
If Arsenal want a goalkeeper to come in and provide all the same traits that Raya provides, they don't have that. If they want Raya's quality, then they better hope he stays fit.
In fairness to Arsenal, hiring a backup goalkeeper is no easy task. It was proven in the time that Raya signed that hosting two top-quality goalkeepers in the same squad is not manageable.
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It's not rocket science, either. The goalkeeper doesn't get rotated nearly as often as other positions on the pitch. Any goalkeeper with an ounce of pride would not sign for a team knowing they have no chance of making the starting lineup.
Regardless, an important piece of context is that it's only pre-season. Most of Arsenal's strongest players are not in the squad because they went far in the World Cup.
We're judging Arsenal's backup goalkeepers at the worst possible time, but hey, what else are fans to do when there's no other football on?
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This article was originally published on www.paininthearsenal.com as Arsenal's pre-season is exposing a very real danger .
