5. Goalkeeping Situation Remains Unresolved
Arsenal No.1 Wojciech Szczesny's future has been placed under the microscope for much of the summer as boss Arsene Wenger has spent most of the last three months being linked with a series of high-profile replacements. Szczesny put in a series of nerve-wracking performances for the Gunners last season and was dropped for a key game with Bayern Munich in the second round of their Champions League clash. The Pole also ended up losing his place as first choice keeper to compatriot Lukasz Fabianski toward the end of last season, who might have displaced Szczesny up until the end of the campaign had he not suffered a rib injury. And he hasn't made the best start to this season, either, giving away a penalty and shipping three goals in an embarrassing defeat to Aston Villa in the opening round of fixtures. Wenger has been linked with the likes of
Iker Casillas,
Victor Valdes,
Pepe Reina and
Julio Cesar this summer, but ended up with Palermo goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano on a
season-long loan. Viviano isn't even in Italy's squad for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and the Czech Republic and has only been capped six times by Gli Azzurri. Not exactly the marquee goalkeeping reinforcement fans were hoping for.