The last line of defence, a sides goalkeeper is often the difference between victory and defeat, and can save his side a huge amount of points over the course of the season, and this is the position I will be focusing on for my final insight into the Arsenal first team squad.Arsenal have had a rich heritage of top-cla s keepers, including the likes of Bob Wilson, Pat Jennings, and David Seaman.However, many argue that Arsenal have never entirely replaced the legendary Seaman, even though his replacement, Jens Lehmann, managed to keep goal for a side which won the Premier League without suffering a league defeat the whole campaign.The man currently between the sticks for Arsenal is Spaniard Manuel Almunia, who has still yet to win over large sections of the Emirates crowd as to whether he po se ses the ability to be keepers for the standard of team Arsenal aspire to be, as at vital times Almunia seems to frequently let in goals he shouldnt. He also looks extremely nervous and tense when coming for high balls, as shown when defending the infamous Rory Delap throw-in; the 32 year old looks like a frightened rabbit in the head lights of an oncoming lorry when the ball is fizzed into the danger area.What frustrates Gunners fans most, however, is that Almunia has shown on occasion that he does have the ability to pull off astounding saves, as he did when keeping Arsenal in the contest in the Champions League semi-final last year at Old Trafford, and this season in the first half against the constant waves of attacks from a liquid Barcelona.It was in this match against Barcelona that Almunia was to, in e sence, sum himself up within a game. In the first half, sensational saves to deny Xavi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic amongst others were forgotten by a tentative display in the second half, where his indecision about whether to come out and close down the giant Swede Ibrahimovic cost Arsenal two goals, as first he left Zlatan with a gaping hole behind him as he went back on his decision to close the striker down (a cardinal sin for any keeper Jonathan Schoop Jersey ) for Zlatan to lob him, and then committing the same crime later on as Ibrahimovic instead drove the ball powerfully into the top corner. The finishes were brilliant and well taken, but Almunia made it as easy as po sible for him, quite the opposite of his job description.Is Almunia good enough to win top honours for Arsenal?Of course, Almunia is not helped by a le s than organised defence sitting in front of him, but one of the hallmarks of great goalkeepers is their ability to marshal a defence into becoming rigid. Almunia has never particularly shown many great leadership qualities, despite being Arsenals current vice-captain, as this is a squad thin of real leaders; Wenger tends to chose his captain on time at the club, and Almunia has been a faithful servant to the club for many years now, which is very much to his credit.The other choices available to Wenger consist of Pole Lukasz Fabianski, and Italian Vito Mannone.Fabianski especially has been gifted with more than one chance to prove himself worthy to take the reins as number one at the Emirates, but has been guilty of similar errors as Almunia and greater, his most notable blunder being the howler of an own-goal he scored away to Porto in the Champions League, where the 25 year old contrived to nudge a cro s which was fizzing acro s his six-yard box into the Arsenal net as he made an effort to catch it. Wenger and Bob Wilson have both gone on record however about how Fabianski is one of the best young keepers they have ever seen, and 25 is still a young age for a goalkeeper, as they tend not to hit their prime until at least their early 30s, so his chance is most certainly not gone.25 year old Fabianski has time to improveThe same can be said of the 22 year old Mannone, whose one chance at having a regular stab in the first team came earlier this season when both Almunia and Fabianski were unavailable through injury. Mannone, for a player who had not played at such a level before, did himself no harm, apart from a dodgy experience against Blackburn Rovers where he was lobbed from a header, but did have an excellent game away to Fulham, far from an easy place to go.Italian Mannone played well when called upon this season.As much potential as both these back-up options seem to have however, can they really be more reliable than the unreliable Almunia to consistently perform at the top level of club football? It would be overly optimistic to think so, and although a keeper must first get experience to be seen as reliable, Wenger would be taking a huge gamble to thrust one of these young men into the centre of the action when they have shown nerves and immaturity to play well when needed to.All the options point towards a new signing in goal, most likely to replace Almunia if the two young keepers have as much talent as Wenger makes out. This may seem unlikely though, as Wenger obviously likes and trusts the Spaniard, as placing him as vice-captain shows, so he most certainly would think twice before replacing him or putting him up for sale and trusting one of the deputies.He will, of course, eventually have to choose between them, as they will both be coming into their primes at similar times, and it is very unlikely the other will be content with kicking their heels on the bench during the best years of their career when they could be playing every week for another club.One thing is for certain, something must change in this area. The problem with being a goalkeeper is that any tiny mistake can be fatal to match hopes, especially in the Premier and Champions Leagues. Even more so if the side in question want to be winning some of these trophies come may, and so as the current first choice doesnt seem able to deliver in this area, Wenger may be forced to act. Darren O'Day Jersey