Arsenal: Broken promises will lead to disastrous David Ospina end

David Ospina may not get many appearances this season thanks to Arsenal’s early cup exits. Such limited opportunities may lead to a disastrous end: a summer departure.

Arsenal’s goalkeeper and Columbian international David Ospina has had a rough season. Perhaps what’s worse, though, is that none of it his doing. With the ever-present senior Petr Cech in his way, it’s easy to see why he’s been relegated to watching from the sidelines. Ospina has been a good servant to the Arsenal.

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With Cech’s career winding down, it’s not surprising to see him trying to squeeze out every last ounce. After all, this year could be his last. Arsenal are reportedly in the market for a new goalkeeper, one that could wholly replace Cech.

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But why shop around when you have a goalkeeper who knows the club inside and out sitting on your bench? Arsenal has been linked with a plethora of quality keepers; Timo Horn and Jan Oblak to name a few, but why just ignore a perfectly solid player who has experience of the Premier League, of the squad, and of Arsene Wenger?

Well, to put it plainly, he’s not tall enough or commanding enough. When there’s a ball lofted over his 18-yard box he will never be favorite to win it, he’s simply not tall enough. Watching him play you can see has he has cat-like reflexes and well-rounded mobility, which is something Cech sorely lacks. But Cech more than makes up for it in height and command of his area. Ospina’s mobility around his 18-yard box is impressive, almost seeming like he’s in multiple places at once, but he does lack the natural size, stature and demeanour to control his area, especially when playing against the more physical sides in the Premier League.

The game time, then, for Ospina, was supposed to come in the cup games: the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup and the Europa League. Well, one of those tournaments consisted of just one measly appearance, thanks to a third-round FA Cup loss to Nottingham Forest.

Moreover, with the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City looming, one can only expect Wenger to go with the tried and trusted Cech. Meanwhile, Wenger also hinted that he will use a full-strength squad to face Ostersunds on Thursday which could see another Cech appearance in one of the cup competitions.

Wenger has done this before. He doesn’t rotate the side properly and the players who sit end up getting angry. Mathieu Debuchy and Francis Coquelin are two such players who departed back in January. They ask to leave to find game time. Wenger obliged, but the squad is worse off as a result.

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With Ospina seemingly frozen out of the starting XI, it’ll only be a matter of time before he departs for pastures new. That might well be a mistake.