ALMUNIA HAPPY TO FEEL WANTED Last Updated: Sunday 5 August 11:09:00 Former Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is glad to feel wanted again after joining Championship club Watford. The 35-year-old linked up with the Hornets this summer on a free transfer after spending eight years with the Gunners. Despite playing 175 games for Arsenal, the Spaniard's spell at the Emirates Stadium was fraught with difficulties. He was even jeered by his own supporters at times and is relieved to be at a club where he instantly feels valued and respected. "After Arsenal, I just wanted to go to a place where I feel wanted, respected and loved, and made to feel like a good goalkeeper again," Almunia told the Sunday Mirror. "That's what I have found at Watford. "On my first day at Watford, the captain, John Eustace, came to me and said, 'We needed a good goalkeeper and we are lucky you are here'. That made me feel proud and good about myself. "As a person, I always felt loved and respected at Arsenal, but as a player it is different. When you don't play you don't feel wanted or loved and your self-belief goes down. "Once you stop being with the team every weekend and travelling with the team, people forget you." Almunia leaves Arsenal with regrets - particularly regarding his decision to play on with an elbow injury in the 3-2 home defeat to West Brom in September 2010. The Pamplona-born keeper saved a penalty but then conceded two poor goals while battling on with the injury and he admits it hit him hard. "I have big regrets about that game because maybe if I had stopped playing I would have played many more games for Arsenal," said Almunia. "It was such a difficult time. At half-time I had been so happy about saving a penalty, but everything then went wrong for me, and I couldn't understand why. "It was so, so hard to cope with. One day you are number one and everybody wants you, and the next day you disappear. I am quite a sensitive person and I am not good in the bad moments. "I didn't talk to anybody about how I felt because I don't like to disturb people with my problems. Maybe that was a mistake as well, maybe I should have talked to somebody." Almunia didn't feature again in the Premier League until the return fixture against the Baggies in March. Again he was at fault for a goal but this time he had the added pressure of arch-rival Jens Lehmann being back at the club and watching on from the bench - an experience Almunia admits he struggled with. "I have my opinion about what happened when Jens came back and I know the truth, but I don't want any trouble now - I have moved on," added Almunia. "I guess the boss was angry with me, but I never asked him or spoke to him about it. "But I haven't got any problem with Jens. We have a great relationship now, which is strange. "Jens was very competitive on the pitch and in training, sometimes too much. But off the pitch he is a lovely person and our relationship ended well. "It wasn't a good moment for me when the Arsenal fans jeered me, and the end was very tough. "But now I have left, all I have in my heart is good memories and good thoughts for Arsenal, the manager, the players and the fans. "I would love to go back there with Watford. That would be my dream."
Come to the right place, we wouldnt boo players or boycott buying his franchished gloves if he made a mistake would we?
I've boycotted buying the franchised gloves of every keeper that we've ever had since Lenny Pidgeley left.
For whatever reason there was no connection between Loach and the fans, which is strange. In general, Watford fans have also had a good relationship with their keepers. We have been spoilt in the past though as we've had a long line a good keepers in recent seasons. Coton, James, Miller, Chamberlain, Foster, Kuszczak have all been excellent, and I expect Almunia would be able to add to that list. Almunia is a confidence keeper and it's clear in that interview that he has some issues. I think he will get a lot more respect than Loach ever did though, because of his previous career.
I don't think it matters how old you are. No one produces their best work with tens of thousands of people heckling and booing them. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.
Loach didnt get stick for Howlers. He got stick as he didn't improve, I think we were fairly patient but he never seemed to improve on his obvious problems: commanding the box, coming off his line.
Sure people shouted and got cross and some idiots ranted on the wobbly site. But if he had looked like he was working on his deficiencies we would have forgiven mistakes I feel, it was the standstill, whether he didn't realise or just couldn't improve/adapt his game that meant some focused more on the mistakes. I honestly believe if he had made the same number or more "howlers" but had improved his game he wouldn't have gotten criticism
Sorry, but I struggle to believe that there are many people who could genuinely put up with some of the abuse footballers get, regardless of how much they're being paid. I don't care how much someone's being paid, if they think everyone who is supposed to support them hates them they're going to be mentally affected, £20k a week or £500 a week.
And some poor sods get paid minimum wage or less to have their boss or customers give them abuse and actual fear of violence. Some don't dare say anything in case they lose their job. I'm not saying it's right, just that some professional footballers need to get a bit of perspective.
I'm sure they would, but they wouldn't be good at being a goalkeeper so it's not really relevant. I'm sure Deeney doesn't want to be in prison, but the fact that those in Guantanamo Bay have it worse doesn't mean that he should start being cheerful about it. The point is simple: no professional will perform to the peak of their ability, especially one in which confidence has a noted role, under extended conditions of verbal abuse. The only characteristic that professional football filters is the ability to play football. The fact that they can kick a ball doesn't make players emotionless robots with unshakable belief in their own abilities. In any sport, home advantage is considered a good thing due to the local support encouraging the home player or players. You see this time and again in the World Cup, Tennis, Rugby, you name it. Home teams perform better, and that isn't without good reason. Morale is a huge part of any professional sport.
I thought home advantage meant carving up large sections of your pitch, dumping sand all over it and then adapting to a non-terrestrial playing style.
