Almunia: Height is not the problem, attitude is

Some pretty heavy-hitting stuff from goalkeeper Manuel Almunia this morning. The Spaniard says that the perception that the team's defensive problems are due to a lack of height within the team is wrong, and that it's actually a problem with everyone's attitude.

There are a few Arsenal fans who think that when we lost 'tall' players such as Patrick Vieira, Edu, Kanu, Thierry Henry and Sol Campbell, the team lost a bit of edge in being able to challenge for high-balls or to fight for crosses being fired into the box. Needless to say, it's also damaged our ability to defend set pieces effectively.

But for Almunia it's really everyone's attitude towards defending that needs to improve, with the 32-year-old saying: "At the beginning of last season, we had tall people and we still had problems.

"It's not a issue of having tall people, it's an issue of attitude. How you face the ball and are focused on the game in every single moment."

The Arsenal number one does have a point. There were a few incidents last season when you watched a replay of how we had conceded a goal and you just thought, "Couldn't [x player] had been more determined to get on the end of that pass?"

Whatever the problem is, it's refreshing to see that the players are thinking about how they can improve on from last season, and that can only be a good thing.

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