Wenger echoed the concerns of supporters that Almunia is short
on form and confidence, saying the Spaniard is struggling to cope
with the pressure of a "terrible job."
He also revealed he failed on Monday with a bid to sign a
player, whom Telegraph Sport understands to be Sorensen.
The Dane is facing competition for his place at Stoke, who signed
Asmir Begovic from Portsmouth, but Arsenal were unable to complete
a deal to sign him.
It leaves Arsenal short of experienced cover,
with just Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone as backup to
Almunia.
"Goalkeeper is maybe the most difficult job in the world because
everything is so quick," said Wenger. "In England it is even harder
because people stand on your feet at crosses. It is a terrible
job.
"The goalkeeper always gets negative publicity. If a striker
misses two chances but scores two goals he is a hero, but if a
keeper has a fantastic game and makes one mistake, he is a villain.
It is the most pressurised job in football."
So how does he think Almunia is dealing with it? "I think he
puts a lot of pressure on his own shoulders, perhaps too much,"
Wenger admitted.
Having dropped Jens Lehmann to make way for Almunia, Wenger
would have no hesitation in taking the same sort of tough decision
again.
"My only target is to make the right decision for the club," he
said. "Fabianski is challenging, but he had a little issue with
Chelsea last year."
The Pole was blamed for both goals in Arsenal's FA Cup
semi-final defeat by Chelsea last April, although they won 2-1 in
the Premier League at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season.
"I believe we will respond on Sunday. Last year we turned up in
a similar situation and won the game," Wenger said. "We are six
points behind them with 14 games left to play. We are still a very
young team, and it is a miracle to be where we are today, if you
listen to what people were saying at the start of the season.
"So why should we suddenly feel we are useless? We have
surprised everybody, so we should really go for it. We have top
quality, and we want to add that fraction of self-belief we have to
find within our group.
"Lack of experience is a problem, because when you have never
won, you make it [the issue] bigger than it is already. That is the
problem of this team at the moment."
He blamed Arsenal's 3-1 defeat by Manchester United last week on
the "trauma" following their 3-1 defeat by Sir Alex Ferguson's men
in last season's Champions League semi-final.
"We gave them too much freedom. After their first goal we
started to doubt a little bit, that is when we were insecure. Maybe
the trauma of the Champions League, that is what I questioned after
the game – is what happened in the Champions League still in our
minds?" he said.
But Wenger believes that if his side can overcome this mental
hurdle and win one trophy, they can go on to win more and end a
five-year famine. "Yes, yes I am convinced of that."
Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh says he wants to sign for
Arsenal when he becomes a free agent in the summer.
"My choice is to join the Premier League and if I could choose,
I will go to Arsenal," the Moroccan international said.