Hit or Miss? Premier League goalkeeping debuts at Arsenal, Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Southampton

The season has well and truly started this past weekend and as for the keeper carousel, Rebecca Coles says it’s still spinning!

It was all eyes on the newly signed goalkeepers making their debuts this weekend, and with first impressions being everything, predictions are already underway for the rest of the season.

Petr Cech – Arsenal In less than one week, Cech has faced the harsh reality of going from hero to zero. After winning the Community Shield last Sunday, Cech made his Premier League debut, which unfortunately turned out to be a complete howler as Arsenal fell to West Ham. Such a performance from the 33-year-old former golden glove winner was definitely not in the script. He was set to be Arsene Wenger’s missing piece to the puzzle and the key to the gunners winning the title this season but after one game, doubts are already setting in as pundits and fans alike criticise the nervy shot stopper. However, let’s not jump on Cech’s back just yet. We are only one game in and the fact remains that Arsenal’s poor defence is old news. Cech has still got a lot to give and I won’t be taking him out of my fantasy team just yet. Watch this space . . . Sergio Romero – Manchester United Everyone was completely baffled by Louis van Gaal’s decision to drop the best goalkeeper in the Premier League last week. It made no sense and only seemed to intensify the circulating rumours that first choice David de Gea’s move to Real Madrid could well be going ahead behind the scenes. Despite the controversial move, Romero’s first league game of 2015 couldn’t have gone any better. He completed several saves and his distribution instilled confidence in United fans. Not only did he receive praise from team-mates such as Smalling, but also from Van Gaal himself after the match. There is always room for improvement but Romero’s performance suggests it might not be the end of the road for the club if de Gea does leave within the next few weeks. What goalkeeping crisis? Alex McCarthy – Crystal Palace As a finger injury ruled out the long-serving Julián Speroni for Palace’s opening three matches, McCarthy was handed the gloves by Pardew. Despite spending most of last season on the bench at QPR behind Robert Green, McCarthy has always been highly rated. Although he has not been given a proper chance since his days at Reading, his performance on Saturday was not to disappoint. Palace took on newly-promoted Norwich in a match in which he made multiple saves and kept Palace in the game for the better part of 90 minutes. Speroni could have some goalkeeping rivalry within the next few weeks as he plans to make his comeback but in the meantime, it seems that Palace are very much in safe hands. Maarten Stekelenburg – Southampton Dutch goalkeeper Stekelenburg made his debut for Saints this weekend after joining on loan from Fulham. He didn’t manage many games for the Cottagers but, despite the 2-2 result, he made a fine start against Newcastle. Stekelenburg is the current first choice while Fraser Forster is still sidelined after sustaining a horror knee injury during Southampton’s clash against Burnley in March. With Forster possibly out for the entire season, Stekelenburg is expected to settle in quickly. Three out of four impressive debuts so far to kick off this Premier League season. Will Cech be able to put his first game behind him and bond with his defence at Arsenal? Can Sergio Romero keep his place between the posts at Manchester United?   Read more from Rebecca Coles here Follow @rebecca_l_coles