David Seaman has stuck up for Bernd Leno.
Arsenal legend David Seaman has stuck up for Bernd Leno following some criticism of his recent form.
On the whole, the German shot-stopper has had a strong second season at the Emirates Stadium, but, as Seaman acknowledges, goalkeepers always have their critics.
Leno notably had a poor game in our recent defeat against Olympiacos, but Seaman has reminded fans that the 28-year-old has also made plenty of important saves in games.
“He’s been criticised, but you do,” Seaman told Goal.
“Being a goalkeeper, you make mistakes and you do get criticised.
“I saw a stat saying he’d made the most mistakes or whatever, but he made a lot of saves in those games as well.
“A lot of people have been talking about him as Player of the Season at Arsenal because he’s had a lot to do, which is surprising for an Arsenal team because we’re normally really good at defending. But that just shows where we are at the moment.”
It remains to be seen if Leno really ends up being good enough for us – he looked one of the better ‘keepers in Europe during his Bayer Leverkusen days, but never quite inside that top bracket.
Still, Seaman is right to urge a little more calm and perspective over Leno’s performances, with many of our recent ‘keepers certainly doing a lot worse than this guy.
For the most part, even if Leno has made some individual errors, it’s also worth remembering the defence he’s having to work with, with even someone like Alisson bound to struggle a bit more with David Luiz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi ahead of him.