Leno 1-0 Me by Shenel Osman
Being subjected to criticism from many fans, myself included, Bernd Leno managed to keep a clean sheet on his first appearance in the Premier League, since his injury in that first game back after lockdown against Manchester City in July.
I will always admit if I am wrong, but I cannot claim he will be consistent throughout the season based on one game, against a Fulham side who very rarely tested him.
After that miscommunication between Leno and Gabriel in the first half I did think, “oh here we go” but he slowly grew into the game and produced a couple of saves, which let’s be honest wasn’t going to really trouble him.
It can only be good for his confidence to have a performance like this and keep a clean sheet as well, but it begs to be seen that against opposition with a few more lethal players, whether he will be able to pull out saves and even keep a clean sheet. He is a quality player but it could be said that during the season before lockdown he was number one because he never really had any competition, and he always thought he would get in the team and so he did. Things had changed after he got injured and Martinez came in, but now it seems that Martinez is on his way out and Leno will go back to being number one week in week out.
Losing Martinez and not really having an experienced back-up if Leno does get injured or sent off would not be the best of moves from Arsenal, but if they cannot guarantee first team games for Martinez then I don’t blame him if he wants to leave. If he does though and we get no replacement then the back up to Leno would be the rather inexperienced Matt Macey. At least with Martinez I was aware myself of his performances after seeing him in cup games and knew what he was capable of, but I am not very sure or confident when it comes to Macey as I haven’t seen him too much.
I wish Leno the best of luck for this season and I hope he does prove me wrong, but I would also love to see Martinez stay and fight for that competition. Gooners?
Shenel
Get over it guys, Leno is our player, Martinez will soon leave, get behind your team. Everyone has his brilliance and weak sides, don’t let your emotions get a better off your simple rationale, Leno and Martinez competed for one spot last season, Leno was picked over Martinez because he is better, end of discussion.
I wish Martinez well, am happy he took advantage of the small opportunity he had, am happy for him, happy for arsenal, if not for Leno injury, Martinez wouldn’t have gotten a big transfer deal and arsenal would not have gotten extra cash to use in transfer. Seems everyone happy
Leno, Better?
Rubbish! Martinez is stronger in almost every department.
Martinez will prove it at Aston Villa!! Criminal!!!!
Leno had a major issue I observed last season, it was like, for the first 20 minutes or so in most matches, he was never ready, when then he would have conceded enough goals and game lost. So, that is a big one.
Nothing much happened in yesterday’s match from a goalkeeping department to justify anything. Emi chose to leave (for understandable reasons). MA had earlier made it clear he wanted to keep both goalkeepers.
—
Emi did magnificent in the absence of Leno to earn himself a better contract and regular playing time. Unfortunately, he’ll now get that at a different club. The best we can do is wish him well in his career and thank him for his service & loyalty while he was with us.
No point using a microscope to look for reasons to either justify or regret his departure. We’ve got Leno, MA and the rest of the squad. Let’s focus on that.
👍 Well said.
Leno was neck and neck with PEA
for Arsenal player of the year before
Covid 19 reared its ugly head and
halted the season. It also must be
mentioned that the Germans
brilliance was displayed under the
hapless managerial campaigns of
both Emery and Freddy L, where
Arsenal were conceding 20+ shots
a game to the likes of Southampton
@ the Emirates Leno was very good
for a really bad Arsenal team.
I get the frustration of some fans
over losing EM and it is
disappointing to see the likeable
Argentinian go but I personally
stand by both MA and Edu in
there decision to move him on and
hopefully use that AV cheddar to
finance moves for Aouar, Partey or
both.
Correct. I think our goalkeeping dept is benefitting from the new defensive structure of the team under MA, especially post-Covid19. It would be nice to see Leno have an extensive run under the same team structure before going on about who is really better among the 2.
👍👍
Agree ACE and Maxis
Mind you I thought Emi did a terrific job and I hope he relishes the new challenge
This article is pointless though..
Leno doesn’t have to prove you wrong.
Leno has nothing to prove to you.
Even yesterday’s miscommunication wasn’t his fault, Gabriel lacked the means to communicate with him and Leno was the one who came forward to protect Gabriel.
I bet a whole lot of you are clearly waiting like Wolves yo pounce on him the moment he sets a foot wrong.
He’s been a professional all his years with us.
If it wasn’t for Auba, nobody came close to winning our POTY last season.
So put some respect when you talk about our goalkeeper.
All the whole time Martinez kept making comments and kept performing well, Lenk kept quiet and stayed a professional .
Martinez chose to walk out, so please quit articles like these.
It only points to one fact, y’all waiting for him to fail so you’ll jump on his back and tear him down.
He’s our number one, Martinez did very well but he’s gone now.. So quit with all the Martinez vs Leno agenda please
Hey Eddie,
Ive been chewing on something this
morn as it pertains to Arsenals
possible transfer business before
the window closes.
Any chance Arsenal may splash the
cash on both TP and Aouar and
attempt to offset that £100M
expenditure by moving out a few
players like Mustafi(sad to see him
go) and Chambers in January. Both
will hopefully be fit by then and
should be in demand by a number
of teams. Just a thought
Yea there’s a huge possibility we do that.
A quiet number of teams have made enquiries about Mustafi even though he’s currently injured. Unlike the crap most fans like saying about Mustafi, he actually has not one but more than two teams interested in him.
Arsenal fans used to say no team will take him, I think the only stumbling block would be his wage.
Arteta will definitely let go of one of Chambers, Mustafi if not both because Mari is also coming back.
Except Mustafi comes back and becomes prime Kompany.
There’s a huge chance Arsenal will get both Aouar and Partey.
Lyon actually are interested in a deal even if it’s payment by instalments.
So we can save money, and still spend the real cash on Partey.
Both are Arsenal’s targets.
Recall Partey has been a target since Emery’s days, but Aouar is personally Arteta’s identification and choice and it’s no secret anymore. Edu and Juninho made it even clear.
If those big teams don’t ruin the deal for us, we’ll get Aouar and we can gather the money for Partey.
Aouar should be deciding on his future next week
Great stuff as always Eddie, your
%’s on the following players
leaving before the window
closes..
Torreria
El Neny (has been impressive)
Kola
Socratis
AMN
Bellerin
Laca
Torreira 90%
Elneny 45% ( He’ll definitely be Willock’s replacement if Willock goes on loan)
Kolasinac 70%
Sokratis 99%
AMN 50% (Wolves will come back for him, he could leave)
Bellerin 30% (The club ain’t interested or in haste to sell him. Will only sell if they get 35M upwards.
Laca 40% (Something similar to Bellerin, will be sold only if the offer for him is high)
Thx mate!!
I couldn’t have said it better Eddie!!👍
Agreed. Leno is a top keeper, the only thing he needs no timprove is his distribution. Also he has been playing in the top tier for 10 years, Martinez has only been proving himself for 6 months, and people saying he is the better keeper are simply delusional. You cannot compare consistency when there is such discrepancy in games played. Only time will tell if Martinez keeps this form, but even then Leno was an easy choice for me.
So you’re trying to make any sensible fan believe that Leno when playing under Emery and saved us so many times along with Auba isn’t good enough to be ahead of Martinez. Martinez wants assured game time and anyone who saw him play under Emery saw his rashness and errors that costs us. If they both played under Emery and one looked better than the other then how is it that Leno won’t be much better under Arteta who has more structure to the side. EMI wants to be a guaranteed starter something that the manager doesn’t want to do..you need to fight for it overtime and feel entitled, but we should be glad Arteta is t like you folks.
Leno’s been arguably our best player since joining, so he had already proven himself.
Agreed and my personal opinion is that he is the best keeper in the league ,he saved us going 1 nil down yesterday which could have changed the game so early on .
And let’s remember he’s been here 10 years and I’ve not seen many fans before the last 6months calling for him to be the number one keeper .
He played out of his skin but he needs playing time and for me this is the best outcome for all concerned.
Martinez just gives me a sense of calm and confidence when he’s playing. I think it maybe the way he catches the ball, not just punches it away. His anticipation of danger. His bravery. His ball distribution. The way he communicates and shouts at his defenders…
Yes, you are right Mr. Twig.
True, wish him well. I preferred him to Leno, but what’s best for the individual and club is good to me (other than wasting 18 million on the jersey merchant).My only concern is that some day Villa might transfer him for a huge amount and make a profit. But that is business anyway.
My only concern is that some day Villa might transfer him for a huge amount and make a profit… Leno, he is 28 and by the time season end he will be 29 and with additional season he will be 30. I know goalkeeper gets better with age but I doubt if any team will break bank for him when the time comes. He is good backup goalie to me and I’m glad he made the best use of the opportunity that came his way to fetch us 20m. Thank you Emi and good luck.
Mobella for a case in point of goal keepers improving with age, its worth reading up on the career of Pat Jennings. Sold to Arsenal by Spurs, because they thought he was finished, he had a great career at the Arsenal.
Lets wait a year.. I bet we will regret letting this guy go.
It is what it is. I think Emi is slightly better and immediately ended all the flailing and uncomfort our defense had to deal with when any cross came into the box. And it made a HUGE difference in our campaign. But a choice has been made and we have to accept it even if we dont agree. Both are outstanding GK’s and Leno has saved us more times than can be counted last season so hardly going to be sad who our No. 1. is.
Shenel, You are rather playing catch up(as in shutting the stable door when the horse has already bolted) with this article but to no avail, as Martinez is on the verge of leaving! He will not stay now, no matter how sad -or not- that makes us! Pointless article therefore.
I am like many other fans and am sad to see him leave but as a realist I realise our REAL ENEMY is not other teams but the meanness of Kroenke , the man who owns our club but who couldn’t give a flying fig for it or for any of us.
Because of him we are not able to keep a good player like Martinez by offering him a salary commensurate with what his talent deserves! He is then and sensibly from his own viewpoint, intent on moving on. It will happen probably within a day or two, so Shenel old son you have wasted your time writing this article. Just as I have wasted MY time responding to you!
Shenel is asking if we made the right decision Jon….
I think Martinez is leaving because he wants (and deserves) to be a starter. Not because Arsenal couldn’t offer him a salary commensurate with what his talent deserves. Kroenke doesn’t need to be the villain in every tale.
👍 particularly when he owns the Club, including the Emirates Stadium debt, which he consolidated and bought out, reducing interest payments.
leno cannot be excellent all season. he was jittery in some games lst term and even directly contributed to some losses we suffered. Martinez is more stable in goal and has a bigger frame than Leno. i so wished he stayed to fight for number 1 which i believe he can get in few games time
Leno was injured vs Brighton not city. The city game did have its share of injuries though. Pablo Mari was injured which allowed Luiz to make an appearance and then get sent off giving up two goals in the process. Xhaka was injured as well though didn’t miss as much time as Mari.
From the look of things there is really nothing to over think here. You must balance your books to stay in business. All arsenal fans are currently obsessed with Partey and Aouar. Those two players will cost us a hundred million pounds. Just pause and think about that. Where will that amount of money come from? Kroenke does not put his personal money in the team. So if we are not making it,we cannot spend it.
And that my friends is why we had to sell Emi and go for a back up goalie that is reportedly costing us just a 1.5m pounds. We are trying to raise funds and more players will be shifted. One of Ainsley or Hector will be sold. Kolasinac will be moved on. We all know Toreira is leaving for italy. If we did not have four injured central defenders, certainly we would have shifted at least three of them. You have to balance the books folks. Sad to see Emi leave. I love the guy. This is a well deserved send off. Eleven years as a back up goalie. The guy is an angel. I would not have been that patient. He is very good and his time has come to shine.