Is Leno finally coming into his own or is it a case of not being tested?
Two games and two clean sheets for the Arsenal defence and for Bernd Leno seems like an achievement, right?
But as Arsenal fans we shouldn’t be happy that we have two clean sheets in a row, this should be the norm for us, where we are getting clean sheets week in week out.
However, I am pleased that we have got two clean sheets. Not only for the defence that has been chopped and changed more than my hair during this lockdown, but for Leno himself.
We need our defence to be full of confidence, but if that won’t always be the case then we need to be sure that we can rely on our goalkeeper to make the stops and keep us in the game when the going gets tough.
It has not been an easy season for our back line and goalkeeper, but what I like to see is consistency and that for Leno is beginning to happen it seems.
Yes, we have played against Sheffield United, a team that sits bottom of the Premier Leagu,e and barring a miracle from them and a demise from the teams above them, look likely to play their football in the Championship next season, but we also played against Slavia Prague, a strong team who have managed to see off the likes of Rangers and Leicester City in previous rounds of the Europa League.
So yes, it is safe to say Leno wasn’t really tested against Sheffield, but he was tested slightly against Prague yet the defence and Leno both stood firm, and that is the sort of confidence we need moving forward.
I say that now, then we will go and concede on the weekend, as is the nature of the beautiful game we call football.
But as I have said previously, if we concede so be it, as long as we manage to score enough at the other end to walk away with wins then what does it really matter?
Gooners?
Shenel Osman