GoonerGurjit
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WENGER: LEHMANN IS BUY OF THE YEAR
By John Cross
ARSENAL boss Arsène Wenger last night hailed German keeper Jens Lehmann as one of his greatest signings.
Wenger was faced with a daunting task of having to replace Highbury legend David Seaman on a shoestring budget, as Arsenal's finances were stretched to the limit by their new £400million Ashburton Grove stadium project.
But Lehmann, 33, has proved to be an inspirational Wenger signing after joining Arsenal for a bargain £1.5m from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
German international Lehmann has played a major part in Arsenal's unbeaten Premiership start and his stop from Kevin Nolan at Bolton last Saturday will go down as one of the saves of the season.
Wenger is now convinced Lehmann can go on to prove himself as one of the best signings in the Premiership this season - even though he is up against all of Chelsea and Manchester United's multi-million pound purchases.
Credit
"I respect him a lot because he's a 100 per cent winner," said Wenger. "He comes in every day and gives 100 per cent and every day he wants to improve.
"He has similarities to David Seaman in that he is very strong mentally, but it was very difficult to replace someone like David and Jens has done very well. He deserves huge credit for different reasons. He had to replace David Seaman. I looked at a lot of keepers and thought that would be too much for a young keeper.
"Secondly, he has been remarkably consistent in the Premiership. He has had one or two difficult games in the Champions League, but has come back very quickly and turned the corner."
It was still a gamble for Wenger as Lehmann had endured a nightmare at AC Milan and had been branded a failure as he was dumped by the Italian giants after just five games.
Lehmann was also regarded as a hot-head because of his appalling disciplinary record and he had fallen out of favour at Dortmund because his big-mouth outbursts had earned him a reputation as a troublemaker.
But Wenger believed such problems would only help inspire Lehmann, who is battling with Bayern Munich legend Oliver Kahn to be Germany's number one at the Euro 2004 finals.
Lehmann has also become popular with his new team-mates after making an emotional speech following the Gunners' 5-1 win at Inter Milan last month when, despite being part of Germany's World Cup squad last year, insisted he had never known a team spirit as strong as Arsenal's.
Wenger said: "When I first spoke to Jens I knew he had ambition. He had a bad experience and is a very proud guy who wanted to go again and came here to win trophies.
"I regarded him as someone who was coming here for their best years. He's 33, older now and wiser so maybe that explains his temperament. He is calm but when he says something the players take notice because he has their respect.
"It was a special moment when Jens got up and spoke in the dressing room. He realises there is a special spirit here."
Lehmann faces bottom-of-the-table Wolves today as Arsenal look to extend their winning run and also try to reclaim top spot in the three-way title battle with Manchester United and Chelsea.
And Wenger last night taunted Chelsea by insisting Arsenal can win the Premiership title without spending another penny in the transfer market.
"I have got a player in mind but I don't think it will be this season and so I'm not in the market" added Wenger.
Source: The Mirror
Interesting last paragraph but Wenger says something different each week.
By John Cross
ARSENAL boss Arsène Wenger last night hailed German keeper Jens Lehmann as one of his greatest signings.
Wenger was faced with a daunting task of having to replace Highbury legend David Seaman on a shoestring budget, as Arsenal's finances were stretched to the limit by their new £400million Ashburton Grove stadium project.
But Lehmann, 33, has proved to be an inspirational Wenger signing after joining Arsenal for a bargain £1.5m from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
German international Lehmann has played a major part in Arsenal's unbeaten Premiership start and his stop from Kevin Nolan at Bolton last Saturday will go down as one of the saves of the season.
Wenger is now convinced Lehmann can go on to prove himself as one of the best signings in the Premiership this season - even though he is up against all of Chelsea and Manchester United's multi-million pound purchases.
Credit
"I respect him a lot because he's a 100 per cent winner," said Wenger. "He comes in every day and gives 100 per cent and every day he wants to improve.
"He has similarities to David Seaman in that he is very strong mentally, but it was very difficult to replace someone like David and Jens has done very well. He deserves huge credit for different reasons. He had to replace David Seaman. I looked at a lot of keepers and thought that would be too much for a young keeper.
"Secondly, he has been remarkably consistent in the Premiership. He has had one or two difficult games in the Champions League, but has come back very quickly and turned the corner."
It was still a gamble for Wenger as Lehmann had endured a nightmare at AC Milan and had been branded a failure as he was dumped by the Italian giants after just five games.
Lehmann was also regarded as a hot-head because of his appalling disciplinary record and he had fallen out of favour at Dortmund because his big-mouth outbursts had earned him a reputation as a troublemaker.
But Wenger believed such problems would only help inspire Lehmann, who is battling with Bayern Munich legend Oliver Kahn to be Germany's number one at the Euro 2004 finals.
Lehmann has also become popular with his new team-mates after making an emotional speech following the Gunners' 5-1 win at Inter Milan last month when, despite being part of Germany's World Cup squad last year, insisted he had never known a team spirit as strong as Arsenal's.
Wenger said: "When I first spoke to Jens I knew he had ambition. He had a bad experience and is a very proud guy who wanted to go again and came here to win trophies.
"I regarded him as someone who was coming here for their best years. He's 33, older now and wiser so maybe that explains his temperament. He is calm but when he says something the players take notice because he has their respect.
"It was a special moment when Jens got up and spoke in the dressing room. He realises there is a special spirit here."
Lehmann faces bottom-of-the-table Wolves today as Arsenal look to extend their winning run and also try to reclaim top spot in the three-way title battle with Manchester United and Chelsea.
And Wenger last night taunted Chelsea by insisting Arsenal can win the Premiership title without spending another penny in the transfer market.
"I have got a player in mind but I don't think it will be this season and so I'm not in the market" added Wenger.
Source: The Mirror
Interesting last paragraph but Wenger says something different each week.
ops: I was thinking he was kind who yells at his defenders when they do something wrong 
