Bernd Leno: Chosen One

[Maybe]

He went for risky crosses yesterday when he realized our CB's struggle with them, but AM masterminds instead of praising him that he actually saw the problem and reacted to it, they only attack him for not dealing with it properly.

 

[krackpot]

He needs to batter Dani there, hold the ball at all costs not try to kind of not hurt Dani by falling over him carefully. Players will learn to get out of the way as will the opposition. Leno is so soft man he does this all the time. Needs to grab the ball and take out whatever is in front of him, then opposition will stop hassling him.

It was a horrifying fall though. Could have wiped out both the players for months.

I prefer a lost match to losing him for months.

 

[Riou]

He needs to batter Dani there, hold the ball at all costs not try to kind of not hurt Dani by falling over him carefully. Players will learn to get out of the way as will the opposition. Leno is so soft man he does this all the time. Needs to grab the ball and take out whatever is in front of him, then opposition will stop hassling him.

I remember when I was like 10, playing football with my older cousin (he was a goalkeeper for his work's team) he always told me that if I was in nets, to always put a knee up when jumping to collect a ball...protect yourself and hurt your opponent was his motto.

I asked him what if a teammate is in the way, he said... "Both knees up in that case, they should know better than to be in your way"

 

[krackpot]

A-M wants Leno to murder his own teammate to get a ball.

FFS! This is football, not rugby.

 

[moloso]

Limitations on show yesterday - he's a good keeper but he is weak on crosses and high balls and will cost us goals, just got to hope he can improve through the season. Martinez may have not been the answer but his strengths and form at the end of last season have given a reminder of what an actual top class keeper brings to a team and for me, Leno is not that, at least not yet. 200 top level games but has he ever caught a cross or even gone up convincingly enough to get bailed out by a refs whistle?

 

[tap-in]

I'm not going to be too harsh on Leno because there's no point but his handling is an issue, not just the awful fall but his punching etc. He never does any of it well. Anyway, Martinez is no longer here so I'm not going to harp on about it any more.

 

[DanDare]

He went for risky crosses yesterday when he realized our CB's struggle with them, but AM masterminds instead of praising him that he actually saw the problem and reacted to it, they only attack him for not dealing with it properly.

Ok t

A-M wants Leno to murder his own teammate to get a ball.

FFS! This is football, not rugby.

I think that was a freak thing (although it wouldn't happen to all goalkeepers). It was his general demeanour and dealing with other situations that were concerning. Hopefully he get better with more game time

 

[razörist]

I remember when I was like 10, playing football with my older cousin (he was a goalkeeper for his work's team) he always told me that if I was in nets, to always put a knee up when jumping to collect a ball...protect yourself and hurt your opponent was his motto.

I asked him what if a teammate is in the way, he said... "Both knees up in that case, they should know better than to be in your way"

It’s like that for real, you can find all great keepers say things like that, for a keeper it should be ball first, everything else second.

 

[Mo Britain]

It is rare for a keeper to have a strong challenger at the Arsenal. The rivalry between Lehmann and Almunia was mostly in Lehmann's suspicious mind - he was the no. 1. There was a while when it wasn't clear who was better (or worse) Almunia or Fabianski.

By selling Martinez the club has given Leno a clear message - you are the undisputed no. 1. Hopefully he will be professional enough not to become complacent, but it is a blunder. For a player to know he will play if fit, regardless of form or anything else, is never a good thing.

 

[SA Gunner]

For the club to sell Martinez was more an indicator of Martinez's ambition, than the club trying to reassure an presumably insecure Leno.

None of that in my opinion. I think the situation is straightforward, Martinez wanted the number one spot or guarantees to that effect and Arteta couldnt give those guarantees. Martinez then decided to go and be the number one elsewhere and was sold.

Ideally, Arsenal would have kept Martinez and had them fight out for the number one spot. Why Arteta couldnt communicate that and get that commitment from the player is what I would ask.

 

[drippin]

For the club to sell Martinez was more an indicator of Martinez's ambition, than the club trying to reassure an presumably insecure Leno.

None of that in my opinion. I think the situation is straightforward, Martinez wanted the number one spot or guarantees to that effect and Arteta couldnt give those guarantees. Martinez then decided to go and be the number one elsewhere and was sold.

Ideally, Arsenal would have kept Martinez and had them fight out for the number one spot. Why Arteta couldnt get that commitment from the player is what I would ask.

Yeah. I think Martinez couldn't risk being benched if he made one mistake, which could happen to anyone. And Leno is pretty solid.

He'd be stuck for a year again. Also couldn't risk signing a new contract and be stuck here, and Arsenal needed that renewal with him having 2 years in contract.

 

[Macho]

Ideally, Arsenal would have kept Martinez and had them fight out for the number one spot. Why Arteta couldnt get that commitment from the player is what I would ask.

Emi done his time and waited 11 years. Played his way into finding suitors and he did the right thing.

The sale wasn’t to offer Leno reassurances, Arteta confirmed he wanted the two to battle it out and Emi didn’t want it. Plus, he only had 2 years remaining on his contract so Arsenal were correct in trying to extend before he started messing us about next summer.

Club handled the GK situation well and were faultless, we got the best out come.

 

[SA Gunner]

Let me be clear here, Leno is a good keeper and will get back to good form and confidence because he has the potential.

Based on Martinez's final weeks with us he was superior than Leno overall. Better in the air, better at distribution, better at communication with the defense, more composed and matched Leno's agility in front of goal.

This is not some fanboy club nonsense, and all the excuses that come with that (no crowds, temporary patch, etc). Martinez's performances spoke for themselves and they were excellent.

Leno has work to do because we now have new demands for what a keeper should be doing.

 

[SA Gunner]

Emi done his time and waited 11 years. Played his way into finding suitors and he did the right thing.

The sale wasn’t to offer Leno reassurances, Arteta confirmed he wanted the two to battle it out and Emi didn’t want it. Plus, he only had 2 years remaining on his contract so Arsenal were correct in trying to extend before he started messing us about next summer.

Club handled the GK situation well and were faultless, we got the best out come.

How are you so sure? Were you in the room with Arteta and Martinez, a fly on the wall perhaps?

Take your fanboy nonsense and put it in the bin lad... we deal with what is in front of us and what is likely the drivers for decision making. Martinez recently was given a national call up, based on his last performances with us.

That should give you a clue as to what his performances meant, tangible evidence not guesswork or what suits your partisan agenda. Look with your eyes and evaluate what you see, not what you feel.

 

[Big Poppa]

For the club to sell Martinez was more an indicator of Martinez's ambition, than the club trying to reassure an presumably insecure Leno.

None of that in my opinion. I think the situation is straightforward, Martinez wanted the number one spot or guarantees to that effect and Arteta couldnt give those guarantees. Martinez then decided to go and be the number one elsewhere and was sold.

Ideally, Arsenal would have kept Martinez and had them fight out for the number one spot. Why Arteta couldnt get that commitment from the player is what I would ask.

Sounded like Martinez only asked about his position here once Villa made their move. It’s clear the response of ‘its up for grabs‘ didn’t reflect his opinion (which I agree) that he deserves to start the season as first choice.

I hardly think he’d expect to be guaranteed first choice forever. Just needed reassurance, the same way Xhaka got reassurance in January, that it was important to us to keep him and he’d have an equal chance of fulfilling his ambitions here.

I suspect someone saw the chance to get some cash in the door though and thought f it.

 

[Jury]

Note to Leno- deal with crosses, command your box. He made a couple of decent saves but he doesn't fill me with confidence. I hope he gets better.

He tracks the flight of a cross but doesn’t seem to identify a clear route to where he needs to be to attack the ball. These are decisions that have to made in milliseconds and you can only do it with calm and confidence, otherwise you’re guessing. We’ve seen him guess lots of times.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

He tracks the flight of a cross but doesn’t seem to identify a clear route to where he needs to be to attack the ball. These are decisions that have to made in milliseconds and you can only do it with calm and confidence, otherwise you’re guessing. We’ve seen him guess lots of times.

Maybe he doubts his ability to claim the ball cleanly. I don't know. I think he needs to beef up a bit. If old man Cech can do it, so can he. No point being nimble without being physical as well.

 

[Jury]

All said, he’s still a very good keeper in a lot of situations and a lot of people will have no problems with him—it’s just a personal preference for me that a keeper has the presence to make up the minds of others around him.

 

[Jury]

Maybe he doubts his ability to claim the ball cleanly. I don't know. I think he needs to beef up a bit. If old man Cech can do it, so can he. No point being nimble without being physical as well.

Coming for crosses that are out of your zone is where a keeper is most exposed, so if you have the slightest doubt or insecurity, it can look calamitous. Like being great in the office but falling apart when you have to speak to a large crowd. I’d rather have a world class bullshitter in a lot of circumstances

 

[Macho]

How are you so sure? Were you in the room with Arteta and Martinez, a fly on the wall perhaps?

Take your fanboy nonsense and put it in the bin lad... we deal with what is in front of us and what is likely the drivers for decision making. Martinez recently was given a national call up, based on his last performances with us.

That should give you a clue as to what his performances meant, tangible evidence not guesswork or what suits your partisan agenda. Look with your eyes and evaluate what you see, not what you feel.

Sigh...I forgot you was a weirdo.

Here, there you go - from the horses mouth. Actual quotes, no guess work or agenda I didn't make up what I said.

https://www.arsenal.com/news/arteta-west-ham-willian-signings-transcript

on what convinced him that Bernd was the long-term option...
I was very clear with both of them that it wasn't a #1 and a #2 and that they had to compete for the place like any other position in the team. To be fair, Bernd was superb before he got injured at Brighton and Emi was absolutely excellent with all of the games that he played and how much he helped us as well with winning the trophies. But at the end of the day, that created a big competition, some big expectations from both of them and we had to deal with that. We were really open, trying to have those discussions and at the end, Emi had a really good offer, really well-suited to what he wants to achieve long-term and short-term and we allowed him to leave the club.

As I rightfully said, Arteta ideally wanted them both to compete, Emi walked away, and we got a fair bit of money from the situation. Deal with it.

Try to engage your brain and not be all in your feelings when discussing players on a forum.