Bernd Leno has just finished training in strong swirling winds, the enemy, he says, of the goalkeeper.But a new enemy lurks in the wings, namely the notion, advanced by Mikel Arteta, that ’keepers should be rotated like any outfield player and even substituted during games. This is a philosophy that Fulham’s No 1 vehemently disagrees with. The Arsenal manager sparked intense debate after dropping Aaron Ramsdale for last Sunday’s game at Goodison and starting David Raya, signed this summer, instead.
  • @echoplex21English
    6•9 months ago

    I really enjoyed him at the club and I won’t have much ill will for him but are we all forgetting that this guy just refused to renew his contract ? I’m not sure how Arteta’s strategy will work. Maybe it’s a disaster or a huge success; maybe it’s his way of letting down Ramsdale easy. He has my trust to try things out.

    • @hangonasecondEnglish
      4•9 months ago

      Yeah - the article says that he claims he was told by the GK coach he had to leave the club, and it wasn’t about performance. The spin the article puts on it seems to be that there was a secret hidden agenda against Leno.

      Yes, it’s possible that Arteta and the club did it for the wrong reasons, but I’m inclined to believe it was driven by either (or worse, both of) his attitude and his playstyle. Again, don’t know if it’s just spin from the editor, but Leno calls out the substitution idea because a keeper isn’t in the flow of the game, but then goes on about how playing a second keeper outside the league is bad because players don’t build a relationship with the keeper.

      How the fuck is the second keeper meant to learn?

    • Never_Sm1leEnglish
      2•9 months ago

      Not to mention that happened after we show faith in him as 1st by selling Emi.

  • @AstrealixMEnglish
    2•9 months ago

    Yeah, hard doubt on that. If the GK coach actually told him that, and the way that it’s said in this article, it would have come out long before this. Definitely not at such a convenient time.

    Though if it is true, that’s extremely atrocious from Cana and I’d argue may be something worth sacking over.

    • @hangonasecondEnglish
      2•9 months ago

      I don’t think it’s atrocious. There are reasons other than performance for a player to be forced out, like attitude. I know we all probably got the same impression that Leno had a pretty good attitude, but as time passes and we see more articles like this, I’m starting to wonder if that’s true or if he was just quieter about his arrogance than e.g. Aubameyang.