Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has been the subject of some controversy amongst his old fans recently, and he has now added more fuel to the fire.
The German was a legendary goalkeeper for the Gunners, as the shot-stopper for the Arsenal Invincibles side which won the Premier League title undefeated.
However, in recent weeks he has trademarked the term “Invincibles” in a surprise move, preventing Arsenal from using it, whilst he has also criticised Mikel Arteta’s decision to bring in David Raya to replace Aaron Ramsdale in goal.
Lehmann has now criticised Arteta again, and has explained why Arsenal’s failure to beat Manchester City to the title in the last two seasons gives him doubts over whether the popular Spaniard is the right manager to lead this side.
Jens Lehmann criticises Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
Speaking in an interview with The Telegraph, Lehmann claimed that Arteta may not be at the level to get Arsenal over the line when it comes to trophies, whilst also slamming managers like him who use very detailed tactical plans.
“When you are a theoretical coach and you have never played you think you need to manage the game. That’s what a lot of coaches make the audience believe. ‘Yeah we had a game plan, then we made tactical changes and so on’. I can see it is not true. I see they are talking about something which did not actually happen on the pitch, and had nothing to do with the outcome,” Lehmann stated.
“Arteta has done really well bringing Arsenal up but if he is the right man for Arsenal now … I am not sure. Because you need to prove it. We could have won [the league] twice. Last year they were leading and in one month [April] they lost it [three draws and one defeat]. The culmination was when [Bukayo] Saka missed the penalty against West Ham at 2-0 up and it was a draw. It was two points.
“What people who hire coaches sometimes don’t understand is that the personality of the coach is super important as well. Look at the personality of the coach. Is he a winner or is he a nice guy who brings you to a certain level and then it is over?”
Jens Lehmann has not given Mikel Arteta enough credit for Arsenal turnaround
Criticising Arteta for not winning the league this season is unfair, given how close Arsenal were to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City machine.
Arsenal won 16 of their last 18 games, with the one defeat coming against Aston Villa in April. This was a game which saw Arsenal’s attackers miss several clear-cut chances in the first half, which could have secured the win early on before fatigue kicked in.
Arteta is not one to shy away from accountability when his team loses, and given where Arsenal were when he took over from Unai Emery, Arteta simply deserves more credit for the way he has built a title-challenging squad at the club.