Arsenal: David Seaman uses key word from Bernd Leno’s perspective

David Seaman stated that Bernd Leno must be ‘patient’ as he waits for his opportunity to start. From the new Arsenal signing’s perspective, it is the key word.

It hasn’t been the ideal start to life in north London for Bernd Leno. He was signed for approximately £20 million in the summer — it depends on the reports that you read and the clauses that are included — and most likely expected to start from day one, as he has done for seven consecutive seasons at Bayer Leverkusen since the age of 19.

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But four games into the Premier League season and Unai Emery has exclusively started Petr Cech between the sticks. Leno has been resigned to the bench, something that he has never had to do ever since he first broke into senior football. It is an unusual situation for him.

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However, four games is not a lot in football and there is still plenty of time for Leno to first win the starting job and then establish it as his own in the long term. He just needs to be patient and wait for his opportunity. That is precisely the advice from former Arsenal starting goalkeeper David Seaman, who, over the weekend, had this to say when asked about Leno’s struggles at this early point:

"“Just because he cost a lot of money does not mean he goes straight into the team. He has to be patient <…> This could be a learning curve for him. You have to be patient in football, I know, I had to be in the past when I was playing. Leno has to bide his time.”"

I have stated in the past that it is a little concerning that Leno isn’t starting. Reading between the lines a little, it does suggest that Emery has a very different evaluation of the German shot-stopper than Sven Mislintat did when he was initially signed. But that isn’t Leno’s fault.

From Leno’s perspective, he simply has to keep working hard in training, putting the pressure on Cech to perform well, and hope that he gets a chance to start soon, readying himself to play well when that chance does come. As Seaman states, it’s all about patience for Leno.

Emery may not believe that Leno is the player that Mislintat believes him to be. Or Emery may be taking it slowly with a player who has never played in the Premier League before. Or it may be that Cech has done more to impress Emery than Leno has at this point, which is a little surprising considering the struggles of the 36-year-old with Emery’s approach of playing out from the back.

Whatever the reason for Leno’s lack of playing time, they can all be answered by Leno being patient and ensuring that he is ready to take advantage of the opportunity if and when it comes. Patience is key.