Arsenal and Bernd Leno: Growing pains or critical flaws?

Bernd Leno made a few more positional and decision-making errors against Liverpool on Saturday. Are they growing pains or critical flaws for Arsenal’s new number one?

On Sunday 14th August 2011, Daniel Taylor of the Guardian — he is an excellent writer and journalist. This is no indictment on him — said this about David de Gea, ‘there has to be a case for Anders Lindegaard to take over, even as a temporary measure.’

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Sir Alex Ferguson, who had signed de Gea just seven weeks prior, defended his goalkeeper. He stated that the Spaniard was embarking on a ‘learning process’, recalling how Peter Schmeichel, perhaps the greatest goalkeeper of Manchester United’s history, struggled early on before adapting to English football.

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Seven years later and de Gea is roundly considered as the best goalkeeper in the country, if not the world. I, myself, have argued that de Gea is the best goalkeeper in the world for some time, even during the height of Manuel Neuer’s powers. As Ferguson so brilliantly predicted, these early moments of nervous and hesitation were growing pains, not critical flaws. De Gea learned from them, addressed his vulnerabilities, and improved as a result of them.

This brings me to Bernd Leno. Although six years older than de Gea was when United signed him for the second-highest fee for a goalkeeper at the time, Leno arrived at Arsenal with very similar expectations: to slowly but surely adapt to English football, acclimatise to life at the Emirates, and entrench himself as the long-term starter for several years. And like de Gea, Leno is struggling from the same early errors.

During Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool, he made two glaring errors, one of which he was punished for and the other he got away with. The first came just before half-time. From a freekick that was steered to the back post, Leno came careering 12 yards out of his goal, looking to punch clear. He was never going to reach the ball, clattered into Virgil van Dijk well after the Dutchman directed his header towards the goal. The ball collided with the post and Arsenal cleared, but Leno’s mistake was obvious.

His second mistake was punished emphatically. Akin to his counterpart on the night, Allison Becker, Leno parried a cross from the left side right into the heart of the penalty area. The ball fell perfectly to James Milner, who duly smashed a thumping finish into the bottom corner, past the stranded German shot-stopper.

These mistakes are nothing new for Leno. It was a slight on him when he first arrived, that he has a propensity to make stupid errors that lead directly to goals. But the crucial question, like with de Gea and Ferguson all those years ago, is whether these are fatal flaws that will forever undermine his efficacy or whether they are merely a part of the ‘learning process’, growing pains as he adapts to life in England?

For now, it is fair to assume the latter. Leno deserves the benefit of the doubt. But for how long can that be the case? Because for every David de Gea, there is a Manuel Almunia.