Arsenal: Bernd Leno criticism merely filling a void

Arsenal pulled off a stellar 1-1 draw against Liverpool, but in the wake of needing something to criticize, Bernd Leno has been unfairly targeted.

Arsenal weren’t given a wink of a chance by many of the ‘experts’ out there when they faced down Liverpool, even at the Emirates. There were too many cracks in the foundation, as many of them put it, particularly in the defense.

And when Liverpool scored their first goal, it was clear who the commentators were singling out – Bernd Leno.

“And now he has still yet to keep a clean sheet since taking over,” they said, or something like that. As if Leno was solely culpable for the single goals that had eked past him over the past few matches.

Now granted, the Liverpool goal was largely his fault, but the subsequent criticism against Leno following the match, about whether Cech is destined to take the starting spot back, is all rather silly and hasty, wouldn’t you say?

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Go back and take a gander at all the stops that Leno made against Liverpool. That one-on-one save against Van Dijk, as well as the wide open header that the Dutchman had that Leno turned over the bar.

How about that rocketed effort Robertson took that was perfectly handled by Leno?

Three crucial saves that are so easily forgotten in the wake of one mistake, which can be classified as Leno trying too hard more than anything else.

Leno is not more at fault than anybody else. I mean that. His parried effort that found its way to Milner could well have fallen elsewhere. And yes, maybe he shouldn’t have come after that header that Van Dijk put off the post. But how has it happened that every ounce of positivity is scraped away after a mistake?

Leno is just fine. We are going to be just fine. I feel way more confident with him between the posts than I do with Petr Cech, who is just as capable of playing with a live duck at his feet than the ball. Don’t make a change, don’t alter the course, Leno is still learning and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The great thing about Unai Emery’s new era is that it’s showing remarkably quickly how players have learned from their mistakes. Mesut Ozil learned in just a week. Alexandre Lacazette learned in just a few. Leno is going to learn too. Don’t you worry about it. This is all just here because there is so little else to criticize.