Arsenal: Bernd Leno deserves better than this cesspool

Bernd Leno looked like a work in progress at the start of the season, but with Arsenal collapsing around him, it’s clear he’s one of the only pillar on the team.

I said a lot of things after Wolverhampton that were woefully incorrect. I said that Arsenal are certainly past their upsets and ready to bounce back. I said that Granit Xhaka was going to get back to his best self. Both wrong, though the former was far more wrong than the latter.

I did, however, say that Bernd Leno was not a point of concern. And at least I can be right about something. Because while Bernd Leno was pretty awful against Wolves, he was the only reason we didn’t lose 7-0 to Leicester City. Maybe 10-0, I don’t know, I lost track after awhile.

Because I often do best using analogous stories, let’s do one here. I want to take you back to Leno Island, a location discovered earlier in the year, not far from the now-abandoned Szczesny island. On Leno Island, the German keeper was begging to be rescued, as he was so often isolated with nothing to do but watch goals go in the back of the net.

Leno Island still exists. But Leno has been so productive with his time there that he’s gone ahead and build a fortress on that island.

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The problem is that even the best stone fortresses will fall if there is no navy there to defend it. Just ask the Battle of Port Royal. Forts fall if you don’t defend them properly.

Bernd Leno was his own personal fortress against Leicester City, but against the swarming ships that were the Foxes and protected only by the porous rowboats outfitted by Arsenal defenders, there was nothing he could do to stop the siege.

Honestly, the man deserves better. He deserves so much better. And it’s scary how similar this is to the situation with Wojciech Szczesny. The keeper can only do so much.

Leno made so many saves against Leicester to keep the match within grasp. But as soon as he sent the ball away from his island, it was coming right back at him because his teammates could not keep hold of the ball and they couldn’t figure out what a counter attack was.

Give him a defense and Leno will win us things. But without a defense, he’s just as helpless as the next guy to make an actual difference.