Arsenal: Bernd Leno casually strolling into the line of fire and thriving

Arsenal have a stalwart in Bernd Len, but a quiet one. That is, until lately, as he’s started to sneak his way out into the line of fire.

Looks like I may have a new charge. My first was Olivier Giroud, then I took a brief detour for Joel Campbell, then Granit Xhaka. Next up looks like Bernd Leno. Because while some Arsenal fans and non-fans aren’t quite sold on him, I could not be more sold on him. And no, Gary Neville has done nothing to convince me otherwise.

Neville (and FIFA 20) don’t think that Leno is at the same level as some of the other top keepers in the Premier League, but I’m here to tell you that both of these entities are dead wrong. Not just that, but Leno has started to smack the badge on his heart in spite of it all.

Days after being called out by Neville, Leno issued a rallying cry that the only club in London is Arsenal. That’s it. And in case that wasn’t clear enough, he went ahead an elaborated that Spurs and Chelsea don’t count, despite, by Neville’s estimation, having superior keepers.

Guess who’s wrong here? Neville and EA Sports. Guess who’s right? Me and Bernie (that’s what I’m calling him now).

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You have to keep in mind that Leno has Wojciech Szczesnt syndrome and I’m awfully worried that he’s getting the same treatment from the same fans that wanted the Pole ousted from the club. Now that he’s at Juventus, he is quietly one of the best keepers in the world. He’s nearly the same keeper he was, he just has a more capable defense.

Leno saved us points last year. He saved us points the way that Petr Cech was supposed to (and never did). And yeah, he has some areas he can improve in. Naturally we weren’t happy with the failed gather that lead to Erisken’s goal in the North London Derby. But the amount of saves he made on either side of that were remarkable and remarkably unspoken of.

You want to tell me Kepa or De Gea doesn’t ever fail to gather a ball? Nah. It happens. And Leno’s issues will be magically solved when we get a defense that can handle their s*** better than what we have now.

Just remember: What Would Wojciech Do? Because that is what Bernie is doing these days. A capable keeper trapped behind an incapable defense. Not even De Gea could save United from an incapable defense, so yeah, I think it’s safe to put Leno in the same crowd as the Spaniard.