Lehmann blasts Arsenal pair Wenger & Almunia

zocoss

10 Apr 08, 20:04

Lehmann blasts Arsenal pair

ARSENAL outcast Jens Lehmann has launched a furious attack on Arsene Wenger and rival keeper Manuel Almunia. The German veteran has spent most of the season on the bench after losing his place to Almunia.

Lehmann, 38, has blasted the Spaniard for his late rise in football and has also hit out at Wenger for dropping him. He said: "I don't find it very funny being forced to sit on the bench for a man who didn't start playing until he was 30. I am very angry.

"I stayed to win the Champions League and I saw a good chance of being able to play. "The fact that I didn't made me extremely angry. "If the manager had told me before the season started what was going to happen, then I could have decided whether or not I wanted to sit on the bench."

weewee

10 Apr 08, 20:06

if he had played, things might be different.

Trump_Card

10 Apr 08, 20:07

Should have brought Lemon in for penalty , haiz ...

zocoss

10 Apr 08, 20:11

Got penalty shoot-out meh?

Trump_Card

10 Apr 08, 20:13

Originally posted by zocoss:

Got penalty shoot-out meh?

Gerrard's penalty

zocoss

10 Apr 08, 20:15

Oh take one...

zocoss

10 Apr 08, 20:17

Yeah this guy is good with penalty... Somehow he can unsettle the penalty taker with some of his little tricks...

stellazio

10 Apr 08, 20:33

But stevie Ghee penalty was rather unstoppable, right into the top corner of the net.

zocoss

10 Apr 08, 20:40

Well, maybe Lehmann could employ one of his mind tricks to unsettle Gerrard just before he took the penalty... These type of experience keeper know a little more than the young keepers... You saw how VDS unsettled Daniele De Rossi just before he took his penalty?

De Rossi, who had scored in Italy's World Cup final shoot out, made a complete mess of his spot kick, ballooning the ball high over Edwin van der Sar's goal to roll Z...

Lehmann is also good at this...

cApitaland

10 Apr 08, 20:46

you got a link of this video ? i wanna see.

zocoss

10 Apr 08, 21:36

Bitter Lehmann: 'I Could Have Kept Arsenal In Europe.

Lehmann, showing his finger to someone...

Jens Lehmann claims he could have prevented Arsenal from going out of the Champions League, if only he had been given a chance. The 38-year-old goalkeeper spoke of his anger at being consigned to the bench and attacked both manager Arsene Wenger and the man who is keeping him out of the side, Manuel Almunia, in an interview with Germany's Kicker magazine.

"I stayed here to win the Champions League and I saw good chances to play, but I have not had these (chances) and that makes me very angry," he said. The Germany number one was left to seething as he saw his European dream ended following the Gunners' 4-2 defeat at Liverpool in Tuesday's quarter-final second leg.

"For me personally, it is a tragedy, particularly since I did not have a chance to prevent it," he said. "I have had such thoughts (about being able to prevent defeats) ever since the coach took me out of the team following the 0-0 against Milan."

Lehmann turned down the chance to move to Borussia Dortmund during the winter break and pledged he would fight to regain his place in the Arsenal team. In doing so, he may have compromised his chances of remaining first choice for Germany at Euro 2008, and Lehmann cannot believe the gamble has not paid off, with Almunia still standing ahead of him in the Arsenal goal.

"To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny," he added. "I am very angry." Furthermore, Lehmann feels he has been treated badly by Wenger, claiming he has not been given a fair chance. He said: "If the coach had spoken to me before the start of the season then I would have been able to decide if I wanted to sit on the bench. "He has a different opinion and I don't really believe he can be happy with it."

But Lehmann does not feel he will be able to prove Wenger wrong by shining at Euro 2008 with Germany, claiming his manager would probably not even notice he is there. "If he has not seen it yet then he won't see it at the European Championships either if I perform well," said a bitter Lehmann.

felirox

10 Apr 08, 21:38

Yeah I do believe he could have prevented some goals. Lehmann is indeed way better than almunia only that lehmann is eccentric at times and also stupid.

redDUST

10 Apr 08, 23:13

with hindsight, lionel lewis could have kept arsenal in the CL.

easy for lehmann to talk since arsenal is out.

cApitaland

10 Apr 08, 23:16

i thought lionel lewis was sg goalie. har i abit blur now.

zocoss

10 Apr 08, 23:29

Originally posted by redDUST:

with hindsight, lionel lewis could have kept arsenal in the CL.

easy for lehmann to talk since arsenal is out.

Wait he show you his finger...

redDUST

10 Apr 08, 23:30

Originally posted by zocoss:

Wait he show you his finger...

if he keeps doing it, he'll bound to poke his own eyes for sure.

wului99

11 Apr 08, 00:43

Originally posted by redDUST:

if he keeps doing it, he'll bound to poke his own eyes for sure.

ya right

sexyfats

11 Apr 08, 01:48

I AGREE TOTALLY AGREE

lehmann won't fail you in a big match. small match ya he makes stupid nonsense, but in a big match he's world classedly rreliable

mortified

11 Apr 08, 10:19

stupid lehmann..that time can go off but wants to stay with arsenal..now complain like girl..

iceFatboy

11 Apr 08, 11:36

Originally posted by mortified:

stupid lehmann..that time can go off but wants to stay with arsenal..now complain like girl..

agree, the most basic a professional should have is respect for the boss & the team.

Soccer is still a team game. If you can't play within the team, and with your boss, you should go.

Credit to him, I do believe these comments are quoted out of context and I hope for his sake, it is.

Else, it is a great shame for him to even mention such things.

zocoss

12 Apr 08, 21:34

Almunia hit back at the latest round of verbals fired in his direction by Jens Lehmann, revealing the full extent of the rift between him and the German at Arsenal. Following a start to the season characterised by less than assured goalkeeping displays, Lehmann found himself usurped as Arsene Wenger's first choice between the posts at Emirates Stadium.

Almunia's form in his team-mate's absence has seen him justify his selection as the club's recognised number one, but an outspoken Lehmann has failed to concur - often on record - with his manager's decision. Lehmann's infamous spat on the international scene with Oliver Kahn has often made the headlines back in Germany, but this season his ire has been targeted a little closer to home; with Almunia regularly berated by his team-mate's candid comments.

This week Lehmann expressed his disdain at 'sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30', and while Almunia has in the past has maintained a dignified silence, it would his patience has now run thin. Almunia has spoke of his disappointment that Lehmann feels the need to so openly, and so regularly, voice his criticism.

"I'm an easy-going person," he said. "I like to treat everyone with respect and I see everyone as equals. I treat people the way I would like to be treated myself. "To have someone here who hates me is just amazing. I know he hates me.

"Every morning I wake up I know it is going to be the same. I've had to put up with it every day since he was out of the team and even before then. I wake up and I know what it is going to be like. "But I don't care about him any more. He can say what he likes. I come into training and I work with Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone. They are better goalkeepers than him anyway."

While Almunia admits he has often felt exasperated by the situation, he is not prepared to engage in any kind of talks with his 38-year-old colleague, as he feels reconciliation is not now an option. "It's his problem, not mine, and I don't see why I should try to talk to him about it. The truth is I don't want to talk to him. I came into training this morning and one of the press officers told me he had been saying bad things about me in the newspapers again. It didn't surprise me.

"The truth is I have got used to reading these things from him. If he was someone important to me, I would try to talk to him and see what the problem is. But he's not. So we don't talk. "I've never been in a situation like this before in my career. Normally we goalkeepers have so much respect for each other. "Why he doesn't respect me, I don't know. But I don't want any relationship with him. I try not to let what he says enter my mind because it's not important to me what he says or what he thinks"