After his German team were convincingly beaten 1-0 in the Euro 2008 final against Spain, you might expect the shot-stopper to have a little humility, heaping praise on his worth opponents. However, the Press Association reports that this isn’t the way that the former Arsenal goalkeeper rolls when it comes to speaking to the press. Check out these deluded comments:

Lehmann, who tried to speak to Rosetti after the final whistle, said: “He was very arrogant and in my opinion he was biased. He clearly saw a head-butt from a Spanish player towards Lukas Podolski, he didn’t book him or give him a red card.

“Just before the end we had a good chance in the penalty area and all of a sudden he gave a foul against us where even the Spanish players were surprised to get a free-kick. It was very disappointing.”

What about the fact that Spain battered you for most of the match and should have won 4-0 Jens? Do you really have to make yourself look silly with the above utterances? Maybe Podolski had a part to play in the headbutt incident too, after storming over to Silva like an angry bull.

Mind you, would we expect anything less than the above tripe from Mr Lehmann?

However, the Daily Mail report that the German number one, who will somehow feature for his country in the Euro 2008 final on Sunday, is still bitter about his difficult last season at the Emirates, laying the blame squarely at Wenger’s feet.

‘This achievement means a lot to me after a difficult season – but that difficult season was down to my manager.

‘Arsene and I had some discussions about that and I have told him what I think about his decision but I’m quite proud to represent Arsenal in the final.’

I can’t imagine the Frenchman will be losing too much sleep over Jens’ comments, while there must be plenty of Arsenal fans who would like to see Cesc Fabregas score the winning goal for Spain on Sunday, especially after the poor manner in which Lehmann has conducted himself over the past few months. Good riddance Gooners?

Sporting Life reports that the Arsenal keeper continues to speak out against the many injustices which are clearly stopping him being the greatest shot-stopper the world has ever seen.

He told Kicker magazine: “The ball is very difficult for me. I only trained with it for the first time a week ago. It is once again different to the ones before it.

“I had a situation in the first half (against Belarus) where I wanted to hold on to the ball – and then it started to move around.

“I hope in the coming days, when also my freshness will come back, that I then have a bit of time for a lot of shot training in order to get more familiar with the ball.”

How can the ball be that different to the ones used previously? It’s round, the same size and surely roughly the same weight? It might be perfectly plausible to cite a lack of first team action as a justification for a rusty performance but not a match ball. Arsenal fans will be all-too aware of Jens trying to hold on to the ball and seeing it move around!

The official Arsenal website reports that Lehmann isn’t bitted and twisted at being left on the sidelines this season and actually got quite emotional on Sunday after his final match at the Emirates. Bless his cotton socks…

“I had one or two tears in my eyes,” he said afterwards. “It was a great farewell for me. This farewell will always stay in my heart.

“The boss told me before that he planned to get me on. It was a very warm welcome on the pitch and I was very fortunate because the team didn’t let me down before, just in case it had been 3-0 or 2-0 for Everton, it would have been a different reception.”

“It was the right decision from the start to the end, to come here,” he said. “Not only in terms of football but as well for my family. My children now are talking, are speaking better English than German, and they don’t want to go back.

“My wife and myself, we learnt the language quite well and we learnt about another way of life. A very respectful, very kind way and that’s a little bit different to Germany. There are a lot of similarities between English and German people but there are some differences as well.

“As for the football I was part of a team which was playing probably the most attractive game. It was really good.

“In the first two years we won something, unfortunately in the third year we were very close to winning the Champions League, but failed in the end.

“My biggest memory was probably the Real Madrid game at home, when we played 0-0. Then of course the FA Cup Final and then there was the game we became champions at Tottenham.

“I was together with Sol Campbell we were the only players who felt disappointed in the dressing-room because we didn’t know we were champions by this time. We had conceded a goal just at the end and it finished 2-2. That was a very, very emotional moment for me.

“But, I said before, there are more memories than only just playing, there is the reception of the supporters. The respectful kindness of the supporters.”

It’s probably fair to say that Lehmann and Manuel Almunia won’t be staying in touch after this season has finished. The latter recently went on record as stating that his predecessor ‘hates’ him, something which Jens immediately denied.

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Nevertheless, The Guardian reports that the German cat has denied that he hates anyone, apart from Chris Moyles and Sharon Osbourne (understandable in both cases, COS thinks). The big cuddly bear that is Jens reveals he had a little chuckle when he read Manuel’s comments.

“I do not hate anybody in the world,” said Lehmann. “I saw Almunia’s comments and they made me laugh more than anything else. I was just disappointed that I could not have prevented the defeat at Manchester United.”

Yes, it must be really funny sitting down at the breakfast table, tucking into some cold meats and cheese only to read that your team-mate suspects you hate them. Here at COS, we’re disappointed that Lehmann is leaving England in the summer as he’s provided us with plenty of entertainment. However, it’s safe to say that these sentiments won’t be shared by the majority of the Arsenal squad.

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“I keep telling him to sign it quick, because we need him, but he is concentrating on football at the moment. We are still going for two titles, so right now everything else is not so important. Of course he wants to know where he will be next season, but we all hope he will be with us.”

Cesc’s excuse for Flamini, that “he is concentrating on football at the moment” – doesn’t look so solid when you glance over to Spanish goal-post prancer Manuel Almunia, and see that he has just signed until 2012…

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“They (Spain) have never, never called me,” said Almunia. “If other people want me, I have to study my situation and take a decision because it is good for me – I will not close myself to anything.

“I always say I have to wait to see what is happening at that moment, or which goalkeeper England has, or which goalkeeper Spain has, look at the situation and take a decision,” said the Pamplona-born keeper.

“It would be a big decision but I wouldn’t care if I had two days to take it.”

Goalkeeping has been one of England’s biggest problem areas in recent years. Tottenham’s Paul Robinson has proved largely unconvincing for the national team, David James has been dismissed as too erratic, while Scott Carson had a match to forget against Croatia.

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