Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno has spoken frankly of the Gunners’ recent struggles during an interview with Sky Germany.
Leno, who was preferred to Premier League clean sheet leader Emi Martinez between the sticks at the Emirates, has seen his side continually stumble in the league so far this term.
After being held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton yesterday evening, Arsenal sit 15th in the table, closer to the relegation zone than even the Europa League qualification places.
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Their season is falling apart before their eyes, with goalkeeper Bernd Leno now providing some insight into what is going wrong within the dressing room. He’s quoted by Sky Germany saying:
“It was definitely not bad luck, because it doesn’t happen with such regularity. The numbers speak for themselves that things haven’t been going well recently.”
“We deservedly lost a lot recently. We played 0-0 in Leeds, but that was a lucky point. We deservedly lost against Tottenham, against Wolverhampton as well, against Aston Villa even 3-0.”
“There were just too many poor results and disappointing performances. The attitude is bad, there is a lack of discipline, we don’t have confidence in that. Many factors are currently coming together. We have addressed this very clearly internally and everyone agrees that we have to change that very quickly.”
“The coach can do the least thing for us being in this situation. If you look at how we sometimes walked around on the pitch, then the only fault lies with the players. I have to say that honestly.”
“We get red cards, make mistakes, are disorganized. These are things that we have clearly addressed a thousand times. In the end, that’s a lack of focus among the players. The coach is not an issue in the dressing room, and there is no criticism of him.”
“We criticize ourselves and the players know that they are responsible. We actually have quality, but suddenly this break came. But nobody can attach it to just one person.”
It’s unclear whether Leno’s Arsenal teammates will be particularly happy about him speaking out in this manner, but it certainly needed to be said considering how dire they have been lately.
It’s difficult to argue with a word he says, and at the end of the day, he’s part of the side that’s underperforming too, which is something that he would no doubt acknowledge.
Mikel Arteta has an uphill task to turn things around for Arsenal, and with every negative result, it’s becoming increasingly clear that he might not be the man to do it.