Bernd Leno believes Arsenal are closing the gap on Manchester City despite losing 1-0 to Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad.
Having got the better of Pep Guardiola’s side in the FA Cup semi-final in July, Mikel Arteta had high hopes of outfoxing his former boss once again.
While the Gunners were far from outplayed, Raheem Sterling’s first half strike was enough to secure the points on an evening of few chances.
After the game, Leno blamed a failure to produce quality in the final third.
Speaking to Arsenal.com, he said: “I think on the one hand we’re disappointed, but on the other we played a good game and we competed against City and at the end you can see that the gap was very small.
“It was very tactical with a lot of passes and it was very interesting for people who are interested in tactics.
“At the end you could see that everybody wanted to win the game and then it doesn’t matter how, whether it’s from tactics or set-pieces, and unfortunately we lost the game.
He added: “I think we missed a little bit of the lucky punch. We tried at the end with set-pieces and crosses, but like you said, we couldn’t finish the action.
“It was our only main problem in the end because I think we were better in the game in the second half and we controlled the game, but maybe a good chance was missing.”
Having been in goal when the Gunners lost 3-0 at the Etihad in the first game after lockdown restrictions eased, Leno says he sees an improvement in his teammates.
“I think when you compare the first game after the lockdown how we played here and lost 3-0 without any chances and how we played today, there’s a big, big difference,” he said.
“We are on the right way and today we lost this game, but next week we have to win and be confident in our play like this.”
He’s a really unconvincing goalkeeper.
Just the opposite to me. Plus cool and intelligent.
I’M sorry but LENO was at fault for that goal. This is not the first time he has done this parry the ball back into play anf NOT 4VEN MAKE THE EFORRT TO DIVE for the 2nd shot. we’re starting to see this cracks in his game that’s been there before but we overlook them because our defense had been poor up to this point and he makes the odd 1 or 2 saves during he game but honestly let’s be rrlw Martinez was a better GK when we bought Leno Martinez had never been given a long run in… Read more »
Fully agree. The key thing here is to:
1) not make the mistake of touching the ball til it hits the back of the net
2) scream at the defenders for getting turned and allowing a clean shot from closer than the penalty spot.
Source: I was a youth goalie who was very close to EPL grade but for injuries, and lack of talent. And also slight shortage of common sense.
Calm down, Bro.
You’re spot on about not diving for the second shot. If anyone rewatches the goal and then defends what Leno does after his (tame) push then you’re having a laugh. He sits there and watches Sterling do what he likes. That’s weak and lacks urgency. I also agree his push is poor, especially because he wasn’t even trying to catch the ball, but the bigger issues is his lack of attempt on the follow up.
Sorry mate, have to disagree about ‘sitting and watching Sterling score’. If you look at it again he slips on the 6 yard line as he pushes off and therefore can’t get across. Granted he should’ve pushed the ball away towards the corner flag so at fault there, but on another day it falls to one of our defenders who clears it.
If Martinez was a better keeper than Leno then he’d have been given his chance before Leno got injured….
I’ve seen and he does struggle for traction yes, but then he stops and ball watches. He should be going all out to dive across. One tiny loss of traction isn’t enough just to ball watch. Martinez got his chance and took it with two hands. But we made our choice. And Martinez continues to excel. Leno continues to be a good goalie. Just not a great goalie.
How ironic that it was his unlucky punch that gifted the opposition a goal. I don’t want to go there, but I will. Emi used to hold onto the ball, not parry it straight back into the 6 yard box.
Said it to my son straightaway Did it at Anfield and again today.Not bloody good enough Leno.
Yep hes not good enuf for a team aiming for top 4
Ok shot stopper nothing amazing but does not command his area or catch at all well enoufh to be classed as top class
We missed a trick with szcenwy and now with martinez
Emi was great but lost a fair bit of 1on1s
Problem with Emi that he largely compensates by being an exceptional shot stopper is his distribution. There were games where he kicked the ball outside the field many times.
Rewatch the goal, no keeper is catching that. It was hit at pace from close range, and it was going across Leno. If anyone is at fault for the goal, it’s Bellerin.
Yep, well said.
Yesterday, like this season so far, has been the inability of our midfield to create chances for our forwards. The defence is actually looking more composed these days.
That said, Holding has picked up yet another injury and Mustafi is waiting in the wings. Not good……
`Sure, but watch Emi’s saves from last season. I reckon there were at least 5 that I literally thought “no GK is holding that…” yet Emi did, and he kept doing. Leno is a very good GK, but I think we let a great goal keeper go.
I watched the highlights of the 5-5 against Liverpool in advance of the game this season. I advise you to look at Emi’s attempts to save the last 2 goals of the game.
ah, cherry-picking? Maybe watch his highlights from his stint after Leno injury. Basically flawless. Form he continues to show with Villa. Or shall we get into a debate of reciting all Leno’s errors too.
Here we are discussing his errors associated with the Man City goal. It’s funny that the common opinion here is that if you think he made (an) error(s) on that goal then your are simply bias against him. But it seems there may be a little bias towards him by trying to say he could simply not do any better on the goal.
Not from me. I do think he should’ve done better. However, you keep on bringing up Martinez in comparison. It’s based on hyperbole, on the notion that Martinez is so good he wouldn’t make that mistake. My point is that he is not perfect, so maybe he wouldn’t, but maybe he’d not make one of the saves Leno did. Maybe he is better (if I’m honest, I think he might be) but the decision to sell Martinez was made on the basis that: a) he wanted to be guaranteed 1st choice b) he saw an opportunity to earn more than… Read more »
TBF, I brought Emi into the above discussion when it was referred to that no keeper could catch that shot (to which I disagree – some might – just to say none would is totally subjective opinion). Would Emi have held it?…IDK…but his handling was absolutely one of his strengths and the way I brought him in was thinking at least 5 times last year that, there is no keeping holding that shot that Emi just held. It was impressive. I’ve said many times I think Leno is good to very good, but he has weaknesses and I think his… Read more »
That’s absolutely crazy. It was a point plank shot. There is no chance any keeper holds onto that
Leno was at least 9-10 yards from the shot. That isn’t point blank. And it wasn’t even that strong or well placed.
No keeper was catching that. This is literally just the all ills are fixed by insert Arsenal player of your choice – Ozil, Campbell, le Coq etc argument. If trans truly rated Martinez the way you do, we would have seen top clubs that need a keeper like Chelsea in for him. Add in that Arteta wasn’t willing to just hand him the number 1 and Martinez wasn’t willing to fight for it – that tells you even Martinez doesn’t think he’s clearly better than Leno
I disagree that no keeper is catching that. I’ve watched it a lot now and it isn’t anywhere near as hard as you are making it out to be. On the rest I guess we’ll see. I just think we need better than pretty good and from what I saw, Emi was better than pretty good.
p.s. Martinez MOTM vs Leicester 0-1 away… just saying.
Emi didn’t think he was good enough to be the number 1 and chose to leave rather than fight for it. Spending the entire year claiming “Emi would have saved it” or “Ozil would have had 6 assists” or “If only we still had Joel” isn’t particularly productive, particularly when you’re just looking for any reason to blame Leno to support that view.
I’m not looking for any reason. Like I’ve said I think Leno is good. I even praised him when he had a good game. But he wasn’t good enough on that goal against City and I didn’t just come up with the opinion today that Martinez is better than Leno. I thought that last year. But what your doing is just defending Leno at all costs, without critiquing his mistakes. He was poor on the goal.
I strongly disagree on that. It was a ball with pace from a close distance going away from him. That’s not remotely a mistake in most people’s eyes – you’re very much in the minority on this. Just look at the votes on here to confirm that
Sorry just because a few more people are ticking a thumb on a blog doesn’t change something I’ve watched many many times. 9-10 yards is NOT point blank range. It’s just not. Watch it again and contest that part. You can measure it with the mown grass.
It’s a solid shot, but not a bullet by any stretch, you can even see Leno adjust his hands during the shot, but he is always thining divert and not catch. Nor is his reaction after his push good enough, it’s poor and lacking urgency.
You’re more than welcome to your opinion. However it’s one that not many people who have watched the goal / game agree with.
Usa voted in trump, and Britain boris… Majority doesn’t mean something is right. I mean I’m challenging you here with data – you can see how far the shot is away by using the cut off the grass. The 6 yard box is mown one way and foden takes the shot from the next mown section = 12 yards. Leno is 4 yards of his line. 8 yards not accounting for angle, account for angle is at least 9-10 yards. That’s not point blank… Well unless trump tells us it is… But hey majority rules…
Dude let it go. Almost any non Emi fan would tell you no keeper was catching that. This has literally nothing to do with data or politics. You have a subjective opinion based on no facts (Emi is much better than Leno and Leno should have caught that ball). Most people disagree. Move on
lol Daveo, resorting to politics for cheap likes.
Well, just letting the bloke who knows he’s right and everyone else is wrong run things, gets you Stalin, Hitler or Pol Pot.
Not really an improvement.
As the saying goes; “Democracy is the worst way of appointing a government, apart from all the others.”.
The arrogance of this. He’s not scapegoating Leno – he’s observing what was patently sloppy goalkeeping. For the record, I think Leno is one of our better players but he has several weaknesses and handling is one of them. Also, perhaps Martínez left because he wanted guaranteed first team football in the prime of his career?!
well made, it’s weird how this has become so divided. I do think Leno is good and praised his performance against West Ham, but he was poor here and made 2 clear mistakes in one goal. And by saying that I’m now associated with Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot…wow!
The arrogance of this. He’s not scapegoating Leno – he’s observing what was patently sloppy goalkeeping. For the record, I think Leno is one of our better players but he has several weaknesses and is handling is one of them. Also, perhaps Martínez left because he wanted guaranteed first team football in the prime of his career?!
Emi left a big club for a small one as he would be a guaranteed starter at a small club vs. having to fight for his spot here. That’s fine but doesn’t exactly fit with the whole idea some fans have of Emi being a superior keeper to Leno. As to whether it was sloppy goalkeeping from Leno – the vast majority of people do not agree with your view of that. Not really sure where the arrogance is in stating that, but to each his own.
It’s well documented that Martínez spent years on the sidelines. It’s conceivable he’d take at least a short-term step down for the sake of regular games… it would certainly benefit his ambitions to play for Argentina. I’m not necessarily saying he’s a superior goalkeeper to Leno but I don’t think his departure is definitive proof that he’s inferior. Leno’s probably the better instinctive shot stopper but he’s also a touch frail in big moments and error-prone… https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/1211312896346644481 The arrogance I’m referring to is the implication that those criticising Leno are doing so out of misguided, puerile anger at the result… Read more »
If you want to start talking stats the let’s actually look at stats – not just some random twitter post. Leno last year faced among the highest shots in the league last year at an average of 5 per game and had the 3rd highest save % (at roughly 76%). He conceded 39 goals vs. and expected goal total of 47.37. This speaks to how truly impressive of keeper he was last year, and to how truly awful the defense was in front of him virtually the entire year. DaveO & many others started with a conclusion that Emi is… Read more »
A random twitter post with actual stats, you mean?! Again, I’m not saying Leno is an inferior keeper; I’m saying that he’s a bit error prone…
A random twitter post that doesn’t remotely define what errors are, etc. It’s effectively meaningless without anymore info
Its not his shot stopping thats the problem, its every other part of his game, catching, kicking, playing from the back, commanding the box on set pieces, hes average at best
I think the spouting the Emi v Leno thing is going a bit far. I brought Emi into the conversation when referring to your own VERY subjective statement that “no keeper is holding that”. Handling is Emi’s strength and he held A LOT of shots he had no right doing. I’ve shown you with evidence the shot was not “point blank” it was at least 9-10 yards from Leno, enough time for a reaction and repositioning of Leno’s feet and hands, but he prefers to punch/push the ball than hold it a lot of the time. And that is a… Read more »
If you want to start talking stats the let’s actually look at stats – not just some random twitter post. Leno last year faced among the highest shots in the league last year at an average of 5 per game and had the 3rd highest save % (at roughly 76%). He conceded 39 goals vs. and expected goal total of 47.37. This speaks to how truly impressive of keeper he was last year, and to how truly awful the defense was in front of him virtually the entire year. DaveO & many others started with a conclusion that Emi is… Read more »
He did it against Pool and Mane scored. He’s placing his punches on a platter for opponents.
My god you people. Are we ignoring the fact he saved another 1-v-1,; that kept us in the game? This was no fluke, watch all the times he saves 1-v-1. The goal as well IMO he did just enough, could’ve been better? Maybe. But could Martinez save it? Who the f*ck knows, but one thing’s for sure – Martinez’s sample size is across 4-5 games and it’s pretty stupid to make these simplistic deductions based on that small sample size alone.
Yep, miracle save vs Foden minutes later.
lol miracle save my ass, he just stuck his boot out one yard, good save nowt special,
i must say some people are happy with mediocre/average
You’re not wrong Gus. It’s almost as if some fans get a bit fragile when players come in for criticism…
Most fans are entirely fine with criticism when it’s deserved. In this case the vast majority don’t believe it’s deserved which is why the pushback from so many.
its alot more than 4-5 games
Tony Adams: “The goalkeeper is pushing it into the danger zone, you’ve got to push it away out of the danger zone”
Maybe if you’re trying to make a point ease up on the Hyperbole.
Martinez played 10.5 games after Leno injury (including FA Cup final and Charity Shield), plus he has played a bunch of cup games before that run too. Martinez is a great goalie. Leno is a very good goalie. Well done Villa.
Nah – you’re view is too colored by the narrative around Martinez of long time discarded player gets his shot and wins the cup. Even Martinez himself realizes he’s not clearly better than Leno or he wouldn’t have demanded he be made the undisputed number 1 without having to fight for it.
I like Martinez and will always be grateful for what he did last season.
But turn it in mate,he has played under 4 managers at Arsenal, never no1,that should say something.
Leno has produced since he has been with us,saved a lot more games than he’s lost.
Leno has made mistakes, but that’s the position he plays, the mistakes are amplified.
Its easy to say Martinez is better when you only judge him on 10.5 games lets give him a season at least.
Lucky punch??
We’ve got Willian playing some sort of post-futurist false nine role; while Auba and Saka step on each other’s toes to swing crosses into a vacant 18 yard box from left wing.
Theres £200 million of attacking talent in the club and yet a 19 year old is the only one making any impact. Get people in their bloody best positions Arteta, this honeymoon period is running out fast.
Speak for yourself!
thats the idea of a comments section
I honestly don’t understand why people are this mad losing to Man city 1-0 away. I have seen us in complete shambles defensively and offensively both home and away for the last few seasons. Yesterday, I saw a very competitive game; we were defensively solid and in control. Apart from a lot of sterile possession both teams had two chances each. Sterling took one for them, whereas Auba and Saka “missed” for us- that was the difference. Yes we need to be more creative in the final third, but who is going to provide that (Dont say Ozil). The manager… Read more »
And I saw Blogs making special mention to David Luiz free kick in both player ratings and today’s blog. Ronaldo took 79 free click last three years scoring just once. Is it necessary to slag off Luiz for one free kick? There are plenty of other things we can criticise him for.
He’s taken quite a few free kicks, and all of them have been shit. We have better takers, let them take them.
Luis has been a good free kick taker over his career.
Since the early years of RVP where he was scoring free kicks (strangely did not score in mature years), we’ve never had free kick scorers.
Santi Cazorla.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c54-AH6fWhc
To be honest, Ospina could have done a bit better there… Good hit, but he was always a bit small poor ol’ Davey O
We are closing the gap, which is great, but with that comes increased expectations — that’s the pressure that will accompany Arteta in this job, something he can deal with. We did well yesterday, but we could have been better and Arteta could have made changes that might have given the team a better chance to get even or even get ahead. As everyone is noticing, we don’t play through the middle, ever, and we lack creativity up front — we need to rejig the way we attack at times to create more options going forward. A roaming player behind… Read more »
The defence has improved (minus Mustafi) but our midfield is shocking – and that’s putting it politely.
People aren’t mad at all… there was a well founded sense that a draw (or potentially more) against an-off from City sans KDB was attainable. There’s no question our midfield is limited but I do believe this is a side capable of goals.
Haha. No Bernd, YOU missed your lucky punch. If you’re going to parry a shot, parry it away like it’s a hand grenade.
That being said the defenders were just as responsible for that goal.
I’ll admit that there’s some truth to what he said about our game control compared to last season’s fixture but the City team was missing more key players this time around.
Also I’d like for Leno to be a bit more firm with his defenders. Shout at them when it’s needed and find a long pass when you see they’re not up for it.
From that range he has very little control over where the ball will deflect. He just has to make the block and hope his defense are switched on and reach the rebound first It’s not a save that can be tipped round or over the post. And given the closeness of the opposition players, and the save being made on the edge of the 6 yard box, any shot pushed wide would have just gone along the 6 yard box instead. Without knowing ahead of time that Sterling would pull back to the penalty spot (how could he, he has… Read more »
all ex keepers will tell you the keeper should parry the ball wide away from goal not back into danger. it was an obvious mistake
I’m not sure where you want him to parry it to in that situation? – all areas were danger areas. Sterling was just as likely to continue his run to the far post as he was to check back to the penalty spot, how was Leno to know that? There was hardly enough time for Leno to do anything other than just get a strong hand on it, anyway. And, the shot being low and having to be reached down for, makes it next to impossible to generate any distance on the deflection I’m a keeper myself and there are… Read more »
i want him to parry it wide of the goal. not straight back into the middle of the goal how hard is that to understand. Its not the 1st time hes done it and is an obvious weakness in his game
You lot need to rewatch that goal. Foden shot from about 4 yards away from Leno. He should save it, but I doubt he or emi or any other GK in the world could’ve held onto that one 10/10 times. Bad defending from Luiz and bellerin and gabi are about 89% of the reason that’s a goal, and about 11% Leno in my book.
It’s absolutely insane seeing fans claim he should have caught that. He did bloody well to parry it from that distance.
Close to point blank, it’s basically physically impossible to catch, and it’s ludicrous to suggest you can. It’s as if these fans have got their ball physics from a game not real life.
A lot of fans have decided they wanted Emi so they’re viewing everything in light of that. While the fans liked Emi, there doesn’t seem to be any doubt the take to evaluators at the club (Arteta & Edu) view Leno as the superior player.
Sorry Atom ol’ mate, but the same can be said for your assessment. You’re in the Leno corner and shading things his way. I like Leno and think he is a good goalie, but you know I think Martinez is better. And one of the strengths of Martinez was his ability to hold the ball when he had no right not. I’ve re-watched the goalie countless times and the same thing comes up. Leno has to do better. Fred here is saying he is 4 yards from Leno when he shoots. That is BS. Foden shoots from exactly 12 yards… Read more »
Not only that, but after watching it again and again. Why doesn’t he get back up and try to dive across the goal on the second shot? He literally just sits up on his hands and knees and watches Sterling shoot hoping he misses. He EASILY had enough time to throw himself across. Complete lack of urgency. Arteta and Edu may think Leno is the superior player, but they may also be wrong. Time will tell. Again, I don’t think Leno is bad in anyway. I think he is quite good. I just don’t think he is great, let alone… Read more »
it was straight at him he shuld have parried it wide away from the goal not straight back into the middle of the goal. how can you not see that
Yes, I have watched it maybe 20 times now. (i) It isn’t that hard, (ii) he is at least 9-10 yards from shot to gloves, (iii) there is enough time for Leno to react and move his hands, (iv) problem is he ONLY has push in mind and not catch – which IMO is the big difference between Leno and Emi, Emi looks to catch first. and finally (v) watch Leno after his push, he sits on the ground and watches Sterling and does NOTHING – he has all the time to make a dive across and try to block… Read more »
I have watched the replay and your assessment is spot on. (1)Bellerin reads Aguero’s body language poorly as the striker is positioning to make a pass towards our right wing. In this sequence, it doesn’t occur to Hector that there is an opposition player. (2) Gabriel glances to check where Sterling is but loses him once the ball is in the box as he tries to protect the goal (3) Luiz loses Aguero completely once the striker enters the box. If Sterling had left the rebound, Aguero would have taken the shot instead. (4) Xhaka for some reason stops tracking… Read more »
You punch a long shot away towards byline….how do u punch a solid shot from 6 yards out?? Basic football stuff if u have played some
(1) Hector is awful in this goal. He first gets drawn on Aguero then rushes back to Foden, but is balance is WAY out of whack and foden turns him with ease. Terrible defending. (2) Yes, he does that, but it is in no way his fault. He is trying to block any rebound. He cannot predict Leno will push right into the most dangerous place. (3) Luiz has ZERO fault here. He has to go to Foden because Bellerin gets beaten so easily. (4) Xhaka special. He is just useless in space. He jogs back so much in these… Read more »
It’s interesting that in all the analysis of the goal, nobody has mentioned Ceballos’ involvement. For me, he creates the danger by following the ball forward towards Aguero instead of maintaining position. From that point on, there is an overload for City, which causes danger. If he had held his ground, instead of pushing forward, we would have had an extra man running back to defend the cross/pull back/shot. He ends up tracking Aguero instead of being in the middle of the box (there is a big gap in front of the penalty spot in which Sterling and Aguero are… Read more »
I’ve thought about that, but what he is doing is going for an interception. Mahrez’s ball is pin-point perfect. It beats Dani even though he knows it’s coming. So the question is should he just not go for intercepts? My answer is no, he definitely should continue to pursue them. He does get a little blame for missing it, but it’s hard to blame him too much and I give him a lot of credit for his pursuit back and that is A LOT more than can be said about the effort from his midfield partner. He loses Aguero after… Read more »
We did better, yes.
We didn’t do good enough.
We’re a work in progress which anyone with eyes and a brain should be able to see and understand. Obviously our emotions get the better of us and we want our team to win every game. Personally I never bought into the hype about it being a good time to play City…no such thing exists. Leicester took their chances against them, which included 3 penalties, something we hardly ever get…and we didn’t take the chances we had. Also we are very poor at retaining the ball…I like Ceballos but he makes me dizzy with his pointless spinning about.
I think Leno has a lot of strengths so I don’t want to bash him. My perception of him is he parrys/punches the ball into dangers areas more often than other top keepers. I would value some statistical analysis to prove or disprove it? I also feel that IF it is true it’s an easy thing to correct with coaching?
Please don’t be the voice of reason. It’s a Leno bashing party here in the comments today smh
Personally, loved his saves last night. Particularly against Foden and Mahrez
This is not the first time Leno has pushed the ball to an opposing forward.
Neither will it be the last time.
If Arsenal aspire to beat any of the top 6
Leno has todo much, much better
We certainly aspire to beat the top sides away from home but we’re just as far from that goal as we were when this terrible run of results began in Wenger’s time. The only encouraging point from the game was that it was a better overall performance than at Liverpool where we weren’t really in the game once they went ahead. Arsenal are very much “work in progress” and, on the evidence in the PL so far, too many Gooners are getting too carried away about our prospects for this season. We need to wait until Christmas to see how… Read more »
He made a couple of excellent saves last night and I don’t know why people here are calling that pushing away the ball into the opponent’s forward…a shot drilled from 6 yards out and what do u expect him to do? Control it and divert it out and not back?? Wow! Go play some football…these r basics…
We need to stop being timid in our approach especially during the first halves. Saka should take the place of willian
Arteta seems to experiment too much, he needs to slow down with that
Good/great sides make their own luck, Bernd. The truth is that we never looked like winning the game – we could have got a draw but in the end we just weren’t good enough against a pretty poor City side who did employ a very physical approach but we didn’t have any answers (or enough).
“a pretty poor City side”….. jeez Biggles, stick to the flying
What do you mean?
I don’t worry about Leno.
I worry about Pepe, Willian and Laca.
Some myths have developed around goalkeepers that have probably been made up by strikers. Being beaten at your near post is one, there is plenty of stats that say this is nonsense. The other one is pushing the ball back into the danger area, more nonsense, if the ball is coming at you at point-blank range you can’t catch it and you don’t have time to direct it so the danger area is the goal behind you. Foolish sayings on par with the saying “Brexit means Brexit”
myths? id say ask the top ex pro keepers if they are myths
It makes a nice change to play away at Manchester City and not be completely out of the game before half an hour has elapsed. We were competitive throughout the whole match and never looked hugely inferior to them. It’s a pity that we lost but we have made huge strides since a year ago when we were a total shambles.
In terms of tactics, it was very intriguing to watch. On a lucky day we would have nicked a win or at the very least a draw.
I’d like us to switch to a back four and have an extra man in the middle of the pitch to help nullify opponents possessions.
We’re definitely getting better compared to the defensive shambles we were early last season. For the first time in a long time I’m actually really excited seeing us play against top sides.
Fans are never patient, but that’s exactly what we need now.
Is he for real? What’s this ‘we missed the lucky punch’ – is he having a laugh? Yes, he made some good saves later, he was the one who made the unlucky punch that handed the ball to the opposition – and not for the first time lost us the match. Can’t help but feel that Martinez would have caught that ball. Hate it when goalies just blindly push/punch the ball out.
Can we at least wait until Martinez has done it over a season at least,please.
I thought he could have done better with the save but also the Cbacks and mids need to be aware of rebound and their runners late in the box. OTOH thse things do happen and the more important thing is we had to generate more chances. But for young Saka we were far too tepid and cautious first half. Tierney pushed up a bit more second half and had a go but the other issue of course is midfield is still work in progress. We have a good complement now but how to get transitions going quicker is also a… Read more »
When you look at Harry Kane currently, what a player. On top form at the moment what 5 goals and 7 assists. Plus Son and bale, Bergwjin, Spurs are formidable going forward…pity their collapse against the Hammers late on 😀 The gift that keeps on giving. But we have to sharpen our attack and we need a player that can distribute like Kane. I feel Laca is the man for that this season to unleash the wide players. Even so the wide players in Auba and Pepe or Willian will need 1) more retention ability 2) more confidence taking on… Read more »
I’d rather not look at H*rry K*ne … ever.
Lucky punch? Maybe try catching the ball for once. I miss Emi.
Leno is our keeper for the foreseeable future. It’s done and dusted. You can whine and cry for Emi or get behind the team and keeper.
A litany of downvotes for comments observing what was clearly poor goalkeeping. Weird…