Who should be the keeper for Thursday night's Europa League semi-final 1st leg?

Bernd Leno

Who should be the Arsenal keeper for Thursday night's Europa League semi-final 1st leg against Villarreal?

By Andy Baber

Stick or twist? That is the question Mikel Arteta must answer.

Arsenal face Villarreal on Thursday night in their biggest game of the season as they look to move one step closer to securing their place in the Europa League showpiece.

But following Bernd Leno’s embarrassing error last time out as the Gunners lost 1-0 to Everton in the Premier League, is he the right man to have between the sticks?

Confidence is key for goalkeepers, a position where every error is magnified tenfold, and the German’s fumble has left Arteta with a decision to make for the first-leg clash in Spain.

The prospect of being dumped out of the competition by former boss Unai Emery doesn’t bear thinking about - so should the manager keep faith or roll the dice?

FROM HERO TO ZERO

Arsenal have struggled in the goalkeeping area for years, with no-one quite able to fill the boots of Jens Lehmann since the German shot-stopper hung up his gloves.

The likes of Lukasz Fabianski, Manuel Almunia and Wojciech Szczesny all failed to live up to Lehmann’s shadow while Petr Cech also struggled rediscover his formidable Chelsea form.

But the arrival of another German in Leno finally appeared to mark the end of the Gunners’ search for a goalkeeper the club could rely on, someone who rarely makes mistakes.

That certainly appeared to be the case at the start of Leno’s Arsenal career after being signed by Emery on a five-year contract in June 2018 for a fee of £22.5m million.

Leno soon ushered in Cech’s retirement and his performances resulted in him finishing runner-up in the Arsenal Player of the Season awards for the 2019/20 season.

But errors have begun to creep into his game of late, with Leno making eight mistakes leading to goals since the 2018/19 season - level with Manchester United’s David De Gea.

His own goal against Everton was the most worrying yet. He allowed an innocuous pass across the six-yard box to slip through his hands when it appeared easier to scoop it up.

And Leno’s decline has been put in sharper focus by Emiliano Martinez’s performances for Aston Villa, since Arsenal let him join their Premier League rivals in a £20 million move last summer.

“WE HAVE TWO VERY GOOD GOALKEEPERS”

So who should be Arsenal’s number one against Villarreal?

With Martinez long gone, Leno’s main competition comes from Mat Ryan, the Australian who joined the club on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion in January until the end of the season.

The 29-year-old made only his second league appearance for Arsenal against Fulham a week before Leno’s Everton calamity, performing well in the dramatic 1-1 draw.

But to throw him in at the deep end against Villarreal for such a massive game would be more than just a gamble from Arteta, even though he has suggested it could be a possibility.

Bernd Leno mistake

“I think we have two really good goalkeepers. Mat got a chance because he deserves it,” he said.

“I said before the game that he’d been training really, really well and Bernd is our number one keeper and he’s been doing well and errors are part of football.

“I said that we lost the game [ against Everton] for different reasons. One, for things that we can do better and we should do better and the other one that we cannot control. 

“Again, that error, I make many mistakes and everybody that is involved in any sport will make mistakes and it's part of it, unfortunately.”

STICK WITH LENO FOR NOW

Yes, Leno has made mistakes this season. Yes, his confidence may not be what it was. Yes, Ryan is a more than capable deputy. But Arteta cannot afford to take the chance.

Realistically, Ryan has not had enough game time to be considered a viable option so Arteta must hope that Leno’s mistake against Everton was simply an isolated error.

The two-legged tie against Emery - who spent 18 months as Arsenal manager before being shown the door - is certainly not the time or place to make such a drastic change.

Arsenal are now relying on winning this year’s Europa League to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with the Gunners a distant 12 points off the top four in the league table.

This semi-final collision therefore is do-or-die and as such, Arteta’s is far better off putting his trust in Leno and backing him to bounce back from his moment to forget.

Rumours linking Arsenal to Athletic Club’s Unai Simon probably won’t help Leno’s belief, but he has enough credit in the bank to deserve the club’s full support… for now at least.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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