Bernd Leno has called on his Arsenal teammates to spend the next week looking at their own mentality, convinced it is not the coach that is causing the problems.
Without Bernd Leno in goal this season, things would be a lot worse for Arsenal.
He’d made 69 saves this season before Manchester City rolled into town and, they, surprisingly, only increased that to 73. No other keeper has made more in the Premier League (although Spurs keeper is joint top).
Bernd spoke to the press after the game.
“At the moment we have to say there is as gap between these teams,” Arsenal’s saviour said at full-time.
“I think we have the quality but when you see the games, we miss the intensity. We are not fresh in our mind and quality is one thing and I also think mentality is one thing. Working hard is the only way to come out from this.
“It’s good that we have one week to work on it, to speak a little bit about the situation because we have to change something in our minds.
“Everybody can work with him so I think the manager is not the problem,” he said. “If it’s Freddie or another one, I think everybody has to look at themselves, be honest with themselves. If everybody was giving everything today, I think the mentality is the main thing and we need to change this.”.
Arsenal are in ninth place, so still a top half team. The dream of a positive goal difference died once again on Sunday, however, as Arsenal’s brief foray into neutral territory was quickly slapped back down to minus three, the worst it has been all season.
To really hit that point home, newly promoted Sheffield United sit two places above us with three points more and a goal difference of positive five.
We are also, once again, equal distance from fourth place and the relegation zone.
So much depends now on if the board listen to Freddie…