Leno gets the gloves
German given Europa League chance in his battle for Cech place
UNAI EMERY will hand Bernd Leno the opportunity to oust Petr Cech as Arsenal’s firstchoice goalkeeper in the Europa League tonight.
Germany international Leno will make his Gunners debut as their European campaign gets under way against Vorskla Poltava.
The 26-year- old arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth £19.2million in the summer and was expected to replace Cech as the club’s main keeper.
However, Leno hasn’t played a single minute for his new club this season, Emery preferring the experienced Cech.
But the Arsenal manager is finally prepared to give Leno (below) his long-awaited bow tonight.
Emery said: ‘In our planning with our goalkeeper we have spoken with Javi Garcia, the goalkeeping coach.
‘We need to give Leno a chance and the minutes of this game.
‘I spoke with him before the first match about my decision (to play Cech). I gave him my argument for the decision. He is performing every day in training and I am very happy with him. But I think Petr’s performance is good as well. He plays because he is doing very well. ‘With Leno we signed him to improve with us and to compete with another goalkeeper. I am very happy with his work every day.’ Leno arrived in England with a reputation for being comfortable with the ball at his feet — an important attribute given Emery’s possession-based style. Indeed, Leno could yet overtake Cech in the pecking order before the end of this season. And Emery — who will also give summer signing Stephan Lichtsteiner his full debut tonight — insists a good performance could see Leno keep the shirt. ‘The first decision for me every match is the performance. We are playing Leno, but each match we are going to look at each performance and each preparation to continue playing,’ Emery said. ‘We won’t give Bernd or Petr or Emi martinez one competition to play. Bernd is going to start tomorrow to give him the minutes and the chances in this competition, but we are going to continue looking and testing every match.’
Cech realises he is playing for his own future despite winning the race to start the season as first choice. His current deal expires at the end of the season, and the keeper admitted: ‘I’m in the last year of the contract so I guess it depends on my performances, the way I play and the way I stay fit throughout the season. Then we’ll see what happens next.’
Ahead of his full debut, Swiss international defender Lichtsteiner said: ‘I am hungry to get back to the Champions League. But it is a long way and we have two chances — the Europa League and the Premier League.
‘To come back to the glamour games you need to win first the other games.
‘Now we are in the situation that we are playing Europa League and we will try to win that so hopefully next year we can speak about the Champions League.’