Badly Bernd but we won’t change

LENO: GUNNERS WILL CONTINUE TAKING RISKS

ARSENAL goalkeeper Bernd Leno has insisted his side will carry on taking “risks” — even after their latest defensive disaster.

Gunners boss Unai Emery wants his defenders to play out from the back but it cost them dear at Watford as they blew a two-goal lead and nearly ended up losing.

It has become more of a gamble this season because the change in the goal-kick rule means the passes get shorter and Sokratis (right) took “full responsibility” for his blunder leading to Watford’s first goal in Sunday’s 2-2 draw.

Arsenal legend

Martin Keown branded the defence “naive” for trying to play out from the back and says their surrender “left him screaming at the TV”. Although the Gunners messed up their short goal-kick routine on at least three other occasions, Leno says they will not change.

But the shotstopper admitted the dressing room went “mad and crazy” because of the blunders.

Leno said: “That’s our style to play. We try to take the risk because if we beat the press of Watford, then there is a lot of space for our strikers.

“In the first half, we did it very well but in the second we didn’t create too many chances from playing out from the back. It is still a process we have to work on. Everybody was angry and disappointed. The manager is a very positive guy and he said we will analyse this game.

“Everybody was mad and crazy with emotions. But that is normal after the game. He said: ‘Calm down and then on Tuesday we analyse this and then on Thursday we have another game.’”

Yet Leno (above) was withering in his assessment of Arsenal’s tactics and the way “they completely lost control of the game.” He added: “It was very frustrating because we controlled the game.

“But also, in the first half, you could see we made two easy mistakes and then at the end we conceded two goals from these kind of mistakes and we were lucky we didn’t lose this game. “In the second half we lost control of the game. The distance from the midfield to the strikers and all the distances between players were too big. Watford deserved at least a draw.

“The distances between all parts of the team were too big so they had so much space, especially in the second half. It was too easy for them, they could go around our box.

“I don’t know why it was like that but everybody could see that we have to talk about this.

“In the first half it was better but not perfect. We have to be honest and analyse this game.”