The intelligence of football pundits – Lehmann signs for Stuttgart

If there is ever an indication that things are quiet in the world of Arsenal it is when Arseblogger has nothing to talk about. And while that happened to be the case yesterday, thankfully he was able to pull out this gem of a post. Kudos to you Arseblogger, you crazy Irish bastard.

As for today, things are much the same. There is a teensy, weensy bit floating around today and I’ll start with the comments made by assistant manager Pat Rice who has accurately commented on the incredible intelligence of football pundits.

“If you got back to the close season the so-called pundits were writing us off. One pundit – who I remember is an ex-player – said we would be lucky if we finish in the top eight! That goes to show you just how good the side is.”

I like his use of the phrase ‘so-called pundits’. Fantastic stuff. And yes, the vast majority of those ‘so-called pundits’ are rubbish. Don’t believe him? Watch this.

On a more serious note, Rice goes on say that he believes the Arsenal boys can learn from the lessons and disappointments they faced this season and use them to their advantage next season. When you think about it, it’s quite a good point. Indeed, Mathieu Flamini may have left the club – citing the disappointments from last season being too much to take – but I can’t see many of the other Arsenal players sharing this point of view.

If Arsenal wants to win silverware next season then it needs to have a squad of winners and one of the characteristics of a winner is to fight back from adversity. The Arsenal boys will have a perfect opportunity to show that they are mentally strong enough to do this. The comments made recently by the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor indicate strongly that they are determined to give it all they’ve got, which is wonderful to know.

One man who is a born winner (perhaps because of his nationality) is Jens Lehmann. I mentioned yesterday that the crazy German looked set to be moving back to his homeland and signing with Stuttgart and I’m happy to confirm that this is the case. Lehmann, my Arsenal goalkeeper of the decade, has signed a one-year deal and it seems that Stuttgart are pretty damn happy to have him at their club if the comments made by manager Armin Veh are anything to go by.

“Jens Lehmann was our first choice for a goalkeeper from the very beginning. There is no questioning his quality and our whole team can benefit from the wealth of his experience.”

It’s a pretty good move for Lehmann and a pretty good signing for Stuttgart, I feel. Although they finished in 6th place last season the club won the Bundesliga just two seasons ago and will be pushing hard for a Champions League position next season. Lehmann’s presence between the sticks might just be the extra bit of quality they need to get there.

And that, my friends, is that. Have a lovely day.

Have your say on Rice’s comments or Lehmann’s move to Stuttgart by leaving a comment.

Loading...

Comments

  1. As much as I loved that crazy german bastard he did cost us the cl and was also the final nail in the coffin for pires who never was replaced. but I’m not sure fabianski or mannone is a good 2nd choice if manny gets injured we will just have to wait and see what arsne does as he is god in a gooner sense after all.

  2. Not having jens lehmann in betweeen the sticks cost us the championship. yes he had a disastrous and rather comic start to the campaign but I KNOW he wouldnt have conceeded as much as Almunia. I ilike Almunia as a person and i respect his commitment to the club but his fingers look a little slippery to me.

  3. @ ZimbabweanGOONER – No way. Almunia performed well, very well. Rarely made a mistake and made absolutely no clangers. He definitely did enough to enable us to win the championship – it’s just that the defenders in front of him went to pieces at times.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.