Arsenal haven’t had a goalkeeper since Lehmann.
It’s no secret that I was a big Lehmann fan.
He improved Arsenal straight away.
OVERNIGHT.
In those first friendlies in Scotland, Jens Lehmann made a big difference immediately.
So I wrote a lot about Jens on ANR and in The Professor.
And even did a television interview about him for ZDF.
That was before the 2006 World Cup, when three German girls arrived to film me talking about why I loved Lehmann so much.
A commanding goalkeeper is priceless.
When Petr Cech was at Rennes he was 19 and so mature than those who knew him in the Czech Republic said he was “nineteen going on thirty.”
Cech was always serious, always mature, always going to be a superb keeper.
His goalkeeping coach at Rennes was Christophe Lollichon and he joined Chelsea at the same time. When my mate Rob takes me to Stamford Bridge we always arrive early and watch Christophe working with the keepers. And then we watch the squad warming up.
On the Saturday when Chelsea played West Brom, Christophe was working with three very tall custodians: Mark Schwarzer, Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois.
It wasn’t until last night that I thought: If Arsenal sign Cech, do they get Christophe as well?
The answer is: YES.
Wenger is as clueless with keepers as he is with substitutions.
A big club like Arsenal should not try to develop young goalkeepers.
Szczesny’s footwork will never be right.
On Monday night, Ospina went for the Gomis header with both hands.
A taller keeper would go for that header with one hand and try to tip it round the post.
Signing Petr and Christophe, two fantastic professionals who are close friends, and have been working together for eight years with enormous success, would be a massive coup for Arsenal and a historic game-changer.
I’m sure of that, so let’s hope it happens.