As expected, Jens Lehmann has officially been confirmed as Arsenal´s emergency keeper to cover for our three injured keepers ( Fabianski, Szcezsny and Mannone ).
Lehmann is an Arsenal legend for his part in the Invincibles season and he was absolutely phenomenal in 2006.
For me, he was the best keeper in the world that year. He was tremendous in our run to the Champions League Final, memorably saving the last minute penalty of Villareal playmaker Riqueleme to send us to the final. He also managed to displace German legend Oliver Khan in the World Cup where he went on to impress.
Lehmann won us our last trophy when he stubbornly kept out Manchester United in the FA Cup final and saved Scholes penalty in the shoot-out.
A legend yes but he is here to be the back-up to Almunia and be a leader in the dressing room.
I have been impressed by Manuel Almunia´s attitude during this season. After being dropped in favour of Fabianski at the beginning of the season, he was further overlooked when the Pole got injured and a rookie 19-year old keeper took his place.
In one game in January, James Shea even took his place on the bench.
But despite all this, the man has kept his dignity and has not complained one bit.
I know some will say that he had a better career than expected with us but he was still touted by some to solve England´s goalkeeping crisis just two years ago.
He could have moaned in the press a la Gallas but he choose not to. It would have been easy for him to make some noise in the media and you know they would have loved it. But his choice was to keep his dignity.
He was outstanding at Barcelona when called upon and made an absolute world-class save at Old Trafford on Saturday. Had it been Cech, we would have all been drooling over it.
As it is though, Almunia is an unsung hero and just when he thinks that he is back as Number 1, there comes his nemesis to be his back-up. But again the man is quiet and is happy to welcome him.
He deserves praise and let us hope that the two experienced keepers we have in our squad now lead us to glory in the Premiership.
Check the pictures of Lehmann first training session
[ POLL RESULT: 68% of you correctly predicted that Lehmann will be our emergency keeper]
[ POLL RESULT: 68% of you correctly predicted that Lehmann will be our emergency keeper]
