Despite shaky start, Gunners can still win EPL: Ex-goalie Lehmann

Former Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was in town for the last two days in his capacity as a German Bundesliga ambassador to offer expert insight and analysis into the new German league season, which kicked off over the weekend. TODAY’s Amanpreet Singh (amanpreet [at] mediacorp.com.sg) caught up with the 46-year-old, who was part of Arsenal’s famous Invincibles title-winning squad of 2004, to get his thoughts on the season ahead for the Gunners, as well as his views on the Bundesliga, the Germany national team and his career.

Your former club Arsenal have had a shaky start to the English Premier League (EPL) season and completed their transfers late into the transfer window. Do you feel they can still challenge for the title?

Of course, they have to challenge for the title. The other (top) teams are not really miles ahead. Manchester City were very average last season and Chelsea were a disappointment, although they have improved this season, together with Manchester United.

Arsenal have many individual talents but they need to be strong as a team and improve, especially in their positioning. I want them to finish the season strongly, perform consistently and not fade off when it matters, because that has happened a lot in the last few years.

What sort of impact will the signings of Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi have on the Gunners’ backline?

Xhaka was funny when I saw him play against Leicester City because he was given an eye-opener to English football when he lost the ball in his own half and Leicester nearly scored. You could see by his reaction that it made him realise that the EPL is on a totally different level. But I heard he played really well against Watford and I feel he will be a good signing.

As for Mustafi, I feel he needs to show his worth because he cost a lot of money, and so let’s see how he fares in the coming months.

How about the race for the German Bundesliga title? Will Bayern Munich be runaway champions once again?

I think that’s the way most people feel because they won their first game 6-0 (on Saturday) against Werder Bremen, who were out of form.

Normally games in the Bundesliga are quite tight and the winning margin is normally by two goals. I hope that Borussia Dortmund can challenge, and they proved that last year already. Schalke, for me, should challenge Bayern too. But, unfortunately, they disappointed on their opening match. We also have Wolfsburg, who look stronger again this season, so there will be competition at the top of the table.

So how can Bayern possibly stumble along the way?

Over the course of the season they could face problems due to their ageing squad. Philipp Lahm has been very important for them (in recent years) but he’s not getting any younger. They also have the (experienced) Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, who are injury prone and Xabi Alonso too. Can these players cope with the amount of matches Bayern will have to play throughout the season? That will be a key factor.

Germany crashed out in the semi-finals of Euro 2016, to the disappointment of many Germans. Do you think they can bounce back and respond strongly in their build-up to the 2018 World Cup as they attempt to defend their world title?

I think Germany not winning Euro 2016 was a big disappointment because there was no standout team. Even France and Portugal, who were the finalists, were inconsistent. Germany had the (experienced) players and should have won it.

I don’t see us winning the World Cup in 2018 under the current circumstances. German football is good for producing talented midfield players but we can’t say the same when it comes to producing strikers, fullbacks and even goalkeepers. It’s very difficult to win something with just midfielders.

Speaking of goalkeepers, is there anyone who can replace Manuel Neuer?

At the moment, no one is of his quality and there are no similar German goalkeepers to him out at the moment. You look at Neuer and he has an arrogance about him when he plays and that shows that he is capable of something special. He is a top player who will continue to get better because sometimes he takes it too easy due to the fact that he has a good defence ahead of him, and no real competitor (for his starting spot).

I saw the German second choice Bernd Leno play yesterday and he made two mistakes and his Leverkusen team lost 2-1 as a result. But, he is always making these mistakes and I don’t see any progression or development. The other goalkeepers are still young and need a couple more years to learn. Sometimes, it’s also down to who their goalkeeping coaches and head coaches are. This can have a massive impact.

Looking back at your career, what would you say was your biggest achievement?

I would say keeping those 10 consecutive clean sheets in the 2005/2006 Champions League season with Arsenal. It was my greatest achievement and I don’t think it will be repeated by anyone ever again. Looking back, I was desperate to do it because I wanted to play for the German national team and I knew many people paid close attention to Champions League matches. Also, we played with a defence that was not really great, so that in itself is an achievement too.

And how about the biggest regret of your career?

It would have to be not winning the Champions League during that season with Arsenal. Everyone was talking about how I didn’t concede a goal for 10 matches and before the final against Barcelona, I told myself that I wanted that to continue and not concede.

In my desperation to not concede, I made a wrong decision in a split second to bring the player (Samuel Eto’o) down. I ended up getting sent off and we lost the final, and that is still a big regret for me.