Arsenal invincibles goalkeeper turned coach Jens Lehmann left the club this week as part of a backroom shake-up by new boss Unai Emery.
It is all change at Arsenal after Emery confirmed his coaching setup for next season with Juan Carlos Carcedo joining Steve Bould as one of two assistant head coaches, as announced on the club’s official website.
Many of previous manager Arsene Wenger‘s first-team coaches have moved on with former Premier League-winning goalkeeper, 2004 invincible and fans’ favourite Jens Lehmann the most notable departure.
While it is normal for new managers to bring in their own backroom staff, the departure of Lehmann has raised eyebrows among Arsenal fans.
And the conspiracy theories were out in force on social media and fans’ forums, particularly after a bitter Lehmann took to Twitter to take something of a parting shot at the Gunners.
“Dear Arsenal fans, I am sorry to leave the club after only one year again,” Lehmann said on Twitter.
“It was a good experience working with the players as one of the assistant-coaches.
“But the attitude from our 2004-group is not needed there anymore.”
When the subject came up on talkSPORT, former Arsenal star Perry Groves told a story from the behind the scenes at the club which went some way to explaining Lehmann’s frustration.
“I’m surprised that Jens Lehmann when there in the first place to be honest because he likes to dig people out,” Groves said on talkSPORT after the announcement.
“He’ll shout and scream and if people ain’t doing it then he’ll let you know and that wasn’t Arsene Wenger’s way.
“Apparently in his first training session they were doing some closing down and Aaron Ramsey gave the ball away and Jens Lehmann went to have a real pop at him and Arsene went ‘Woah no Jens we don’t do that here’ so you think ‘Well what am I here for?’ because that is what he was brought there to do, try and shake it up.
“So it doesn’t surprise me that much (that Lehmann has left Arsenal) to be honest.”
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