Speaking on Arsenal’s In Lockdown podcast (17/11/20), Jens Lehmann has slammed Arsene Wenger’s decision to get rid of himself and Gilberto Silva in 2008.
Lehmann argued that there was something of a leadership vacuum at the club as Wenger tried to usher in a new era with the core of the invincibles squad beginning to age.
He believes that the manager acted too quickly when moving himself and Silva on.
“They were immature, they were inexperienced and they had no leadership, because all a sudden, Cesc had a good game and he was top of the hierarchy, but he was a kid, or Robin van Persie or even Alex Hleb,” Lehmann said.
He was then asked whether or not he believes he should have stayed at Arsenal, and while he didn’t believe that he should have stayed on merit, he believes his attitude and leadership could have been an asset.
“In terms of dressing room mentality, team spirit and responsibilities. Gilberto and I, we were the last ones, we should have stayed.
“Like he did with Martin Keown, when I came, Martin was there, he was fantastic with the group, he was fantastic with the dressing room, he was still keen to play, but he accepted his role was not that dominant anymore, but he was so important to our group, and he had a very huge percentage of the success of becoming unbeaten champions.”
It’s certainly a fair comment to make.
Wenger didn’t really give Arsenal much of a transition period during that time, and it was very much out with the old and in with the new at the Emirates.
Gilberto Silva may have seemed older, but he was only 31 when he left Arsenal, and while Lehmann was 37, that didn’t stop the Gunners from bringing him back in 2011.
Would they have had Arsenal competing for trophies during that time? It’s hard to say, but they may have given the younger players a bit more guidance during that time, which certainly would have helped.
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