Arsenal

Unai Emery: 'Bernd Leno will get chance at Arsenal'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 21 September 2018

Emery: 'Leno will get chance at Arsenal'

Arsenal manager Unai Emery insists that he is "very happy" with Bernd Leno and reveals that he decides who will be his first-choice keeper on a game-by-game basis

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has revealed that he decides his first-choice goalkeeper on a game-by-game basis.

Summer signing Bernd Leno was widely expected to become Arsenal's number one following his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, but Emery has so far preferred Petr Cech in goal despite the 36-year-old enduring an error-strewn 2017-18 campaign.

Leno made his long-awaited debut for the Gunners during Thursday's 4-2 Europa League win over Vorskla Poltava, and Emery insists that he is pleased with what he has seen from the German so far.

"You need passion from everyone, above all the young players and the new players. Experience is important to play each match in the Premier League especially because the competition is stronger. With Leno we are very happy, he played his first match in the first team," Emery told Sky Sports News.

"We need to continue giving him chances and confidence for when he plays so he is at his best. My idea is to decide in the last hours before each match and first I will tell the players my decision. For now, the performance of Petr Cech is good and we explain with every player, including goalkeepers, about his situation in each moment.

"I want to win. If we are scoring four goals and conceding two - we are winning. But maybe one day we don't score our chances and we keep giving the opponent many chances - we can lose our match. We need to continue improving in all things and finding the balance and now it is very important to our objectives to improve in our defensive moments.

"Each match is different. For example against Newcastle we did not concede many chances and their goal in the last minute - we can do better and have the mentality where this doesn't happen again. But it is a good match to show how we are improving in our defence. Yesterday [Vorskla] is different because after four goals the team relaxed a little with one mistake. We have the solution and the first exam is Sunday against Everton."

Arsenal will look to make it five wins on the bounce across all competitions when they host Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.