Arsenal have a goalkeeper selection dilemma in their midst
As the 2020/2021 new season approaches, Mikel Arteta has some thinking to do about his goalkeepers.
Mikel Arteta has to decide how he will make use of both Emiliano Martinez and Bernd Leno and keep both of them happy.
Bernd Leno was unarguably Arsenal’s best player alongside Aubameyang in the 2019/20 season. The German shot stopper managed 7 clean sheets and 113 saves in his 30 Premier League appearances, making up for Arsenal’s suicidal defence.
Leno’s season sadly came to an end on June 20 against Brighton as he went off injured and paved the way for a relatively unknown Emiliano Martinez.
That day was the turning point for Martinez’s career as he finally proved his worth for Arsenal. The 27-year-old Argentinian had been at the club since 2010 and was constantly sent out on loan until last year.
After Petr Cech’s retirement Martinez was to be the backup to Leno for this season. With Leno out injured for the season Martinez took his opportunity with both hands(literally) and has achieved a lot.
Martinez played 9 League games managing 3 clean sheets and 34 saves, his heroics helped Arsenal clinch the FA cup and made him a fan favourite.
Martinez and Aubameyang after the FA cup final victory (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
His performances have put him in serious contention for the starting spot next season as he boasted the best save success in the Premier League last season, 81% beating Leno’s 77.6% in third place.
The big question now is who should start over the other? Martinez has made it clear he will consider his future unless he is offered more playing time.
The good thing is the FA cup win ensured Arsenal will play Europa League football in the upcoming campaign and will be involved in up to 4 different competitions.
Arsenal will be involved in four tournaments which is good news for their goalkeeping dilemma
It’s now all about balancing their games and an example could be allocating Premier League matches to Leno which has been the case and giving the cup matches (Europa, FA, Carabao) to Martinez or vice-versa.
Perhaps one could be having better form than the other and thus could be used in the highly competitive games.
As it stands Martinez is in the lead and Leno will have to work hard to get his spot back.
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