Source: Daily_Mail
Arsenal have keeper crisis but ex-Gunner Lehmann still walks tall
Mad Jens: Stuttgart 'keeper Jens Lehmann[LNB]On Mercedesstrasse, in downtown Stuttgart, underneath one of those city centre flyovers that used to be called futuristic, a smile begins to crack across the face of Jens Lehmann.[LNB]As it widens, Lehmann says: 'Fan-tastic! I realised that day how fantastic football in England was. I called home and said, 'It's fantastic, the people here punch and push each other and they don't even get booked!' Fan-tastic.'[LNB]The smile stayed. Lehmann was rewinding to September 2003, to only his eighth Arsenal game, to Old Trafford, to Ruud van Nistelrooy, Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira's red card and one of the dust-ups of the decade.[LNB]Now 40, Lehmann is into the last four months of a 22-year career. He is starting an appraisal.[LNB]'ManU won a penalty on a dive by Van Nistelrooy,' says Lehmann. 'All of asudden there was a big clash of players and everybody punched eachother.[LNB]'But the referee didn't book anyone![LNB]'So VanNistelrooy had this chance to score in the 88th minute and he'd neverfailed before from the spot. But this time he hit the crossbar. Thegame ended 0-0.[LNB] 'About three days later I realised there was this big inquiry into the incident. I think three from United got suspended and four of us.'[LNB]Lehmann laughs at his lack of awareness. All but one of his previous 15 professional years had been spent in the Bundesliga, so it was forgivable. England was new and, even if he sometimes gave the opposite impression, Lehmann loved it.[LNB]Arsene Wenger pulled off one of his shock transfers when he acquiredthe German a couple of months before that Old Trafford furore.[LNB] Clash: Martin Keown clashes with Ruud van Nistelrooy in Lehmann's first season[LNB] [LNB]Lehmann,then 33, was signed for £1.2million from Borussia Dortmund as DavidSeaman's successor and England soon got to know the eccentric characterArsenal players referred to as 'Mad Jens'.[LNB]But Wenger'schoice was quickly vindicated. In his first season Lehmann became an'Invincible', going the entire League campaign undefeated. [LNB]Thereason he was talking about that match at United was because that wasthe closest he feels Arsenal came to losing. In fact, it was United whowere later to end that record-breaking run of 49 unbeaten games.[LNB]Relishing memories of the bust-up, he adds: 'A year later there was'Pizzagate'. We lost to a Rooney dive. I was in the tunnel, of course,and I saw ... I can't tell you what I saw. Ferguson was, eh...[LNB]'I'm writing a book. So I'm keeping that. It's due in May. But I don't want to hurt myself. I have a decision: if I never, ever want to work in football again, I can write a great book.[LNB]'But, just in case I want to stay in the game, I can soften it. The decision hasn't been made.[LNB]'ArseneWenger doesn't need to fear anything. He already knows I'm angrybecause he didn't pick me in my last year but only on a professionalbasis.'[LNB] Adored: Arsenal fans loved their eccentric goalkeeper and paid him a massive tribute on his final game for the club in 2007[LNB]In fact, after Lukasz Fabianski's Porto debacle, the Arsenal boss may feel he has not yet replaced Lehmann, whose birth certificate must come with a question mark.[LNB]As the Invincibles' season confirms, his is a career of regular highachievement. Lehmann has won league titles in England, Germany andItaly, where he was with AC Milan for a season. He has won the UEFA Cupand the FA Cup. He has played in European Championships and World Cupsfor Germany, won 61 caps and appeared, albeit briefly, in a EuropeanCup final.[LNB]But when we think of Lehmann it is Mad Jens, notmedals, that comes to mind. It felt like a rude place to take theconversation, but what does Lehmann think of this overshadowingreputation for eccentricity?[LNB]'Spot on,' is the snappy reply. It was not the expected answer. But then Lehmann's unpredictability is established. [LNB]Stuttgarthost Barcelona in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions Leagueon Tuesday. It is the first time Lehmann has faced them since the 2006final in Paris, when he was sent off after 18 minutes for a foul onSamuel Eto'o. Arsenal lost 2-1.[LNB]'I had some bad feelingsabout myself,' he says of the incident. 'It was spur of the moment, mestretching out to touch Eto'o, and you can't reverse it.'[LNB]Yetwe need to go back a mere three months, to Stuttgart's last ChampionsLeague group game against Unirea Urziceni, for Lehmann's lastcontroversy, or alleged controversy, as he sees it.[LNB] Low ebb: Lehmann brings down Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o in the Champions League Final (above) and gets sent off (below)[LNB] [LNB] During the match, he was caught short, leapt over an advertising hoarding and relieved himself. Then he ran back into position as the opposition attacked. It was Sunday League stuff. Germany was staggered 'Pee-peegate'. [LNB]The country was just getting over him taking a helicopter totraining. Others are probably still talking about his Shilton-Clemencerivalry with Oliver Kahn for the national jersey. [LNB]As he has got older the noise surrounding Lehmann has increased, not faded. So how was his Unirea-urinal activity regarded?[LNB]Click here to watch the video of Lehmann's toilet break...'Itwas regarded as worth reporting,' Lehmann says dismissively, the onlytime he cools. 'It is what it is. Sometimes things that happen to meare perceived as being eccentric. [LNB]'Those things happen to other people, but in my case those things are highlighted more. I have to cope with that.[LNB]'Sometimes the media here are over the top. There are not a lot of personalities in the German league. I underestimated that.[LNB] International rivals: Lehmann (above) kept Oliver Kahn (below) out of the German team for the 2006 World Cup[LNB]'There are many big stars in England, in and outside football, particularly in London. I was small there, which I really appreciated. But after the last World Cup my image here changed, to that of a hero. I underestimated that.'[LNB]Lehmann's excellence in the World Cup quarter-final shoot-out against Argentina he had made notes on their takers' preferences enabled him to make saves which altered his image at home.[LNB]That took some doing. As a young keeper at Schalke he had once been replaced at half-time after being booed. Lehmann left the ground, borrowed some money and took the tram home. [LNB]'It was a complete humiliation,' he says.[LNB]After Milan, whom he regrets leaving too soon 'they told me to be patient; I wasn't' he joined Schalke rivals Borussia Dortmund.[LNB]'In Dortmund I had to experience really bad things,' he recalls. 'I was targeted in my private life by some people. That wasn't easy. They insulted my wife, me, my new-born child. [LNB]'I was so angry I could have ... but when we won the title and got to the UEFA Cup final, most understood I gave everything.'[LNB]In Germany's defence, understanding Lehmann is not straightforward. He says he may not retire in May 'look at Michael Schumacher' though he adds of his unpredictability: 'What I think you can say that is predictable is my performance. I've been consistent.[LNB]'In all the teams I've played in, we have won something, except for Stuttgart and we're still in the Champions League.'[LNB]He laughs again. Stuttgart are ninth in the Bundesliga, Barcelona are European champions.[LNB]'It's possible! There's a chance.'[LNB]And, with Jens Lehmann, you never know. [LNB] EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal have keeper crisis but ex-Gunner Lehmann still walks tallFabianski, Seaman and Lehmann: The best and worst of Wenger's keepersMARTIN SAMUEL: Memo to keepers - it's better to face the right way Patrick Collins: Arsene Wenger's dark side is fed by his fear of failureArsene Wenger, sure you don't need a new goalkeeper at Arsenal?Fabianski axed! 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