Former Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone spoke in an interview with Goal and SOCCERSCORE about the fierce battle between Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia for number one in the Gunners’ goal over ten years ago.
So on the training ground it was anything but collegial – on the contrary.
“It was difficult because Lehmann was a very aggressive goalkeeper, especially with Almunia,” said the 31-year-old, who stressed: “You can imagine what it was like for me and what tension prevailed on the training ground.
The war between the two goalkeepers finally escalated when coach Arsene Wenger decided in the 2007/08 season to take Lehmann out of the net.
As a result, verbal and physical arguments between him and Almunia are said to have occurred again and again during training. In the spring shortly before the important match at Manchester United, the Spaniard declared at the time that he would not speak a word to the German because of Lehmann’s behaviour. “The truth is that I don’t want to talk to him anymore. If he was someone important, I’d try. But he’s not,” Almunia said at the time.
A situation that burdened the entire team and also the third goalkeeper Mannone.
“It was very difficult because you tried to learn and do your own thing. But at the same time they wanted to kill each other,” added the goalkeeper, who is currently awarded to MLS club Minnesota United in the USA by English second-league club FC Reading.
“When you do certain exercises, you have to help each other. But there was no real help,” Mannone continued. The Italian played a total of only 23 compulsory games for Arsenal, finally left London in 2013 after several loans and joined Sunderland.
Lehmann and Almunia have meanwhile ended their active careers. The Spaniard was with Arsenal for a total of eight years before moving to Watford in 2012, while former German nationalkeeper Lehmann left the Gunners in 2008 after five years with the club. In spring 2011 it was reactivated for a few months.
