Bernd Leno has had to be patient since he joined us this summer from Bayer Leverkusen - but he could be in line for his debut on Thursday night?
The Germany international is yet to make it off the bench, but Unai Emery has confirmed that he will be in goal for our Europa League opener against Vorskla.
This is what he told the media:
on whether Leno will play against Vorskla...
Yes, Bernd Leno is going to play tomorrow. In our planning with our goalkeeper we have spoken with Javi Garcia, the goalkeeping coach. We need with Leno to give him a chance and the minutes of the game.
on whether Leno has been frustrated...
I spoke with him on the day of my first match about my decision, I give him my argument for the decision and [seeing] his performance in training every day, the best for him and for us is when he starts to play, to play with this performance. I am very happy with him.
on whether anything has stopped him playing in the Premier League...
First, the position for work and for knowing every player - usually only the layers who come from the national team come in late and it is more difficult to see them. But the same chances is for the goalkeeper and I think Petr's performances have been good, he also thinks he should play because he is doing very well and with Leno, we signed him for now, and to improve with us, and to compete with another goalkeeper. I am very happy with his work every day and I am looking forward to seeing him play tomorrow.
on whether Leno is the designated goalkeeper for cup competitions…
The first decision for me in every match is the performance. Tomorrow we are going to play Leno, but in each match we are going to look at each performance and each preparation for continuing playing, but not for giving Leno, Petr or Emi one competition to play in. We are going to start tomorrow by giving [Leno] the chance and the minutes, but we are going to continue looking and testing every match.
on Leno’s strengths and where he needs to improve…
He’s here because he’s shown us his quality. The quality for the goalkeeper for me is complex, but he has it. Tomorrow he is going to start and he can go a long way here at Arsenal. He’s young. Each goalkeeper has different qualities, Petr, Bernd and Emi, but we cannot change our style and maybe one quality of Leno’s is better than Petr, and maybe one quality of Petr’s is better than Leno’s, and with Emi! But we need the same style and to work and improve each goalkeeper in our style. They are working each training everyday with Javi Garcia and us to do that.
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