Through Jen’s lens

A couple of days repose (or ‘working from home’ as it’s formally known) has left us lazy and lethargic on the posting front, but we interrupt our Sunday somnambulism because a) there’s absolutely nothing on the goggle box before Inspector Morse starts and b) we had to bring you this on mad as a bat and soon to be ex-Arsenal keeper ‘Angry’ Jens Lehmann.

Oh yes we know Man Utd take on Arsenal later and some people are running futilely around London today (if it's the London Marathon, surely it should be sponsored by Snickers ho ho), but that's not the point.

Now once being of the keeping fraternity ourselves we know that goalkeepers are indeed a breed apart but the Germany and Arsenal hothead has gone above and beyond even his usual standards of barmyness to launch a blistering assault on poor old Manuel Almunia in what amounts to the biggest case of sour grapes since the great Malbec failure of 1972*.

Lehman said: "To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny. For me it [the champions League defeat to Liverpool] is a tragedy since I did not have a chance to prevent it.” (For full extended bitchfest see here)

Now Mr Lehmann has form in this area particularly in his often 'tense' relationship with that other paragon of the sporting virtue Oliver Khan, but Memo to Jens: you were dropped for your own particular set of howlers and whining on about it in the national press just looks tawdry, petulant and undignified especially using such an underhanded dig. Compare and contrast with Almunia’s rather dignified response in yesterday’s Grauniad.

Losing your place in any team is not easy, especially in what might be your last World Cup year, but the way to win it back it to train hard and put pressure on your rival - not shoot your mouth of in the national press once any chance of getting back in the team is over. Besides whatever happened to the international brotherhood of keepers? We despair sometimes.


* Note: we may have made this up for comic effect.