‘It will cost Arsenal’: Martin Keown thinks Bernd Leno needs to cut out his errors

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Arsenal legend, Martin Keown, believes Bernd Leno needs to sharpen up and cut out the mistakes if the Gunners are to be successful.

The German goalkeeper is firmly cemented as number one under Mikel Arteta but some errors have started to creep into his game. And it’s not just Leno either, in fairness, with a number of Arsenal stars guilty.

Arsenal cruised past Olympiakos last night but on another night might have been punished for sloppy play by better players. And Keown, speaking to Talksport today, believes Leno and the squad in general need to tighten up.

“At the moment Leno is a player where the microscope is on him and question marks are there,” Keown said.

“If you think to the back end of last season. Martinez came in, they won the FA Cup. I don’t know if we treated him the right way and now Leno is making mistakes. It will cost Arsenal, ultimately, if they don’t stop making silly mistakes.”

Arsenal sold Martinez in the summer to Aston Villa for a reported £20m. Since then, the stopper has excelled at Villa Park and is leading the way in the Premier League behind only Manchester City this term, with 14 clean sheets.

TBR View: Leno is class but Keown makes a great point

Nobody can say Bernd Leno isn’t a top goalkeeper. He has been excellent in the main for Arsenal and looks assured most weeks.

However, Keown does have a point about these errors. There’s only so long you can get away with it and sooner or later, it will cost the Gunners when it matters most.

They have a genuine chance of winning the Europa League. Leno, then, needs to ensure his focus remains 100%.