Season Preview 2021-22: Goalkeeper

For the first time since Wojciech Szczesny was caught with a cigarette on New Year’s Day 2015, there’s goalkeeper uncertainty at Arsenal. Bernd Leno remains under contract for another two seasons, but the Gunners’ rumored interest in another (most recently an ungodly amount for Aaron Ramsdale) could signal a changing of the guard.

Goalkeeper	Age	Contract Until
Bernd Leno	29	June 2023
???	???	???
Arthur Okonkwo	19	June 2024
Karl Hein	19	June 2022

Goalkeeper: Bernd Leno

Rating: 5/10

This preview moves forward with Bernd Leno as the guy. Despite the aforementioned smoke surrounding Ramsdale, no reputable journalist has linked Leno with a move away.

Leno enters his fourth year at Arsenal in 2021-22. After flashing Player of the Season form in 2019-20 prior to the pandemic, Mike Arteta placed his full faith in him for 2020-21 by selling Emi Martinez and buying the unproven Runar Alex Rúnarsson.

Leno was only okay. Rúnarsson was a disaster.

For the most part, Leno saved the shots he was supposed to save, and was beaten by shots that should have beaten him. Remove his two errors (the handball vs. Wolves and the own goal against Everton), and he was an average Premier League shot stopper.

Things get less rosy when crosses come in:

Despite being 6’2″, he’s struggled for years with balls floated into the box. In a league that relies on the cross as much as in England, his uneasiness—on corners and set pieces especially—often extends to a backline that’s unsure if he’ll have their back.

But Leno’s real downfall, and likely the reason why Arsenal are exploring other GK options, is his inability to play with his feet.

Leno doesn’t pass long often (under 10 times per game), but when he does he’s TERRIBLE at it. That’s him at the bottom, ranked 20th out of 21 qualifying GKs for completion percentage on passes longer than 40 yards. Hilariously, Aaron Ramsdale ranks just one spot ahead of him.

Like with crosses, Leno’s lack of confidence on the ball permeates the entire buildup. Contrast Leno / Xhaka away to Burnley:

…to Arsenal’s buildup in the 2020 FA Cup semi-final with Martinez, rather than Leno, in goal.

It’s probably unfair to pin the entirety of Arsenal’s build up issues on Leno, given the club finished eighth in the Premier League for the second season in a row. But there’s a reason why, with the club intent on fixing a significant number of holes in the squad, GK seems to be relatively high on the list.

I think Arsenal want to sell him. I also think finding a buyer in this market could prove challenging, and so it wouldn’t surprise me if Leno takes the number one shirt for another full season.

Reserves

Arsenal started looking for a proper backup the minute Runar Alex Rúnarsson’s disastrous League Cup performance was over. He’ll hopefully leave the club this window, six months too late.

Last season’s backup, Mat Ryan, has already gone.

As of today, Arsenal’s number two is a bag of chips.

If pressed, 19-year-old academy prospect Arthur Okonkwo will be the one called upon. As long as last month’s Hibernian howler doesn’t derail his confidence.

Arsenal goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo fails to deal with a Cedric back pass & it leaves Hibs’ Martin Boyle to tap-in to an empty net to take the lead. #afc pic.twitter.com/j14lddNgdd

— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 13, 2021

After letting his contract run out in June, Okonkwo signed a new three year deal last month. According to Arteta, it includes promotion to the first team.

Arthur was working and travelling a lot with the first team last season and we have all seen his quality at first hand. He is a strong young goalkeeper with great potential and we’re so pleased he has signed a new deal. He has absolutely earned his place in the first-team squad. 

As an academy kid, there’s relatively little information available on him. He made a handful of appearances for the first team this summer, with Leno on holiday. He also made eight appearances for the Arsenal U23s last season, and made the bench for three Europa League games for the first team, albeit alongside 11 other players (and another reserve GK).

Resident academy expert Jeorge Bird describes Okonkwo as “tall [he’s 6’3″] and a good distributor of the ball,” going on to say that “he possesses excellent reflexes and organizes his defense well.” The only buzzword missing is “long.”

Here’s a two minute video of him in action for the reserves that includes a handful of saves intermixed with celebrations and fist bumps.

There *is* a chance the number three spot goes to Karl Hein. Despite being out of contract in a year, he’s looked more assured in pre-season, and was given the bench spot vs. Tottenham over the weekend. He too, is still just 19.

As a full Estonia international, he’s probably got more of the temperament to step into a Premier League match than Okonkwo. He’s made eight Nations League appearances already.

We’re not likely to see much of either of them this year, unless things go well and truly wrong.