|
Jens Lehmann has criticised Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for his part in Poland's first goal during the 2-0 European Championship qualifying defeat in Warsaw on Saturday, adding that his successor as No. 1 for the national team still needs to learn. On Saturday, Neuer misjudged a cross from Poland full-back Lukasz Piszczek as both the keeper and centre-back Jerome Boateng were not able to get to the ball before Arkadiusz Milik, who headed home to give his side the early second-half lead. "Neuer was courageous. Sometimes you can irritate the player when you run towards him," former Germany keeper Jens Lehmann, who now works as a pundit, said on RTL. "But his starting position was not good to make that run out of goal. He does that frequently, and still needs to practice this a bit. His starting position is just too deep." The Bayern Munich keeper, who, according to many, including Bundestrainer Joachim Low, "revolutionised" the game during the World Cup by inventing the "sweeper keeper" role, was ready to take the blame. "I have to shoulder the blame for the 1-0. I tried to play courageously and make that run out of goal when Piszczek crossed the ball in. But I was too late," Neuer told reporters after the match. "I had no chance to get to the ball anyway. If I had stayed on the line, the ball would have still hit the back of the net." Speaking to Bild, Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff defended Neuer, who won the FIFA Golden Glove award after being voted the best goalkeeper at the World Cup. "Sometimes you can train as much as you want, but it just does not work out. But we are delighted that it rarely happens to Manuel," he said. "Manuel is highly critical of himself, and trains and analyses a lot."
|
