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Arsenal's goalkeeper is ready to face United knowing his team-mate couldn't think less of him
I'm an easy-going person," Manuel Almunia says. "I like to treat everyone with respect and I see everyone as equals. I treat people the way I would like to be treated myself. To have someone here who hates me is just amazing. I know he hates me."
There can be only one goalkeeper in every team so it is to be expected that the men fighting for that place occasionally clash. In Holland, as a substitute goalkeeper at PSV Eindhoven, Ronald Waterreus used to switch on the television in the middle of the night to make sure his room-mate and rival, Georg Koch, slept badly before games. David James will admit cold-shouldering Brad Friedel when the American signed for Liverpool.
It is easy to understand, however, why Almunia, Arsenal's goalkeeper, has run out of patience with Jens Lehmann. All season, ever since Lehmann lost his place, the German has been belittling Almunia at every opportunity. He has described it as a "humiliation" to lose his place to a goalkeeper whose previous clubs include Osasuna B, Cartagena, Sabadell, Eibar and Recreativo Huelva.
He has described himself sitting on the sidelines feeling "very angry" and having to "clench my fist in my pocket". His words have been laced with contempt and, with a carefully planned sense of timing, he claimed this week that Arsenal would still be in the Champions League if he had been in goal. "To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny."
Until now, Almunia has chosen to rise above the jibes. This has been a difficult week for everyone at the Emirates and, as the team prepared for tomorrow's game at Manchester United, it became clear that their relationship has broken down irretrievably.
"Every morning I wake up," says Almunia, "I know it is going to be the same. I've had to put up with it every day since he was out of the team and even before then. I wake up and I know what it is going to be like. But I don't care about him any more. He can say what he likes. I come into training and I work with Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone. They are better goalkeepers than him anyway."
Almunia is not a vindictive man. Far from it. Ask anyone at Arsenal about the 30-year-old from Pamplona and they will talk about him being one of the more popular members of Arsène Wenger's dressing room. That is why he is so appalled by Lehmann's behaviour. "It's his problem, not mine, and I don't see why I should try to talk to him about it. The truth is I don't want to talk to him. I came into training this morning and one of the press officers told me he had been saying bad things about me in the newspapers again. It didn't surprise me. The truth is I have got used to reading these things from him. If he was someone important to me, I would try to talk to him and see what the problem is. But he's not. So we don't talk."
Lehmann, it should be pointed out, has history when it comes to falling out with rival goalkeepers and, famously, had a long-standing grudge with Oliver Kahn as they competed for the same place in the German national team. Yet Almunia, by all accounts, is a difficult man to dislike.
"I've never been in a situation like this before in my career," he says. "Normally we goalkeepers have so much respect for each other. Why he doesn't respect me, I don't know. But I don't want any relationship with him. I try not to let what he says enter my mind because it's not important to me what he says or what he thinks."
The people who matter to Almunia are his family and the rest of the Arsenal players. Plus, of course, Arsène Wenger. "I have had a lot of nice words from them," he says. "I've been in the first XI nearly all the season and I'm happy with my form. I've kept my level up and I think I can be satisfied with my performances. Apart from one person, the people here have shown a lot of confidence in me."
Almunia has had to show the strength of his character because he has been under scrutiny ever since he displaced Lehmann. One newspaper likened him to Manuel from Fawlty Towers after Manchester United's 2-2 draw at the Emirates in November, but the volume has gradually been turned down on his critics. One certainty is that he has made fewer errors than the man who seems so intent on demeaning him. Lehmann, lest it be forgotten, was dropped because, in Wenger's opinion, the 38-year-old had become a danger to his own team.
Since then, Lehmann has been increasingly getting under Wenger's skin and there was a telling scene at the manager's press conference yesterday when he was asked whether the German would get a new contract when his present deal expires at the end of this season. "Pardon?" said Wenger incredulously. The question was repeated and Wenger snorted with laughter. "The boss is trying to build a team of kind people," says Almunia. "He wants easy-going people who have character. He doesn't like arguments in the dressing room."
The Spaniard signed his own contract extension last week and is confident of retaining his place even if, as seems highly likely, Wenger signs a replacement for Lehmann. "If another goalkeeper comes in he will be made welcome," he says. "I hope we can have a good atmosphere with all the goalkeepers working together. I signed my contract because my heart is with Arsenal."
He is, however, still feeling depressed after what has been a chastening period for the club, culminating in them going out of the Champions League against Liverpool on Tuesday. "It's been a very difficult period," he says of a run that has also seen Wenger's side fall out of contention in the Premier League. "Nobody expected us to have such a bad time as this. Manchester United and Chelsea had a few bad games at the start of the season and we've had our bad period at the crucial point of the league. That has killed us.
"If you have one player off form, it is fine because you can replace him. But when it's many players, all at the same time, the team will suffer. We are a young team and our squad is quite small. Maybe we've lost confidence, too. Everything seems to have affected us and it looks as though Eduardo's injury has in particular. The truth is that ever since that game, Birmingham away, we have not played well. The team have not given 100% and we have bad results."
The scene in the away dressing room at Anfield was particularly emotional. "Everyone had their heads down, close to tears. It was very quiet, not a time for anyone to be blaming anybody else. I was devastated. I'm so upset and disappointed. But we have to come back stronger next year. We need a bigger squad, maybe some new players with greater experience, and then we'll be OK." And Almunia, one suspects, will not be heartbroken to know that the bad-tempered German who has been scoffing about his performances all season will not be around to see it.
I'm an easy-going person," Manuel Almunia says. "I like to treat everyone with respect and I see everyone as equals. I treat people the way I would like to be treated myself. To have someone here who hates me is just amazing. I know he hates me."
There can be only one goalkeeper in every team so it is to be expected that the men fighting for that place occasionally clash. In Holland, as a substitute goalkeeper at PSV Eindhoven, Ronald Waterreus used to switch on the television in the middle of the night to make sure his room-mate and rival, Georg Koch, slept badly before games. David James will admit cold-shouldering Brad Friedel when the American signed for Liverpool.
It is easy to understand, however, why Almunia, Arsenal's goalkeeper, has run out of patience with Jens Lehmann. All season, ever since Lehmann lost his place, the German has been belittling Almunia at every opportunity. He has described it as a "humiliation" to lose his place to a goalkeeper whose previous clubs include Osasuna B, Cartagena, Sabadell, Eibar and Recreativo Huelva.
He has described himself sitting on the sidelines feeling "very angry" and having to "clench my fist in my pocket". His words have been laced with contempt and, with a carefully planned sense of timing, he claimed this week that Arsenal would still be in the Champions League if he had been in goal. "To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny."
Until now, Almunia has chosen to rise above the jibes. This has been a difficult week for everyone at the Emirates and, as the team prepared for tomorrow's game at Manchester United, it became clear that their relationship has broken down irretrievably.
"Every morning I wake up," says Almunia, "I know it is going to be the same. I've had to put up with it every day since he was out of the team and even before then. I wake up and I know what it is going to be like. But I don't care about him any more. He can say what he likes. I come into training and I work with Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone. They are better goalkeepers than him anyway."
Almunia is not a vindictive man. Far from it. Ask anyone at Arsenal about the 30-year-old from Pamplona and they will talk about him being one of the more popular members of Arsène Wenger's dressing room. That is why he is so appalled by Lehmann's behaviour. "It's his problem, not mine, and I don't see why I should try to talk to him about it. The truth is I don't want to talk to him. I came into training this morning and one of the press officers told me he had been saying bad things about me in the newspapers again. It didn't surprise me. The truth is I have got used to reading these things from him. If he was someone important to me, I would try to talk to him and see what the problem is. But he's not. So we don't talk."
Lehmann, it should be pointed out, has history when it comes to falling out with rival goalkeepers and, famously, had a long-standing grudge with Oliver Kahn as they competed for the same place in the German national team. Yet Almunia, by all accounts, is a difficult man to dislike.
"I've never been in a situation like this before in my career," he says. "Normally we goalkeepers have so much respect for each other. Why he doesn't respect me, I don't know. But I don't want any relationship with him. I try not to let what he says enter my mind because it's not important to me what he says or what he thinks."
The people who matter to Almunia are his family and the rest of the Arsenal players. Plus, of course, Arsène Wenger. "I have had a lot of nice words from them," he says. "I've been in the first XI nearly all the season and I'm happy with my form. I've kept my level up and I think I can be satisfied with my performances. Apart from one person, the people here have shown a lot of confidence in me."
Almunia has had to show the strength of his character because he has been under scrutiny ever since he displaced Lehmann. One newspaper likened him to Manuel from Fawlty Towers after Manchester United's 2-2 draw at the Emirates in November, but the volume has gradually been turned down on his critics. One certainty is that he has made fewer errors than the man who seems so intent on demeaning him. Lehmann, lest it be forgotten, was dropped because, in Wenger's opinion, the 38-year-old had become a danger to his own team.
Since then, Lehmann has been increasingly getting under Wenger's skin and there was a telling scene at the manager's press conference yesterday when he was asked whether the German would get a new contract when his present deal expires at the end of this season. "Pardon?" said Wenger incredulously. The question was repeated and Wenger snorted with laughter. "The boss is trying to build a team of kind people," says Almunia. "He wants easy-going people who have character. He doesn't like arguments in the dressing room."
The Spaniard signed his own contract extension last week and is confident of retaining his place even if, as seems highly likely, Wenger signs a replacement for Lehmann. "If another goalkeeper comes in he will be made welcome," he says. "I hope we can have a good atmosphere with all the goalkeepers working together. I signed my contract because my heart is with Arsenal."
He is, however, still feeling depressed after what has been a chastening period for the club, culminating in them going out of the Champions League against Liverpool on Tuesday. "It's been a very difficult period," he says of a run that has also seen Wenger's side fall out of contention in the Premier League. "Nobody expected us to have such a bad time as this. Manchester United and Chelsea had a few bad games at the start of the season and we've had our bad period at the crucial point of the league. That has killed us.
"If you have one player off form, it is fine because you can replace him. But when it's many players, all at the same time, the team will suffer. We are a young team and our squad is quite small. Maybe we've lost confidence, too. Everything seems to have affected us and it looks as though Eduardo's injury has in particular. The truth is that ever since that game, Birmingham away, we have not played well. The team have not given 100% and we have bad results."
The scene in the away dressing room at Anfield was particularly emotional. "Everyone had their heads down, close to tears. It was very quiet, not a time for anyone to be blaming anybody else. I was devastated. I'm so upset and disappointed. But we have to come back stronger next year. We need a bigger squad, maybe some new players with greater experience, and then we'll be OK." And Almunia, one suspects, will not be heartbroken to know that the bad-tempered German who has been scoffing about his performances all season will not be around to see it.
