David Seaman opens up on beef between two ex-Arsenal stars: ‘They didn’t speak’

David Seaman says his fellow former Arsenal goalkeepers Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia had such a poor relationship that the wouldn’t even warm up together.

Lehmann had been first choice in goal for Gunners from when he signed from Borussia Dortmund in 2003 until the end of the 2006-07 season.

It had been a successful time for the German and his team, winning the Premier League in 2004, FA Cup in 2005 and losing in the 2006 Champions League final, when Lehmann was shown a red card against Barcelona, with Almunia coming off the bench as a result.

In the 2007-08 season the Spaniard replaced Lehmann as first choice, with German relegated to the substitutes’ bench and not liking it one bit.

Seaman remembers their relationship completely breaking down, to the point that Lehmann would not even fulfil his duties to help the first choice goalkeeper warm up before matches.

‘I remember, I think it was Jens Lehmann and Almunia – they didn’t like each other,’ Seaman said in conversation with David Raya on the Seaman Says podcast with Betway.

‘They didn’t speak. They wouldn’t warm each other up in the warm-up, so the coach had to go and do the warm-up with them.’

Almunia spoke about the frosty relationship at the time, saying he received no help at all from his teammate who was struggling to accept that he had fallen down the pecking order.

‘He is one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, used to playing at big clubs, being an international and a key player,’ Almunia told Spanish publication AS. ‘But when you have done everything, it is hard to admit that you are in decline.

‘He is a classic German, hard, one of those who only wants to win, and that is not possible all the time.

‘I respect him, but we don’t have much close contact to be honest. What’s more I don’t understand him; when he was playing I was right behind him, at his side.

‘In Spain we are different: a good relationship between goalkeepers is very normal as you spend a lot of time together and do the same job. Lehmann does not help me at all.’

Lehmann did not hide his disappointment over the situation and even his disdain for his teammate who had replaced him.

‘To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny,’ he said.

The Germany international said watching Almunia’s displays in goal angered him and felt that his relegation to the Spaniard’s understudy was a ‘humiliation’ from the club.

‘My coach confirmed to me my impression that he uses a different measuring stick to evaluate Almunia…… when I see the performances on the field, I get angry and I have to clench my fist in my pocket,’ he said at the time.

‘At the moment I’m just swallowing it all as part of the humiliation. That’s something one has to take in. But I think – and this is aimed at my dear manager – one shouldn’t humiliate players for too long.’

However, it all appears to be water under the bridge now as Almunia spoke very positively about Lehmann in 2017, remembering the good times more than the bad.

‘When time goes by, you come back and you remember these things very nicely,’ he told Goal.

‘I have to say despite all the problems we had on the training ground or challenging for the No.1 shirt at Arsenal, I learned so much from him – how to behave on the pitch, how to treat your players, how to command the players, how to look strong on the pitch.

‘I learned a lot from Jens. He is one of the keepers I liked most in my life. I was very lucky to share my time with him.’