Jens Lehmann Backed to Be a Success at Arsenal by Former Teammates Robert Pires & Gilberto Silva

Recently installed Arsenal coach Jens Lehmann has been backed to be a success by former teammates Robert Pires and Gilberto Silva.

In interviews with Sky Sports, both former invincibles endorsed the move by manager Arsene Wenger to install goalkeeping great Lehmann as a member of his coaching staff, while Wenger himself also suggested that the German could help foster a winning mentality throughout the current team.

Image by Adam Samuel

And Gunners legend Pires held a similar view, saying: "It is good news. I'm very pleased for Jens, he's a good guy and a good professional. He can help the goalkeepers but not only them, the rest of the squad as well.

"You need to have a competitive side and Jens has always had that. He's a great professional. He's a German too, so he has his own rules. Sometimes he is very strict, but you need to have discipline in the dressing room and Jens is the man to bring that."

Image by Adam Samuel

And fellow invincible Silva, who spent five years alongside the German in north London, echoed the Frenchman's sentiment, saying: "I am very pleased for Jens and for the club. He is a very professional person and a guy who is passionate for the game.

''I am sure it will be very important for the club to have him around because he is the kind of person who pushes the other guys when he sees something that is not right. The way he does things is in a very positive way.

"Maybe sometimes people saw him do things in the past and had a different interpretation of things but the way he was with us, sometimes we laughed. But in the end, we knew he was doing it for the benefit of the team. Sometimes you must have someone like this."

Arsenal have enjoyed a heavy pre-season schedule, touring through Australia and China in recent weeks and returning to London for the Emirates cup this weekend.

Whilst new signings Alexander Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac continue to bed in, rumours continue to swirl around the future of talisman Alexis Sanchez, who has refused to pen a new club record contract and is expected to move on this summer. With the Gunners insistent that he will not be sold to a rival, Qatari owned French giants Paris Saint-Germain are his most likely destination.