Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann claims he could have prevented their elimination from the Champions League – if only he had been given the chance.
Lehmann, 38, hit out at manager Arsene Wenger and first-choice keeper Manuel Almunia, 30, after Tuesday’s defeat by Liverpool.
“For me it is a tragedy since I did not have a chance to prevent it,” he told Kicker.
“I stayed here to win the competition and saw good chances to play but I’ve not had them. It makes me very angry.”
During the Bundesliga’s winter break, the German international keeper turned down a return to Borussia Dortmund in an effort to regain his starting place with the Gunners.
But, he has remained on the bench and is now concerned that a lack of first-team action could cost him any chance of playing at Euro 2008.
“To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny,” he added. “I am very angry.
“If the coach had spoken to me before the start of the season then I would have been able to decide if I wanted to sit on the bench,” he stated.
“He has a different opinion and I don’t really believe he can be happy with it.”
