Bernd Leno says that Arsenal are still struggling to adapt to the new Premier League rule regarding goal kicks.
Among the nine regulations altered for the 2019-20 season, goalkeepers are no longer required to pass the ball outside the penalty area to a defender before the ball becomes live.
Opponents can instead intercept a pass in the box if teams choose to play out from the back, as the Gunners did to calamitous effect in last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Watford at Vicarage Road.
Unai Emery’s side took several risks and were eventually caught out when Leno played a short ball to Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who lost possession to Gerard Deulofeu, allowing Tom Cleverley to score.
Watford later equalised, leading to criticism from several former Gunners, including defender Martin Keown, who claimed “it is like watching schoolboys sometimes when they try to bring the ball out”.
Leno stated the tactic remains a work in process, but believes the law change has complicated things.
“It has changed the game a lot because the first pass is always without pressure to, for example, the centre-backs,” the 27-year-old told Standard Sport.
“The first pass is always without danger and then the team can decide [from there].
"It is more difficult now [when teams] press very high for the defending team.
"But you see, the rule changed the game a little bit and it is new for everybody. We have to work with this change.”
Arsenal’s next chance to respond comes in Thursday’s Europa League opener at Eintracht Frankfurt.
