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Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno was one of the somewhat surprising cuts this morning by Joachim Löw. Leno, who was the starting goalkeeper for Die Werkself this past season, is a solid professional with good experience; while Kevin Trapp spent the season toiling away as a back-up for Paris Saint-Germain where he got more action off the field than on it.
At 27, Trapp is a year older than Leno (26), but played far less over the past season. In fact, Trapp made just 10 appearance for PSG, as opposed to the 38 appearances made by Leno per WhoScored.com.
But were Trapp and Leno even the two best candidates?
Aside of Trapp and Leno, Sven Ulreich turned in a stronger season than either keeper for Bayern Munich. Ulreich was solid pretty much all season for Die Roten, aside of his Champions League howler versus Real Madrid and a few other random lapses before Jupp Heynckes took over.
A strong argument could be made thate Ulreich should have been in camp ahead of either Leno or Trapp. Ulreich made 47 appearances and registered 17 clean sheets while filling in for the injure Manuel Neuer.
Hard to explain
As much as cutting Leroy Sané was puzzling, the Leno move was equally as much a head-scratcher. To his credit, Leno took the cut well and wished friends well in the World Cup.
Hallo Leute, natürlich bin ich sehr enttäuscht, ich habe im Trainingslager alles für den großen Traum gegeben. Aber das gehört zum Sport - Rückschläge wegstecken, Entscheidungen akzeptieren und weiter alles geben! #DerMannschaft wünsche ich natürlich viel Erfolg in Russland ! pic.twitter.com/GbHTIKivAE
— Bernd Leno (@Bernd_Leno) June 4, 2018
Hello people, of course I am very disappointed, I gave it my all in the training camp for the big dream. But that’s part of sports - suffering setbacks, accepting decisions, and continuing to give it all! I wish #DieMannschaft of course a lot of success in Russia!
Leno, who is rumored to be seeking a new club home, can now devote his time to figuring out if leaving Leverkusen is the right move.