I hate to agree with @Flexo here but Ramsdale wasn’t good today.
He made a nice save for that Bowen chance but aside that his build-up was lacklustre and once again lacking at set pieces.
A reporter tried to bait Arteta by praising Ramsdale for his build-up today despite having the crowd om his back. Seeing countless Arteta pressers before, he tends to corroborate a praise for a specific player but he didn’t this time, he just said the crowd can react how they want and just waffled his way out of it.
Interesting to see if he gets another game now till January. If he doesn’t then I think it does confirm what some have speculated about Arteta bringing in Raya to be #1.
We’ll see how Ramsdale reacts to it as well. I think if he doesn’t get called up by England in the upcoming international break he may consider his options in January. Whether we sanction a move is another case. Chelsea are one of the interested sides as we know.
I think he’s done here. Arteta, I think justifiably, had some concerns with his form towards the end of last season. But the way he’s gone about replacing him in the middle of the season is just so strange to me. We’ll probably loan some journeyman keeper in January and try to move Ramsdale on a permanent basis.
He could turn in 10/10 performances any time he’s on the field for Arsenal but it’s pretty clear Arteta doesn’t rate him, let’s be brutally honest about it. I wish he was just as brutal in other positions with the team as he’s been with GK one. I think he’ll keep him for the rest of the season then sell him on in the summer.
So he was asked about Ramsdale in the Sky interview as well but he deflected that one as well and made some general point about every player wanting to do their best.
When asked about Nketiah though he said strikers need service and Eddie didn’t have that today.
Yeah, Aaron’s leaving the club in the next 6-12 months. No way he’ll want to stay here. Now we’re out of CC… his next appearance will be in an FA Cup tie perhaps? Or the last 1-2 group stage UCL games?
If Ramsdale doesn’t work out and is sold, it shows that Arteta isn’t worried about admitting his mistake, despite spending a record amount on him.
He’s decisive and ruthless, something Wenger rarely was in his last few seasons, especially with GK’s.
The problem for me is this - Ramsdale may well not be of the required quality for a top, top team and Arteta might be right with this; my issue is the conviction that Raya is of the required quality.
In the summer you could argue Onana was the hottest GK in the market, especially after his showings in the CL for Inter.
Now he’s seen as one of the biggest clowns in the league.
Maignan is an injury prone keeper which is a weird thing to say about a keeper.
Given Raya has an abundance of experience in England at various levels and situations and is already familiar with our GK coach, it’s not a bad move, even in hindsight.
People can focus on the negatives but I personally have seen the positives of his introduction to the team.
Not sure I said “elite” anywhere? Did you see elite anywhere?
I think he’s a great keeper that has a lot of things going for him here to make him a success. Mind you, I think Ramsdale’s great too but he excels in other things.
I think currently Raya just about edges Ramsdale out but I think Ramsdale has a higher peak and is still 3 years younger(at 25 he’s baby for a keeper).
I agree, I’ve got no problem with either GK, although they’re both prone to errors with the ball at their feet but there doesn’t seem a lot of difference in quality of either player.
It was a risky decision to replace Ramsdale but there must be something Arteta has seen, either in training or in games, that makes him think that he isn’t good enough and needed replacing.
Jorghino’s contract is up at the end of the season, right?
Partey is gone this summer anyway. The club were willing to sell him this summer and, at least for now, looks like they made a huge mistake not taking the money on offer.
ESR is gone next summer anyway. My guess is it’ll be a loan with some purchase option. It will be peanuts compared to what Villa offered us a few years ago but the club speculated on a talented young player and got burned. Shit happens.
Zinchenko and Jesus have turned out to be exactly what they were at City. They’re really good pieces but Zinchenko already had fitness issues and now Jesus is on the edge of having that label as well. I don’t think either are realistically going anywhere any time soon because they’re still good options.
As for Havertz? That guy is here for the duration of his contract. He genuinely looks like he’s forgotten how to move on the pitch based on last night’s performance.
