Jamie Redknapp admits that he was ‘so wrong’ about Arsenal’s signing of Aaron Ramsdale this summer.
The goalkeeper was expected to play as back-up to Bernd Leno this season, despite arriving for a reasonable fee, and he has since silenced a number of his doubters.
Many have gone as far as to admit that they were wrong to have doubted the addition, with Redknapp just the latest to have to admit that he got it wrong.
“He has surprised me,” Redknapp said live on Sky Sports in the build-up to our clash with Watford(as quoted by HITC). “I have got to be honest. I got it so wrong with him.
“I thought it was a very strange signing. He has been a revelation because he has given him that confidence at the back.”
I don’t believe even the Arsenal hierarchy were expecting such an immediate impact from their summer signing, but the club clearly believed in their decision to bring Ramsdale to north London as proved by the time spent trying to complete his arrival.
There is little complaint about any of our summer signings at this point, with each of those having proved their worth to the team at this early point into their Arsenal careers, while the goalkeeper definitely ranks as the biggest surprise having outdone all expectations thus far.
Patrick
I have to admit I have severely underestimated the contributions Ramsdale has made to the team. I thought he was an overpriced backup, but how wrong I was.
He looks to be THE SIGNING of the summer so far, and it looks as if Leno has lost the spot. Even if his form dipped for a game, I would still start him the next; I think he has earned that at the least.
Wouldn’t be surprised if he takes over the starting spot for the England squad soon, he’s playing that well to be honest.
Arteta has solved the defensive issues for me with these additions, and let’s not forget about White playing solid, Gabriel has to be one of the top CB’s in the league so far, and Tomi has taken over the RB spot, not competition in sight for any of them at this point.
I love Tierney, but he has a fight on his hands to get that spot back from Taveres; I wouldn’t just give it back to him.
Agree on everything you’ve said, especially in ramsdale. Looks brilliant, although time will tell – tavares might overtake him as signing of the summer, he really looks good to me (physically, technically, mentally and he seems able to mix up his attacking play much better than most fullbacks, more like a midfielder)
I must be honest, I didn’t think we had severe defensive issues at the end of last season – wasn’t convinced by Leno, but the rest were perfectly fine imo (although Chambers plummeted at the start of the season after looking good at the end of last) – but the signings have taken us up a level and given a better platform for the attackers.
These are interesting viewpoints and it is perhaps understandable that quite a few people felt it was unnecessary to upgrade the defence. However, despite our relative good defensive record at the end of last season it is clear that we have had problems for years.
We did not have a reliable right back. No one could hold down the position and for all that Chambers did have a purple patch he was never going to be the long time solution. The central defence has also been an issue. Holding, while reasonably good in the air and in one on one situations has some glaring weaknesses which meant he was often benched for Luiz. Not replacing Luiz would have meant Holding would now be a first choice defender for the season. Leno is a world class shot stopper but has a number of weaknesses.
Arteta has been setting up the team to cover for these and other weaknesses in the team. This is an issue often overlooked and something he has alluded to at various points whilst he has been here. He has generally not been respected for making these points and on this site he has simply been accused of being a novice and blaming his players when things went wrong.
The club has clearly understood that the previous iterations of the playing squad squad were limited in key aspects of the game and took steps to address them.
It is still relatively early days in this season and there are significant challenges ahead but it is clear that careful thought has gone into recruitment.