Bernd Leno was seen to be unhappy on the bench as Aaron Ramsdale put in a Man of the Match performance for Arsenal against Leicester this weekend, and Martin Keown has defender the German.
Ramsdale has taken the opportunity to stake a claim for a first-team role with both hands, leaving his team-mate benched in the league since Aaron made his debut against Norwich in September.
The goalkeeper has now been named on the four-man shortlist to be named Arsenal Player of the Month for October, as well as being the WhoScored.com Premier League goalkeeper for the same month, and is showing no signs of letting up on his grip on being number one.
While is it smelling pretty for the Englishman, Leno is clearly not enjoying the best time, despite putting in his own impressive display in the EFL Cup against Leeds.
The former Bayer Leverkusen star was seen to be frustrated at the weekend despite his team winning, and his mood has been mentioned in the press, but former defender Keown believes it should be a positive that players want to be playing on the pitch, and that he remained professional despite his feelings.
“You don’t want players on the bench with smiling faces. I have to say I thought Leno was immensely professional in the game midweek against Leeds and showed really good character.
“You want two very good goalkeepers, do you not?
“You want to put one another under pressure and that’s what I see, an honest fight for the jersey.
“That was an outstanding performance from Ramsdale, but Arsenal will want to minimise the shots that he had to face.”
Leno’s performances on the field have left a lot to be desired in the past couple of seasons, and it was only going to be a matter of time before somebody else picked up where Emi Martinez left off.
I certainly wasn’t expecting Ramsdale to hit the ground running as he has however, nor was I expecting him depose Leno so quickly, but with him in goal the whole team has been able to grow in confidence, and we now look like we have enough in the team to beat anyone.
Patrick