I have often said that sometimes in sport you need luck.
Sometimes timing is everything.
Any other time in his career, Ramsdale saving a penalty in a Community Shield might not be significant, but if ever the 25 year old needed a great afternoon at Wembley it was Sunday.
It’s not clear if Arteta has offered any assurances to his keeper over rumours that it’s a case of when and not if David Raya becomes a Gunner.
There are many who have worked with our manager who have said he’s not the type who feels the need to explain his thought process.
While I disagree with our goalie’s notion that beating Man City on spot kicks now clears a mental barrier, he certainly spoke about Arsenal’s future like he was a part of it. He has the self-belief to back himself that this will be the case.
I don’t believe too many Gooners truly believe 30-35 million would be invested on a keeper to sit on the bench, Raya wouldn’t agree a move to North London if the number one shirt wasn’t up for grabs.
This idea that you can rotate between who’s between the posts is nonsense. It’s a position where you need consistency and for relationships to be developed with the defence.
All Ramsdale can do is play how he did yesterday and make himself undroppable.
Forget his save to keep out Rodri’s pen, he also made two crucial stops when the score was 1-0 to keep us alive with hope, a 1-1 save to stop Foden and tipping a header wide.
It would be harsh to drop him next Saturday based on this performance.
His boss might say that was the point, that by creating competition he got the best out of a youngster who maybe got complacent last season when errors started to increase.
Ramsdale plays in a position where many feel you don’t reach your peak till 30 and over so in theory he will only get better.
He’s a popular part of our team and while supporters will be happy that we got one over Pep Guardiola, they will equally be delighted for Ramsdale.
There are parallels to when we last lifted the community shield.
Arteta won the shield on his first attempt by beating Liverpool on pens in 2020, also after a 1-1 draw.
Back then, the Spaniard wanted to create competition between Martinez and Leno. At the time Martinez had become a fan favourite due to his exploits in us winning the FA Cup.
The idea was the Argentine would start the campaign as number one as he had the baton, and it was his ’til he dropped it.
Yet when Martinez wanted verbal assurance he would start every week, it was the beginning of the end.
The Community shield turned out to be his last game in an Arsenal shirt.
Time will tell if Ramsdale has purely put a plaster on a massive wound, or if his Arsenal career is still breathing.
He knows his employers are about to invest a lot in someone after his place.
He could have felt sorry for himself and gone through the motions.
Yet he gave the perfect response.
Who knows, we might look at this weekend as a crucial one in the career of Ramsdale?
Dan
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