The ex-Liverpool player Graeme Souness has come out in his column for the Daily Mail saying that Aaron Ramsdale should fight for his place at Arsenal, and made some sly comments on how Ramsdale’s dad shouldn’t be fighting his battles for him.
Saying in the article “it is time for Aaron Ramsdale to do his own fighting, rather than his dad doing it for him after” and “The Arsenal goalkeeper has to show what he is made of and deal with the situation in which he finds himself. Mikel Arteta fancies David Raya more than he does Ramsdale right now, but that can change”.
Going onto to say “for Ramsdale, this is a tough, mental challenge. He cannot point to anything he’s done wrong on a consistent basis that has cost him his place in the team. Sport at its highest level can be cruel and can be seen to be unfair. But there is only one person who can right that perceived injustice and that’s not Ramsdale’s Father”.
Ramsdale’s dad Nick Ramsdale recently went on The Highbury Podcast where he sat down and discussed his son being dropped this season and how it had affected our English keeper, saying he had “lost his smile” since losing the top spot and said it had been really difficult for Ramsdale to take and process.
A lot of snippets have gone around, and a few things were taken out of context, so I’d recommend actually going and listening to the whole podcast before you make any judgments. In my opinion Ramsdale’s dad didn’t come across like he was complaining or anything like that, but just gutted to see his son going through a difficult time in his career. Saying very clearly that he wasn’t saying anything to try make David Raya look bad and urged Arsenal fans to back Raya and support him.
Personally, I never really take anything Souness says seriously as he seems like the type to write things for clicks but he does have a point, if Ramsdale wants to continue his career at Arsenal he will need to step up and fight for his spot. Ramsdale is arguably one of the main reasons we made top four last season and I, along with I’m sure a lot of Arsenal fans, want to see him do well.
But the fact is that the buck stops with Arteta, and if he wants to keep his job he needs to play whatever he thinks his best team from his talented squad. Manchester City are still hot favourites to win the League, but as I have had a nice bet on Arsenal through bonuscodebet to beat them this season, I want Arteta to choose his best team on merit in every single game, don’t you?
But the fact is that now there are a few reports coming out saying that rival clubs are interested in signing Aaron, so it simply leaves Ramsdale to decide to stay in a position to either fight for his place or to look for other options.
What’s your thoughts on the Ramsdale situation Gooners?
I wouldn’t blame Ramsdale if he left. Can’t be a top keeper like he is and be okay with being a bench player. But football / real life goes like that. It can flip in a micro second and you are on the other end of the rod.