The international break was the closest yet to Aaron Ramsdale admitting he may have to consider his future at Arsenal if he carries on being on the bench in the League.
Sam Johnstone being picked ahead of him for the friendly with Australia now has the 25-year fearing if his seat on the plane for Euro 2024 is secure?
Only he knows what conversations he’s had with Gareth Southgate.
The issue is his national boss’s selection criteria seems to change by the day.
Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips play for the Three Lions no matter their limited minutes for their club, so in theory a backup keeper could go to Germany based on Carabao Cup action.
I feel though it would be a mistake for our keeper to base his decision entirely on Germany. Let’s remember for two years he’s performed to a higher standard than Pickford and that hasn’t changed who starts in goal for England.
A loan or permanent move therefore won’t alter the faith Southgate has in Pickford.
I think the player is smart enough to realise that if David Raya isn’t dropped after this weekend he never will be.
Forget being off his line to concede from a cross. It’s three games in a row now that the Spaniard has lost possession to an attacker, his ability on the ball apparently his strength.
Wasn’t the idea for competition to bring out the best in both GK?
Didn’t our manager say he was basing his choice game by game?
What happened to his vision of subbing keepers?
Raya has made a lot of errors very early on in his Arsenal career.
Yet each time Arteta just sits there laughing at the press.
After Man City, due to the euphoria he got away with telling us fans tactically don’t understand, that it takes courage to waste so much time on the ball ,Alvarez charges you down and nearly scores!
This week, the same grin. Our coach is now claiming he’s yet to see any signs of Raya feeling unconfident!
It would be scarier If he believes it.
Yet in reality, Arteta can’t recall Ramsdale in the league for the simple reason ….to do that he has to admit he was wrong.
He’s too arrogant to do that.
A great manager sticks to his convictions, but they also acknowledge when they got something wrong.
This is a man who promised each summer all players have a fresh start only to rip up contracts and pay talent to sit at home.
He preferred watching Eddie Nketiah and Lacazette struggle to fire us into the Champions League rather than finding a compromise with Aubameyang.
He spitefully put Matt Smith on bench just to antagonize Ozil and cited it was footballing reasons.
Ramsdale will be aware of all of that.
His biggest obstacle is not proving he’s better than Raya, it’s Arteta’s ego.
I maintain this is the decision that will go too far and blow up in Arteta’s face.
In Ramsdale’s position, you don’t hit your peak till you’re past the age of 30.
So, he convinced Edu to invest in a youngster knowing they would have to be patient just to change his mind years later?
Why authorize a contract extension for him merely months ago.
Ramsdale will go elsewhere and be a star.
I hope now Gooners realise they were lied to. There never was this concept of going game by game and having two number ones. He simply thinks Raya is better than Ramsdale.
He gets paid a lot of money to have that opinion.
He’s wrong. We saw that in the NLD ….in France……against City ……..at the Bridge.
He’s wrong.
He won’t admit it though and it will cost us.
Dan
Surely Arsenal resolve will be tested, maybe as early as this Winter if the young Englishman working conditions isn’t improve.
Contrary to the gaffer and some fans, there is only one out come when two bulls end up in one pen.
I can’t remember a single situation in life where I tried to against conventional wisdom.
If he intends to start strong as we all expected then you’re right but unfortunately reverse is the case, so it is what it is and this GK controversy is part of it.
OMG!!
I think this situation is being completely blown out of proportion. Everybody seems to be ignorant of the fact regarding Ramsdale newborn.
Hypothetically speaking i think the gaffer thought it best to give Ramsdale a break as his mind is probably focussed on family matters.
Aaron Ramsey??
Haha yeah was early this morning lol sorry
I think this article is at least 4 years too late!,
Eh? Why he’s only been here 2 lol
It says Aaron Ramsey 🙂
Arteta’s obvious choice is Raya. He had coveted the player for a long time now, even before he acquired Ramsdale (not Ramsey, by the way).
I dare to say that if Raya had been available at the time, Arteta would have gone for him rather than Ramsdale. So when the opportunity to get Raya on very favourable terms came, Arteta could not pass the chance of fulfilling his long-term desire for the player.
It would take some massive underwhelming performances on the part of Raya in the next 7 – 8 months for Arteta to reinstate Ramsdale. The result: Ramsdale would be gone by the summer if he can’t play second fiddle.
You heard it here first.
You mean underwhelming like in three of our last 4 games passing the ball to the opponents
Even Ramsdale has been severally guilty of same. It’s a fallout of the system they are made to play
He did but not this quickly or at this frequency
Raya just played ahead of Ramsdale in a few important games. Just wait for ten more games before saying Raya has permanently replaced Ramsdale
Gai, you need to watch or read Arteta’s press conference he isn’t changing Raya anytime soon. I hope he is humble at learning stuffs from great coaches to be one. Chelsea absolutely nullify our midfield from playing this season because of Pochetino’s wealth of experience. I wish Arteta isn’t sentimental about his team selection in matches. A coach in an attenpt to “sticking to his guns” should excercise some flexibility. We can not always wait for substitutes at 75 minutes to change things in a game. At the end of the season he would be judged on results based on his decisions.
I remain optimistic of a good result tonight. If you can’t win it don’t lose it is my take.
Though I think Dan may have been a little harsh on the gaffer, do think he’s dead right on the Ramsdale and Raya Saga.
Setting up a situation where a perfectly good goal keeper find himself unexpectedly in a rotation system could be the biggest test yet face by the gaffer, not knowing for his Management skills will even make some of us nervous.
Seen as a carbon copy of Ederson, Raya was never going to be his number two, In Raya the gaffer may now feel the genuine Arteta ball is just a matter of time.
But the gaffer is walking a fine tight rope and needs to be sure that the players in question can handle the situation from a psychological perspective.
Whole thing is a damn shame!
One offshoot of this particular issue now is that all our fringe players who are actually good but cant get into the team because of better players ahead of them will start reconsidering their options now, since its looking increasingly clear that their value is not tied to their actual worth, but simply to the ego of the coach.
The depth is barely there to start with, but it is at a risk of disappearing altogether with B team players running for the exit doors to seek opportunities elsewhere where their value will be assessed based on their actual worth.
Trossard, Partey, ESR, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Ramsdale, Nelson to mention a few.
All it will take is for Ramsdale and former GK Martinez featuring in interviews of how they felt poorly treated and discriminated against by MA to turn it all into a full blown crisis
Like Leno did after he left as well. But I like the effect of having 5 subs now and Arteta changes when he feels we need it….
To my mind it is evidencial that RAMSDALE IS BY FAR a better keeper than RAYA and in ALL the qualities any top keeper needs . Confidence, an aura, top class saves aplenty(RAYA has only ONE so far) lack of hesitation when passing the ball, giving overall confidence to our other defenders.
I see no reason to keep inferior RAYA AT ALL.
You may ‘believe’ that Ramsdale is better. However there is evidence that Raya is better even with the mistakes that have been highlighted.
CARE TO PROVIDE THAT UNSEEN EVIDENCE THEN DAVID?? I have seen only ONE top class save from RAYA, though Ramsdale makes top class saves all the time winning us many points. RAYA HAS DONE NOTHING TO CONVINCE ANY PERCEPTIVE GOONER that he is anywhere near asgood as RAMSDALE .
IF you have that unseen evidence, then perhaps you would care to provide it for others beside you to see??
I am a huge Ramsdale fan, but I don’t think the contribution of him just having his first kid can be overlooked. I hope he gets his place back soon, but perhaps right now the sleepless nights and different frame of mind are making training difficult. I don’t know any of my (non professional sports) colleagues that have had a baby and not dropped the ball along the way