I know there's already a Ramsdale thread but I think it would be inappropriate to turn his appreciation thread into a controversial one, which is what this thread will likely become. Whether intended or not, Mikel Arteta has started a controversy in goal that few think is necessary, and many think is insane given how much has gone right for the Arsenal over the last 12-18 months. So here we are, just 2 games into the David Raya era, and people are rapidly reacting to his impressive performances in goal at Everton, and at home vs PSV. All the fans and pundits are talking and taking sides when the focus should really be on the North London Derby. For me, I'm sure Arteta thinks he knows what he's doing, but at the same time I'm old enough to know it doesn't matter what Arteta thinks. He's only going to be able to control who plays from match to match. He won't be able to control the narrative among fans or pundits regarding a competition that didn't need to exist this season. Here's hoping the goalkeeper competition doesn't derail the entire mission.
That soundbite plays well in a vacuum, but I'm sure you care enough to know they couldn't possibly accept the roles they've (presumably) been told to understand. And if they haven't been told, that's an even bigger problem.
I see this situation as similar to what we had with Tierney and Zinchenko a year ago. KT was(is) a loyal servant of the club and a top performer in the Prem at his position for several years here, but club management found a player in OZ that simply offered more. And now the club even bought Timber, who represents another upgrade at the same position based on what we’ve already seen in preseason and MD1. None of this means KT is a horrible player or a bad person. The club didn’t do him dirty. This club isn’t a charity (as far as I’m aware), and our mission is to win trophies in a reasonably sustainable way. When a player becomes available who presents an upgrade over a current player, it does the club no good to be loyal to the existing player and the detriment of the team and its fan base. This happened a year ago with KT-OZ, and now it’s happened again with AR-DR. For the last ~20 years, we’ve had to accept whatever players the club could manage to bring in. We were mediocre to good, but not great. Our players (for the most part) gave everything they had, and we respected them for that. But this club wants to be great - which means fans like you and I have to start to accept that very good and loyal players will need to be sold/moved on in order to continue to improve and eventually maintain top-level status. I’m starting to appreciate that Edu/Arteta develop personal relationships with each player, but they don’t become too emotionally attached and become unable to separate fact and logic from emotions in order to make hard choices for the betterment of the team.
I like this response a lot. For me, the major difference is the press never latching onto KT and OZ as a story. There was nothing there to report. My fear is that the media has latched onto this goalkeeper competition as a story that deserves attention. I think it could become a distraction to our season and something Arteta never considered would be a distraction.
Honestly I think Ramsdale is in trouble. Raya so far is better at claiming crosses and is better with his distribution. I feel like this thread ends in 12 months time with a "thank you for everything Ramsdale" post.
If you think about it, the move to sign Raya isn't all that different from the move to sign Ramsdale. Both relatively surprising moves late in the window. Both thrust into the starting role only a few games into the season . . .
This will become less an issue if Raya (presumably) continues to play as well as he has in his first 2 matches here, and if the club also plays well. If Raya starts pull howlers like Onana or Lloris, then we’ll start to have lots of debate and unwanted attention. We also went through a similar transition 2 years ago when we sold Emi, kept Leno, and bought Ramsdale. Nobody seems to be talking about that either. That was a non-issue a few weeks after Ramsdale took over. Also don’t forget that Ramsdale (so far) has demonstrated he is a top professional. He’s now been on both sides of this GK situation. I’m also reminded of Aaron’s comments after we bought Trossard in January - basically along the lines of “he didn’t come here to come off the bench, he expects to start.” AR knows how this game is played. He’s still being paid well, and if he permanently loses his starting spot, then he’ll almost definitely land at another top club - which he deserves.
There's no controversy, Arteta originally wanted Raya we got Runnarson, next season we get Ramsdale. We got a chance to upgrade on the GK position because other clubs bought replacements early in the window (sans united) after being turned away at Brentford's initial asking price for Raya. Raya will continue between the sticks, his stats were better in a worse team. In his brief stint, he has looked more assured on the ball (touches, distribution, claiming crosses, etc). If I'm Ramsdale, I'm asking my agents to put out feelers for a transfer in the winter window to fight for the #1 spot for England's Euro campaign. He isn't going to be satisfied with the domestic cups and he'll need games to prove his worth to an already partial, Southgate
I’m sure they have I think you are interested in the media story over what’s taking place on the pitch. I disagree He can be the keeper he looked like when he started at Arsenal. He hasn’t been that for the last 16 months.
Raya probably hasn't come up with crazy saves (higher quality shots) like Ramsdale in the past year - Madisson fk save, Liverpool, sp*rs, double save vs Everton, Rice header, etc When you compare their career (league) stats, Raya's post-shot xg minus ga, is slightly lower than Ramsdale at 0.25 vs 0.27
I actually have a Tonya Harding wedding night video I bought way back, BITD she looked kinds hot, not so much nowadays. But I have been out of the Arsenal fold for the past couple of weeks, obviously I couldn't watch the Everton match and I still haven't subscribed to Paramount+ yet for the UCL, but since the Derby will be on Peacock I WILL be in my red & white finest at 6:00 am straight up to see us destroy Shit!!! As for the whole Aaron Ramsdale/David Raya goalkeeper competition, I think that it'll actually be a good thing for the morale of the club. If you want to be in the Starting XI then you're gonna have to EARN IT!!! Same thing with your Zinchenko/Tierney competition last season, it'll make guys step it up every practice out at Colney. I'll venture that Arsene Wenger probably did the very same thing 20 years ago when that band of men known better as The Invincibles last won the League for us.
Talk of Wolves possibly moving for Ramsdale in January with Saudi interest in their current keeper Jose Sa. I don't presume to know if Hein is capable enough to be our #2 should anything happen to Raya, but if he's not, I'd think Arteta would not allow Ramsdale to leave in January. https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/ar...igning-goalkeeper-january/blt759b16747e782e98
Bingo. If Ramsdale leaves and Raya is injured the drop off between Raya and our next best is dramatic.
Unless we can somehow acquire a Ramsdale replacement in January??? Seems low probability, because of availability, little time to bed in, etc.
Doesn't sound like Ramsdale wants to leave, and we are 0% chance of getting quality depth in that position.
I can't imagine Ramsdale wants to stay beyond this season. It's obvious this isn't a competition for the #1. Staying will hurt his career tremendously at this point.
Yup, it's really really hard to imagine Rambo leaving in January (unless maybe a loan) but it's quite easy to imagine him being sold in Summer. BUT if he does somehow leave next month, I really really don't want Hein to be our only #2. And if Arteta feels similarly, that's a big reason why I'm thinking all of this January speculation is very low probability.