Arteta: Ramsdale’s competitiveness boosts the crowd

It’s been a pretty good week for Aaron Ramsdale so far.

After his heroics at Leicester on Saturday, which included a save that broke the internet, some superb baiting of the home fans and being serenaded by Gooners as “England’s number one”, the summer signing received another call-up from Gareth Southgate and with it the chance to pitch for his senior debut.

The impressive form has come as a bit of a shock for Arsenal supporters who were left scratching their collective heads when rumours first surfaced that the club was eager to pay big money for a player relegated in successive seasons with Bournemouth and Sheffield United.

In the last few weeks, the majority have fallen hard for the heady mix of acrobatics and cheeky smiles. For Arteta, the player’s performances and the manner in which he’s captivated the terraces is less surprising.

Put to him that the goalkeeper has made a connection with fans, Arteta said: “The right word is the one you used, it’s ‘connection’. Connection means unity and bringing a different kind of vibration between the fans and players. It’s very necessary.

“Aaron is capable of transmitting that in a natural way, I think his competitiveness on the pitch brings the crowd to a different level because it’s his application and desire to win. This is the mentality that we need.”

While Ramsdale is yet to taste defeat in Arsenal colours, his ability to draw a line under bad moments and to not take mistakes to heart is something that Arteta paid close attention to during the scouting process.

“Each time I watched a game, I wanted to watch a lot of clips and moments after he was conceding a goal, making a mistake or in a difficult moment,” he said.

“One of the big reasons why we made a decision to sign him was because he could cope with those.

“Obviously we have to identify where we can get better, what we’re missing and how we want to mould our spirits and our leadership. That’s obviously about personalities that you bring into the club. We thought that Aaron could be very beneficial.”

Despite admitting that Ramsdale is a willing participant in squad banter the boss made very clear that his professionalism is unrivalled.

“He has this character where he’s able to do that but the moment that we’re working, he’s absolute business and is so demanding, there’s no laughs, no room for any complacency, it’s just about winning.”

While Ramsdale thrives, teammate Bernd Leno has been left in the unusual situation of sitting on the bench week in, week out. At the King Power Stadium, the broadcast director made a deliberate point of zooming in on the German’s face in the aftermath of Ramsdale’s incredible double-save to deny James Maddison and Jonny Evans. To be fair, he looked as impressed as the rest of us.

Arteta says Leno is playing a part in helping the new boy perform.

“What we have experienced with Bernd over the last three years, first as a person, I didn’t have any doubts[about his attitude].

“Obviously, he’s disappointed and he should be disappointed because he wants to play and he’s used to playing. At the same time, what he needs to do is raise his level and he’s going to raise Aaron’s level [in doing that].

“If Aaron is performing really well, a big part of that is because Bernd is next to him, trying to help him and support him in training and make him a great goalkeeper and this is what we want.”