Aaron Ramsdale produced a series of important stops to keep his first clean sheet in nine games as Arsenal kept up the pressure on Manchester City with a gutsy 2-0 win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
After the match, the England international faced questions from Sky Sports.
Here’s what he had to say on the win, Mikel Arteta’s pre-game team talk and the gameplan…
On the mood in the dressing room…
Immense pride. A bit of relief as well, especially after the talk of what happened last year. To put on a performance and a game which they didn’t want to play and impose ourselves onto the game and the crowd; we’re full of relief and real proud.
On how much last season’s defeat was mentioned internally…
It wasn’t mentioned up until the meeting before we left the hotel. The manager showed us a clip of the documentary last year, showed us all our faces, staff included, showing how hurt we were feeling, all of our reactions. We had that burning desire as soon as we left the hotel that it wasn’t going to be the same today.
On the clip giving the team all the motivation it needed…
It might have given us extra motivation. Not all of it, because, at the end of the day, we’re fighting with Manchester City to try and do something special. It gave us that extra bit when we needed to dig deep, it really helped us.
On playing in such an intense atmosphere…
It’s enjoyable. It might not [look that way] for everyone else, but I really enjoy it. There’s nothing else you can ask for than so many fans screaming for one team, our away fans packed out the away end, singing all day. Once you ride that storm, that’s when you’ve got to be composed and try and play. I thought we thoroughly deserved the lead. We got lucky with them hitting the post but from then on, we were in control really.
On his save from Joe Willock…
When you come away to any Premier League stadium you’ve got to be [ready]. I was a bit lucky there [with the save from Joe Willock]. I’m thinking he’s going to reverse it but managed to get my foot out.
On his save from Fabian Schar’s header…
This one’s a real enjoyable one. I played here for Sheffield United in the lockdown season and I made a very similar save, I think from Jonjo Shelvey. We work a lot with our goalie coach on reactions and getting set.
On the gameplan and using Jorginho…
I think that is a massive strength of Jorginho, to get on the ball and play. We played the other day against Chelsea and it was a similar theme. We spoke before the game, there’s no shame in going long and winning territory, every team does it, so we tried to weather the storm for the first 10-15 minutes and then played through him [Jorginho]. He was fantastic today and man of the match, rightly so.
On the message to Manchester City…
We’ll be going as hard as we can for three games. It’s not in our hands at the minute but we’ll be pushing every step of the way. Hopefully, if they slip up, we’ll be there to pick up the pieces. We’ll be looking on from the wings.
That save against Schar was absolutely top drawer!
10/10 brick wall. Saving our bacon yet again
Jorginho was truly outstanding.
Was it just me or did Arteta look super annoyed when the reporter told him Ramsdale had told them about this? Hahaha
Assuming it wasn’t the lightbulb that came out again. Endearing as it was, that was a shit prop.
I guess all the down thumbers though it was a good prop.
No wonder White played so well, he doesn’t want to be forced to look at a TV screen again.
Those thugs got what they deserved. Thought they could bully the Gunners.
Just a rich Stoke City
It turned out we signed Chelsea’s best player in January. Jorghino was imperial. Could the story have been different if this line-up played West Ham and Soton? Sadly, we’ll never know.
Those two matches are better forgotten. Told my wife those dropped points may come back to haunt us. I pray they dont.
Sat in the pub here in The Hague next to two Newcastle fans – almost felt bad for the poor buggers. Loved the game we played today, great win. COYG 🔴⚪
It’s interesting that Jorginho said he also loved playing in that atmosphere–that’s what you dream about as a kid. Big game players.
One thing I have learnt to respect Mikel Arteta for is getting Jorginho playing how he is doing right now. It was a different Jorginho before World Cup. Good managers aren’t in copious supply. Proud of Mikel, proud of Arsenal