As Arsenal get set to face Brentford at the Emirates on Saturday, we know there will be at least one change from the side that comfortably beat Sheffield United on Monday.
David Raya is ineligible to play against his parent club, meaning a now rare start for former first choice, Aaron Ramsdale.
The 25 year old last started a game when we faced Liverpool in the FA Cup in January, and his last start in the Premier League was the 1-0 win away at Brentford in November.
His situation is one Mikel Arteta was quizzed about in his pre-game press conference this afternoon, and when asked if he would have liked Ramsdale to have had more game time of late, he said, “It is what it is.
“He’s fully prepared, he trains really well every day, he’s desperate to play, like the rest of the boys that haven’t had that many opportunities, and Saturday is a great day for him.”
Losing his place to Raya must obviously have been difficult, but the Arsenal boss insisted Ramsdale has remained positive, nor does he have any worries about his ability to play in the manner he expects of his keepers.
“He’s been brilliant,” continued Arteta. “He’s been really good, really supportive, really pushing every day in training like I expected, and it’s a joy to have two top goalkeepers in the team.
“Not only can he adapt, he has proven that he can perform really well to what I want and what we want.”
It was a clean sheet last time out, let’s hope he can help deliver the same this weekend, as we look to go back to the top of the table with a win – ahead of the showdown between Liverpool and Man City on Sunday.
Arteta would not be drawn by questions about who he would prefer to see win, playing a straight bat, saying, “It’s a beautiful game to watch for any football supporter, and I will certainly be watching it, but I can’t control it.
“I will enjoy a magnificent game of football, between the best teams in Europe in the last decade, and let’s see what that brings.”
Arseblog News would like to go on the record to say we’d like to see that bring a 5-5 draw, multiple hamstring strains, VAR controversy, fisticuffs between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, and Gary Neville sent to prison for a few years.
That’s not too much to ask for.
No mention of Jamie Carragher in the last paragraph? Hopefully he spits on Michah Richards and then Micah KOs him and Jamie is sent to penal colony on the windy west coast of Tasmania to eek out his remaining days in hard labour breaking rocks.
That sounds far too good for him if I’m honest.
A bit harsh.
I’d just sentence him to attend a season full of matches amongst the Ashburton army.
Worst thing for Carragher would be the Arsenal living rent-free in his head.
Oh, we already do.
let’s keep it to a 0-0 draw and everything else you said between pool and city blogs. Don’t wanna pad the goals scored column
Was thinking the same, 10 goals scored means 10 moments of cunts being happy, maybe even some cunts being double or tripple happy. We don’t want to see happy cunts do we.
Some sending offs and suspensions would be good on top of several injuries, and especially for City, given we are playing them next.
We can beat them even if they’re full strength. This Arsenal team have no one to fear.
Ps – this is a sentence I definitely wouldn’t have felt comfortable writing last year.
Although we walk through the valley of 115 evils, we will fear no team, as we are the mighty Arsenal.
Following on from your closing statment in the blog post, I’d settle for a points deduction for both clubs due to bringing the game into disrepute after a touchline scuffle between klopp and Pep along with Gary ‘the brown-nosing puppet/pundit’ Neville having his sentence increased to 5 years served in solitary confinement so that nobody but himself has to ever hear his whining, droning annoying voice and contradictory opinions again for quite some time.
@second to the last paragraph, Blogs: 😳😳😳😳
I don’t see any player getting injured. All I want is for Rodri and KDB to be suspended for the next three games.
On the other hand, how about if they have their full squad, beat them at Etihad, and then celebrate? Arsenal, please make it happen. Celebration Police everywhere are almost out of jobs. We need something to do.
I actually would like to see a fistfight between Virgil Van Dyke and Rodri–no one gets hurt, but still the sort of thing where three games is only a minimum.
I feel desperately sorry for Ramsdale. He was one of our stars last season and was a key factor in our qualifying for the Champions’ League. I’m still not convinced that Raya is a better goalkeeper. Let’s be honest: the Spaniard has had virtually nothing to do in recent matches. And I still haven’t seen him pull off a wonder save like the many that Ramsdale performed last season. Saturday’s game is now absolutely massive: we MUST win it. Then we can go to Manchester with City under real pressure. Please note: last night City yet again failed to keep… Read more »
Ramsdale is fine, he’s a professional, and he doesn’t need anyone’s pity or sympathies. If he wants to play for the Arsenal, he knows what he has to do. I am still so surprised at the fans who don’t bother to listen to what Arteta says and appreciate what we’re doing on the pitch — Raya has enabled us to put up the best defensive numbers in the league because of the things he does to prevent the opposition from creating the kind of chances that require the wonder saves we’ve seen Ramsdale make. I mean, isn’t that obvious to… Read more »
I know you didn’t see a wonder save but I hope you saw how many chances Raya created. We don’t need a keeper to make wonder saves when opponents cannot attack us. We are playing proactive football that prevents shots and lets our keeper be an outlet rather than a savior. You need to have a deeper insight into games and see that Raya contributes a lot as to why he doesn’t do much in games. He joins possessions which prevents opponents from having a sniff at the ball. He breaks the opponent’s pressing and uses long balls to create… Read more »
Complete bollocks.
The reason why we’re so tight defensively is the three monsters of Saliba, Gabriel and White. Plus the likes of Rice, Jorginho in front of them. Plus the high press and rapid ball-winning-back and retention. The opposition can’t get hold of the ball.
Yes, Raya passes well, but so did Ramsdale.
Raya is benefitting from the fact that the 10 men in front of him are playing so well. He’s had nothing to do.
You can’t see what’s been right in front of your face for months, that doesn’t make it “complete bollocks”.
Since you obviously struggle to follow what happens on the pitch, I suggest you read sky sports article about the Ramsdale/Raya debate, which came out today, I believe
Which “expert” wrote it? Chris Kamara?
Not sure who wrote it but it has factual info from throughout the season.
More reliable than some fat man who just thinks “Raya passes well”
“Defensively they are weak.” Seriously? They’ve given up 27 goals to our 23, third best. Their failure to keep a clean sheet against Copenhagen happened with John Stones, Kyle Walker, and Nathan Ake on the bench (the latter two never came in at all). I would say that those three, with Dias, are their strongest back four. (Others who stayed on the bench all game: Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, and Kevin De Bruyne.) So, I would say they are not defensively weak at all, and they are the deepest team in the world (with the exception of France). But we… Read more »
Fats, they get sloppy in defense after securing the win. Won’t do that against us.
I seem to remember Man United scoring first against them on Sunday
I will be in tears seeing Aaron play for us what it feels like an eternity. MA played all his dirty tricks to bring ppl thru whom he personally benefited.
Stay strong Ramsdale – you’re a victim of blatant nepotism.
What is this fascination of going two footed on the manager when we are about to go top of the table? What motivates people to intentionally be unhappy or upset? I have a hard time understanding that motivation from people. No one is perfect, not even the manager but the accusations of his incompetence are just laughable.
Ramsdale to play his last game for the club, or at least, his last game that matters. Mikel proves his vision was right, again.
Hopefully the drop off between the two keepers, isn’t a costly one on Saturday.
What fee could we get for a proven keeper with hardly any game time in 12 months. Could we get the 30m to pay for Raya
Arguably he is still the best English keeper so if we let him go which I personally believe will be a bad mistake, we should certainly get far more than the £30 million. Like many supporters I’m not remotely convinced that Raya is a better keeper.
Raya is a better keeper considering what Arteta wants. Arteta plays a more proactive game than reactive games. Raya is a proactive keeper who prevents shots than saving them. That is done through maintaining possessions and anticipation. Ramsdale is a better shot stopper, but not good at maintaining possession which is reactive. Why save a shot when you can prevent it?
Ramsdale maybe better for a team who faces more shots on goal, but for Arteta’s system, Raya has gone clear and it’s been obvious for a while now. Even Ramsdale previously said that he feels uncomfortable with the starting position that the boss demands from him. I saw ridiculous stats about Raya today. He’s been one of the leagues worst at shot stopping, but he’s around 95% for claiming crosses, and 13/13 for coming out and sweeping up balls behind his defenders. He has 100% throwing accuracy for the season, and throws that lead to an assist is up with… Read more »
Still waiting on that 65th minute goalkeeper substitution Mikel
Haha, good that you also could perceive the blatant Arteta lies & deception.
TBF that was a stupid statement the manager made at the time, one of his rare communication issues.
Would love to see the online reaction if Mikel throws a curveball and starts Karl Hein on Saturday.
Could not stop myself on this one
Arseblog News would like to go on the record to say we’d like to see that bring a 5-5 draw, multiple hamstring strains, VAR controversy, fisticuffs between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, and Gary Neville sent to prison for a few years.