Matt Turner says he’s already improved as a goalkeeper since joining Arsenal in the summer and is happy with the way his debut went.
Signed in the summer from MLS franchise New England Revolution, the 28-year-old arrived with a reputation as a fine shot-stopper but readily admitted his need to develop the distribution side of his game, especially with his feet.
After three months of training with Mikel Arteta, he believes he’s moving in the right direction.
“My game has come a long way since I began at Arsenal,” Turner told MLS Soccer.
“Just the speed and the intensity of everything, every single day. Mikel [Arteta] doesn’t accept anything except full-gas at training sessions, so you have to bring it every single day, or else you get found out pretty quickly out there on the pitch.
“For me, it’s the consistency that I have to bring every day in training, being ready for moments where I’m going to be able to get to play and overall just the speed, technical execution of things, making saves against world-class players every day in training, sometimes getting found out by world-class players in training. But all the while learning.”
Turner also revealed how much emphasis the boss places on maintaining a positive attitude when things aren’t going to plan.
“We were playing a small possession game and it was really, really tight. I tried to make a pass and I gave the ball away. I sort of visually got frustrated and upset and he [Arteta] just came up to me and shoved me. He was basically like, ‘I don’t want to see that. I don’t like seeing that reaction. I want to see you pick yourself up and keep going.’
“I think that really set the tone for my mentality within the club and just to keep going no matter what. If you fail, that’s alright. What matters is how you react and not about the failure in itself. That was a really nice moment.”
It’s coming up to two weeks since Turner made his debut in the Europa League win over FC Zurich and he’s expecting more game time in the busy period up to the World Cup in Qatar.
“Playing in the Europa League was a nice box to tick and I felt like after the first five minutes I sort of settled into the game and I felt really, really good about how I did,” he said.
“[Now it’s] sort of continue moving forward and focus on these two games and then from there, we have 13 games between the end of this break and the World Cup. Busy times ahead.”
He added: “I had a meeting recently with my goalkeeper coach [Inaki Cana Pavon], where we looked at videos from my first few days of training and then videos from my last few days of training.
“Because I think it’s easy for us to get caught up in the moment, but looking back then to now, the difference in a goalkeeper that I am is huge and I’ve changed massively.”
Must be tough to change the skillset in such a short time
The ability to take failure on the chin and not be slowed by an emotional response and yet still keep a laser focus on the work you’re doing is, for me, the most inspirational aspect of sport.
I am a very committed and serious person, but when I fuck up I get proper upset with myself. The mentality of these guys is really impressive.
Reminds me of the Invincibles, some of them used to claim their training sessions were harder than the some of the actual matches.
“That’s the f***ing standard!”
Lots sounds great in this, my only issue is the Arteta ‘full gas’ sessions. My concern is that we need to protect TP, ESR etc and there is a danger that there is a risk of damaging them and others in the sessions. TP in particular is key to our team (we lost v Man U when he wasn’t playing and the stats from last season are incredible comparing points won with him playing/not playing) so we need to look after him. I’m not saying don’t have some sessions like that, just that care needs to be taken with players… Read more »
Might sound brutal, but if it takes full gas sessions for us to get good enough to compete at the top, then maybe there has to be casualties a long the way who physically aren’t able to keep up and they’ll need to go elsewhere.
Not saying that’s where TP or ESR are. Hopefully their bodies adapt eventually, but I don’t think we should compromise on something like this as so clearly core to Arteta’s beliefs.
If they aren’t giving 100% in training, it’s very difficult to then give 100% in a real match. Arteta knows what he’s doing.
If they can’t handle it they should be sold
And players can exaggerate in interviews as well. It doesn’t mean every training session is on full gas as mentioned
TP last season – with him we got 2.4 points a game, without him 0.8 points a game. See our matches this season too…
Should we look after him or get him injured?
“Should we look after him or get him injured?”
Such a well thought out question and about time someone asked it.
It has long been a tradition at AFC to focus on getting their players injured and I’m sick of it. You never hear of injury issues at other clubs.
TP is very important but those figures need to be taken in context. He was hurt at the end of the year along with quite a few others plus White and Gabriel were not fully fit so it’s not really apples to apples.
Dont see anywhere in the quotes or article that the player can’t handle it.
In fact, those words are not there.
Gas lighting, its a thing still apparently.
And players can exaggerate in interviews as well. It doesn’t mean every training session is on full gas as mentioned
With all the new fangled monitoring technologies I’m sure the medical team knows if one of the lads is feeling an itch on the sack. I’m relaxed about our boys not ‘redlining’ during training.
You and I are sitting outside, looking in with very little info on those things. The boys, the coach and the staff know better than us.
How you train is how you will play game-time? You can’t turn attitude on and off. You are either always ultra-competitive or not whether it’s training or a game.I think that’s what done Pepe and benefits Martinelli.
Elite stuff going on…..mind blowing really.
I hope all the doubters are on board now, I see other fans being very worried 👍
I understand the comparisons with City have been done to death but City have a detached, unemotional and alsmost robotic way of playing barely ever displaying negative emotions on the field.
I think this is a massive pyschological hurdle for the opposition if they feel that everything they can throw at City, City can calmly deal with it.
A seriouslý underated comment there Graham. They seem to be fazed by absolutely nothing! I mean 15 minutes to go with a 2 goal deficit to win or lose the league titel and they just stick to the program, knowing what it’s going to yield. I can really see us going in that direction if we stick to our program.
Just don’t mention the words ‘champions league’ to them I guess…
That’s when Guardiola calmly and unemotionally plays John Stones at centre forward.
I hope and pray nothing happens to Ramsdale. I doubt if I’d sit through the first EPL match this guy attempts to put what he’s learned to use – especially using his feet – unscathed! I’d be scared to death even if we are leading by two goals with ten minutes to go.
Why? Trying to understand your negativity.
In fairness, I don’t think we’ve got much hard evidence – one way or another – yet. A run out against F C Zurich, surely one of the weakest teams in the EL and moored at the bottom of their league with two points from eight games – isn’t that much of a test. He’ll certainly be up against stiffer opposition, way or another, during the season so we can get better evidence to judge him on.
It is easy to understand. His performance against FC Zurich did not fill me with much confidence – especially the first 15 minutes.
If you are confident, fine and good. I am not. That is why I want Ramsdale to be fit all season.
I belief Turner’s time in Arsenal will be shortlived.
Bit of a difference between not being confident and not likely to watch his PL debut/being scared to death when two goals up late. Being overly dramatic is probably what Jamie is finding difficult to understand
Being overly dramatic is a way of life. If you doubt me ask Jurgen Klopp. Diego Simeone. Jose Mourinho.
This guy is Almunia 2.0 but shorter.
Interesting article particularly as there were some reports that the management weren’t happy with him (initially, anyway) and that they were even considering sanctioning a move away next summer! Anyway, it appears that he’s getting his act together now so good for him.
I think we need to see more of him though, and against somewhat stiffer opposition than FC Zurich (probably just about anybody?), to get a better picture – although things seem to be going in the right direction.
Not surprising that training is much more intense at Arsenal than it was in the MLS. Especially as his role there was as one of the most important players on the squad, who was needed for every game, and probably was protected a lot in training– as opposed to now, where he is the backup and doesn’t play much and needs to prove himself.
The biggest adjustment is the speed, and how little time you have. In MLS, players will give up on balls easily. They won’t press the keeper. They’ll take bad touches that make playing breakaways easier. Turner is on the squad because he has a gift for shot-stopping, and you can’t just teach that. But everything else about his game needs to be coached up to a PL level, and fast.
How is Karl Hein at playing out from the back?