Mr Arsenal himself, Arsene Wenger, has heaped praise on his former player and current manager Mikel Arteta in the past, but he recently eluded to his dissatisfaction at the goalkeeping situation between David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale.
David Raya’s clean sheet against Sheffield United marked his fifth so far in Arsenal colours, in his seventh appearance for the club.
Despite this more than commendable record, the noise that rings the loudest around Arsenal at this moment in time pertains to their goalkeeping selection.
Raya has been preferred to Aaron Ramsdale since matchday five of the league season, while the Spaniard has also played the full 90 minutes in each of the Gunners’ three Champions League ties.
The well-documented arrival of Raya has sparked huge debate among the fanbase, as well as members of the media, with sceptics questioning whether two keepers of the highest level can co-exist.
Although it now appears that Raya is the established number one choice despite a few shaky moments in his early Arsenal career, former legendary manager Arsene Wenger has chimed in with his take on the situation.
Speaking to beIN Sports, Wenger said: “Personally I like [Aaron] Ramsdale.
“If I was in his position I would not give up. I believe he has the chance to come back into the team.”
When questioned whether he thinks Ramsdale is a better keeper, he answered: “Better…I don’t know if he’s better. I just think Ramsdale has made decisive saves in the games last season. They were not happy maybe with his feet, his distribution.”
He continued by giving his take on why Arteta may have made the decision to bring in a new keeper, admitting that Raya’s distribution may have been the catalyst.
“When you’re in this position, you always – it happened to me as well many times – you have a good team but you want to improve the team.
“And then you look and think, ‘what can I improve there?’ And you think maybe the distribution from the back. It happened to me the same with the centre-backs, you want a guy who has better distribution from the back but then you realise he is less good defensively and his first job is to defend.”
“That’s my belief, I don’t believe in rotation with goalkeepers, I don’t believe in a lack of clarity of the hierarchy with goalkeepers. That doesn’t work,” he added.
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