Goalkeepers + Control versus end product

Morning all.

Champions League football returns this week, and we’ll hear from Mikel Arteta a bit later on today. No doubt he’ll be asked about his goalkeepers again, his comments after the Everton game have sparked plenty of discussion.

We talked about it on the Arsecast Extra yesterday, but for me the most interesting aspect of this is how much he said. There was a way for him to just play down his decision. Something along the lines of ‘We pick the team we think gives us the best chance of winning the game’, that kind of thing. So for a manager who often errs on the side of brevity so as not to give much away, it was a bit of a surprise how he went into a fair amount of detail with his thoughts on the position, the two players, his thoughts on substituting a keeper mid-game and all the rest.

Tomorrow could be an early chance for him to show this is how he’s really thinking. If he’s serious about goalkeeper being like any other position, and thus using it to drive the levels of Raya and Ramsdale higher, it might make some sense to start the latter against PSV. I suspect the decision about who starts the derby has already been made, but on a human level Arteta has to – for this season at least – try and ensure he maintains a level of harmony in his dressing room.

If you’re Aaron Ramsdale, you go away and play for England having played well for Arsenal all season, then you lose your place in the Premier League and don’t get the Champions League game, you’re going to be very disappointed. I had thought he would keep his place domestically while Raya would be introduced in Europe, but that has changed. As I said yesterday, it will be fascinating to see how this plays out, and while I don’t think he’s necessarily made a rod for his own back with his comments, they were so insistent people are going to refer back them as this situation rumbles on/settles down.

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Another discussion point this season so far is the way Arsenal have played…

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Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2023-09-19 06:35:44

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