Aaron Ramsdale had his struggles in his first Arsenal season but showed massive improvement last season, starting all 38 games in the Premier League for the Gunners, making 94 saves and keeping 14 clean sheets. Ramsdale also grew in influence in the club, and right earned himself a new contract extension. His performances were also recognized as he was the Goalkeeper in the Premier League Team of the Year, as well as winning the Goalkeeper of the Year in the London Awards.
Matt Turner featured in the Gold Cup this summer and made his intentions known that he couldn’t go through another campaign playing second fiddle to Ramsdale, so when Nottingham Forest came calling following their failed pursuits of Dean Henderson and Keylor Navas returning to his parent club, Paris St. Germain, Turner accepted their offer, and Arsenal had a void in the goalkeeping department to fill as Karl Hein and Runar Alex Runarsson weren’t considered as good alternatives to Ramsdale.
This caused the Gunners to re-visit their three year long pursuit of David Raya from Brentford, and knowing what Raya achieved last season with Brentford, it was going to be an uphill task for Ramsdale to retain his status as Arsenal’s No. 1.
Raya put up some monster numbers last season for Brentford, helping them to their mid-table finish with some breathtaking goalkeeping displays. He was first in the Premier League last season for saves (154), first for saves from outside the box (64), first for touches (1,550), first for long passes completed (410) and second for crosses caught (50), garnering 12 clean sheets along the way. In direct comparison with Ramsdale, Raya faced 205 shots and conceded 43 goals while Ramsdale faced 138 shots and conceded 42. However, Ramsdale beat Raya to win the Best Goalkeeper award in the London Awards, as well as the Premier League Team of the Season. Like Ramsdale, Raya is an excellent shot stopper, contains bags of bravery and can build up from the back. So Arteta signed a goalie that can offer just as much as Ramsdale in goal.
Ramsdale was favored for the first four games of the Premier League season, conceding to Taiwo Awoniyi in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest, before keeping a clean sheet in the hardly fought battle at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. He didn’t cover himself in glory with the first goal he conceded to Andreas Pereira when Fulham came visiting, and the late strike from Joao Palhinha was no fault of his, as Arsenal surrendered a lead to drop points against their London neighbors.
The last goal Ramsdale conceded, and even played in the Premier League was against Marcus Rashford when Arsenal defeated eternal rivals, Manchester United. In all four games, Raya sat on the dugout biding his time, and the assumption at that point was that Ramsdale would start in the Premier League, while Raya would feature in the Champions League and the domestic cup competitions.
Fast forward to the end of the first international break, and Arsenal visited Goodison Park, a ground they had not won since 2017. However, the major headline was that Aaron Ramsdale was on the bench, bringing an end to his 77-game Premier League consecutive streak to an end. Raya had a good debut in all honesty, bringing his calm presence and pinging some delightful punts to his teammates which was lauded by his manager and everyone connected with Arsenal.
PSV Eindhoven came along and Raya retained his place, having an uneventful game and racking up another clean sheet. Raya’s first major test arrived in the North London Derby, and while he made three saves on the day. His usually accurate passing was not good (66 percent), compared to 94 percent at Everton and 82 percent at PSV. He also showed some serious nerves in the game, and the overall Arsenal performance was quite bad.
Ramsdale returned to the fray in the EFL Cup Third Round against Brentford, and while he made some important saves in the match, his passing was downright atrocious, with 51 percent accurate passes and 31 percent accurate long balls. Ramsdale also had Jakub Kiwior to thank for preserving the clean sheet and ensuring the game doesn’t go into penalties with that amazing goal line clearance.
However, Ramsdale featuring in the EFL Cup hinted that he’s now second choice to Raya, as the Spaniard returned to the starting XI in the routine win over Bournemouth, and when the Champions League clash against RC Lens came around, I thought Ramsdale was going to be called up, but Raya started again, and was culpable for one of the goals conceded when a poor pass from him led to a transition play that saw Arsenal concede. That turned out to be Arsenal’s first loss of the campaign as well.
Manchester City came to town and it was a cagey affair, but Raya had a heart in mouth moment when Julian Alvarez closed him down and executed a block that almost led to a goal. Raya seemed overwhelmed in that clash and his performance in the first half was very concerning, even though he grew in confidence in the second 45 minutes. The Spaniard would have been happy with his clean sheet, but the team put in 110 percent to ensure the hoodoo was ended.
After international break passed, and Raya was between the sticks for the Chelsea game, while Ramsdale was given some time off to celebrate with his wife, Georgina, that gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. Raya was clearly blameless for the penalty strike he conceded to Cole Palmer following William Saliba’s handball, but Mykhailo Mudryk’s goal left a lot to be desired. Whether the Ukrainian winger intended to cross or shoot, Raya’s positioning was very bad and seeing that ball loop into the Arsenal net must have been demoralizing for the outfield lads chasing the game. To make things worse, Raya passed the ball under pressure to Palmer but reacted well to prevent an error of his own making.
We all know how the game panned out with Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard coming up with the goods to salvage a draw, but with the small sample size we have seen, has Ramsdale’s exclusion from the starting XI been justified?
In my honest opinion, there have been pros and there have certainly been some cons.
If you take some time to read this amazing article on Arseblog on what has changed with Raya in goal, you would see that Arsenal’s possession play improved with Raya in goal,
Arsenal have averaged 61.9% possession this season (I haven’t included the Community Shield here), with the average possession away from home at 62%. Last season that figure was 59.3% overall and 55.6% away from home.
It is already a known fact that Raya keeps the ball better than Ramsdale, as Ramsdale averaged 68.5% pass completion last season, Raya is averaging 84.7% currently. Another distinct feature is that Raya takes up the LCB position when in possession, allowing Gabriel to move further left to the LB slot, with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Declan Rice making themselves available for passes via the middle, and Raya lets an opposition forward close him down before he releases the ball to his teammate, which allows Arsenal build up their attacking play effectively. This didn’t happen with Ramsdale.
Raya is also more dominant in the air than Ramsdale and has a better command of area.
One would assume that this is how Arteta has always wanted to play, hence his pursuit for Raya in 2020 when he first took over the reins from Unai Emery.
Let’s delve into the cons – the major one in my opinion, has been the nerves he has shown in some games, which has led to some transition plays that put the team in the lurch. He has also made some glaring errors that would have led to worse outcomes, as one was punished against RC Lens, while the one against Chelsea was averted.
The spotlight on the Ramsdale vs. Raya drama from the media hasn’t helped, as it has heaped massive pressure on both players to always perform when they are on the pitch, so it has to be managed effectively by Mikel Arteta. However, Ramsdale’s statements from his latest interview has hinted that he is not happy with losing his place to Raya and with Euro 2024 around the corner, I will not be surprised to see Ramsdale itch for a move away from Arsenal if his playing time doesn’t improve.
Mikel Arteta was the one that laid this bed when he made the move for Raya despite Ramsdale being in very good form. He will have to be the one to lie on it.
Sayonara.
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