Arsenal players showed that they retain faith in Aaron Ramsdale by insisting on playing out from the back against Brentford, despite their managers’ instructions. The goalkeeper made a series of errors on Saturday evening but ultimately managed to keep a clean sheet in his side’s narrow 1-0 win.
Mikel Arteta shook up his Gunners ranks over the summer by bringing in fresh faces in every department, including between the sticks. The Spaniard pushed for a new goalkeeper that would put pressure on Ramsdale, and he was granted his transfer wish.
David Raya arrived from Brentford on a loan-to-buy deal and has started the majority of Arsenal’s matches since, asserting himself as the club’s new No 1 within a matter of weeks. Speculation has continued to grow that Ramsdale is not content playing second fiddle to the new signing, though his performance at the Gtech Community Stadium failed to truly justify why he should reclaim his title of being Arteta’s first-choice shot-stopper.
Just minutes into the first half, Ramsdale was dispossessed by Yoane Wissa, who teed up Bryan Mbeumo to fire at goal, but his strike was then blocked by Declan Rice to prevent Brentford from taking an early lead. Following the early scare, Arteta was seen instructing his players to push higher up the pitch and go long from the resulting goal kick – but his pleas were ignored.
The Gunners’ defence was keen to instil confidence in Ramsdale and continued to play out from the back, sticking to the playstyle methods that has seen the squad enjoy plenty of success in recent times. The actions from the Arsenal players was a silent vote of confidence in the ability of their former No 1, despite watching the ex-Bournemouth goalkeeper struggle with the high, aggressive Brentford press.
Ramsdale continued to play short passes from goal kicks and attempt to kickstart attacks by playing out from the back, though his struggles never truly fizzled out and he made several errors along the way which appeared to damage his confidence significantly.
