Arsenal icon David Seaman has called out Mikel Arteta for his ‘unconvincing’ plan to rotate goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya. Arteta insisted that both shot-stoppers would play frequently this season and even hinted at the possibility of in-game rotation.
However, it now seems that Raya is Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper, starting every Premier League and Champions League fixture since September 17. Ramsdale, who has shone for Arsenal over the last two seasons, began the first three top-flight games before being dropped.
On Tuesday, Ramsdale’s father Nick criticised Arteta for his handling of the situation. Former Arsenal shot-stopper Seaman agrees, saying Arteta’s plan is ‘unconvincing’.
“David Raya has come in on loan and now those two are competing. Is it good for Arsenal? I would say, yeah, because we’ve got two really good goalkeepers, but you’ve got to keep them both happy,” Seaman told Lucky Block.
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“Arteta has spoken about this rotation system that he’s going to do, even rotating in games, which I’m nowhere near convinced with yet. But we’ve got to wait and see how it pans out.
“You’re always going to have uncertainty when you’ve got two good goalkeepers like that. Aaron comes off the back of last season being voted the best goalkeeper by all the players in the Premier League and then he’s benched after five games.
“It’ll be hard to take. It’s going to make them both better goalkeepers, but it also puts a lot of uncertainty in other people’s minds.”
Nick Ramsdale claimed this week that his son had not been spoken to by Arteta about his demotion. The England goalkeeper was left in the dark despite never appearing to make any serious errors that might have led to him being replaced by Raya.
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“We did not have a clue. I did not have a clue. Our family did not have a clue. Aaron did not have a clue that he was not going to carry on playing. All of a sudden he has not been playing,” Ramsdale Snr, who said he was speaking for himself and not his son, told the Highbury Squad podcast.
“[The frustration] is possibly the way it has been done. Not knowing the reason why. And this is me, because we don’t know why. Aaron is working as hard as he can, trying to do the best for the squad. He is upbeat. He will do everything for Arsenal to win the Premier League.”
Asked where Ramsdale’s future lies: “Aaron has just signed a new contract, so I don’t really know. This is purely me – why would you extend a goalkeeper or any player’s contract and then two or three months later…?”
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