Over the weekend, a question was posed in a WhatsApp group I am in: By asking to sign David Raya, has Mikel Arteta created a problem we did not need?
Before I share my opinion, spend a couple of minutes listening to what Thierry Henry has to say on the matter. You will struggle to disagree with the great man…
Henry is absolutely spot on with his assessment. So if you want, stop reading the blog now and just share that tweet. But I thought I would add my add my tuppence worth…
History repeating itself
We signed Aaron Ramsdale in August 2021. Many expected him to be 2nd choice keeper behind Bernd Leno following Emiliano Martinez’s departure.
Ramsdale would sit on the bench for 2 games before making his club debut in the League Cup. Following the first international break of the season, the Englishman would become Arsenal’s number one. By the end of the season Leno would depart for Fulham.
David Raya would spend the first 3 games of his Arsenal career warming the bench and then, following the first internal break of the season, would take the number one shirt from Ramsdale.
Mikel Arteta felt that Ramsdale was better suited to the way he wanted to play than Leno, and was proved correct. If he now thinks that Raya is a level above Ramsdale, that is something we should support.
Manchester City
Sometimes it feels like we are imitating Manchester City. Pep Guardiola makes a move, and then Arteta replicates it.
Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City in the summer of 2016. One of his first moves was to replace popular keeper Joe Hart with Barcelona number one Claudio Bravo – the Chilean cost City £17m.
The feeling was the Hart’s strength was not with the ball at his feet and he was not suited to the sweeper-keeper role that Guardiola liked to use – his keepers at Barcelona and Bayern Munich had been Victor Valdes and Manuel Nueur.
Guardiola considered Bravo to be more suitable to his preferred style of play in the same way that Arteta looked to upgrade Leno with Ramsdale.
One year after signing Bravo, Guardiola bought in Ederson.
The Brazilian was 24-years-old and had just a handful of seasons playing in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. He had only established himself as Benfica’s number one the previous year. Ederson had not yet been capped for Brazil when he joined City.
Guardiola almost immediately made Ederson hus number one, with the more experienced Bravo becoming number two.
City had finished the 2016 season in 3rd. Guardiola clearly felt that Ederson could take his team from all-rans to Champions. They won the 2017/18 Premier League title.
As Henry says, if Arteta believes that Raya takes us to the enxt level, than that is a decision we should support.
It worked for City, will it work for Arsenal?
Ramsdale is likeable
One of the issues is that Aaron Ramsdale is a likeable character.
Those who think Arteta has created a problem often give “Ramsdale does not deserve to be second choice”. They do not want to see him relegated to 2nd choice or depart at the end of the season.
What I would say is the ball is now in Ramsdale’s court as to where his career goes from here.
Henry talks about Jamie Carragher, and that everytime Liverpool bought a new centre back in it was a threat to Carra’s position. Each time, Carragher worked hard in training, improved, and retained or regained his place.
Ramsdale will have to work very hard in training and, when given the opportunity he will have to take it with both hands.
The alternative is Ramsdale does what Martinez did. He sulks and makes it clear that if he is not the first choice keeper he wants out. His departure from Arsenal will be his choice and his choice only.
The final option is that he decides he would rather be at a top club as second choice, then follow in Martinez’s footsteps and take a step down to a lower level to play regular football.
When Ederson came in, Bravo remained as 2nd choice for 3 seasons, playing 31 games. He won more than he would have had he departed.
But Bravo was 33-years-old at that point. Ramsdale is just 25.
Ramsdale will remain at Arsenal as 2nd choice for this season. It will then be down to him next summer whether he wants to stay as 2nd choice, fight for his place or seek first team football elsewhere.
Are goalkeepers different?
Any other position is fine but for me goalkeepers are different was the response when I pointed out that these questions are not asked elsewhre in the pitch.
As Henry said in the above video, you bring in a better striker than what you have, everyone embraces the competition rather than calls it out as a problem.
I remember when we signed Ian Wright whilst had Kevin Campbell coming through at the club. It was seen as a great move.
We signed Thierry himself when we already had Kanu and Dennis Bergkamp at the club, and that day before Henry signed we had recruited World Cup top scorer Davor Suker. Why recruit a failed French winger strugglng in Italy?
A year later, we added Ligue 1 top scorer Sylvain Wiltord to the ranks. Henry, Bergkamp, Kanu, Wiltord. 4 top strikers for 2 positions. No one complained then about Wenger creating a problem for himself.
Likewise, this summer we signed Declan Rice.
Thomas Partey was one of the best defensive midfielders in the league last season, but that did not stop the club spending £105m on Declan Rice.
When we signed Rice, no one saw it as causing a problem, or felt sorry for Partey. It was seen as signing a player better than what we had, and if Partey wanted to play he had to sort out his fitness and fight for his spot. The competition was considered a good thing.
Yes, I get the goalkeepers tend not to be rotated. They rarely need need to rested and it is highly unlikely they will be substituted after 60 minutes and a game won (Arteta’s quotes on this will be addressed another day!)
Like Henry, I do not think Raya has been signed to be rotated with Ramsdale. I think he is now our first choice keeper.
When did buying better than what you have create a problem? It is how you make your team better, stronger.
Final thoughts
In 1990, George Graham signed David Andrew Seaman from Queens Park Rangers. The highly popular Anfield hero John Lukic departed for Leeds United.
At the time, Graham was heavily criticised by fans for letting Lukic go – Seaman had been Lukic’s understudy at Leeds in his much younger days before being sold to fourth tier Peterborough United.
In an interview, Graham said: “I still think John Lukic is one of the best keepers in the country; I just think David Seaman is the best.”
Arsenal would go on to win the title in Seaman’s first season for the club, with Big Dave playing all 38 games. We would lose just once and concede a record low 18 league goals.
Seaman would go on to be Arsenal and England’s number one for the next decade, playing 564 times for us. George Graham would be proved right.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 