Category Archives: Arsenal

What are the 4 potential consequences of the David Raya signing?

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With David Raya now in on loan, we mentioned yesterday how it is a bit like a year long trial at Arsenal.

He will either do enough to break into our first team and become first choice, or he will struggle to usurp Aaron Ramsdale and play second fiddle.

Whatever the outcome of the battle for number one, there are four possibile consequences?

Ramsdale stays as number one, Raya happy to stay

I do not really get the criticism of Ramsdale by some fans. He was a breath of fresh air when he joined and is a talented goalkeeper.

Raya will not automatically be the number one at Arsenal, and he will have to battle to take the shirt off Ramsdale. Mikel Arteta’s hope will be that having two top keepers will push both to be even better.

If Ramsdale remains number one throughout the season, Raya might still decide to stay beyond his loan deal and settle as a second choice keeper.

Ramsdale stays as number one, Raya departs

David Raya fought his way into the Spain squad in 2022.

Spain have a good batch of keepers under 30 – Raya, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Unai Simon and Robert Sánchez. There is also a certain David de Gea who has not played for his national team since 2020.

You have to assume that those on the plane to Euro 2024 will be however is playing regularly.

Unai Simon and Kepa Arrizabalaga will almost certainly be their clubs number one’s this season, whilst Robert Sánchez and David Raya could both be in a battle for game time.

If Raya remains number two, seeing very little game time, I think he will miss out on going to Germany and that will be a huge influence as to where he starts 2024/25.

He will still have hopes to go to the World Cup in 2026, and will probably look for first team football elsewhere.

That could be back at Brentford (he did extend his contract), or elsewhere in England or Spain.

I do not think Raya will be happy staying at Arsenal if he is number two.

Ramsdale becomes number one, Ramsdale happy to stay

A lot of experts are of the belief that it is only a matter of time until David Raya becomes Arsenal’s number one. That in turn would relegate Ramsdale to second choice.

Ramsdale signed a new four-year deal just a couple of months ago for a reported £120k a week. If he ends up as number two, would he be happy to settle in as Arsenal’s 2nd choice keeper whilst picking up a very big salary?

Will he get £120k a week elsewhere? And would he prefer to sit on our bench, playing the cup games, within a positive atmosphere, rather than become first choice at a chaos club like West Ham or Crystal Palace?

He has suffered relegation from the Premier League twice in his career already. Does he want to return to one of those sort of teams?

I think if Ramsdale loses his number one shirt to Raya, he might decide to give it another year to fight it out, see if he can regain it.

Raya becomes number one, Ramsdale departs

Like Raya, Ramsdale is also fighting to be on that plane to Germany at the end of the season.

Jordan Pickford and Nick Pope both already have their boarding passes (baring injury). That leaves Ramsdale, Dean Henderson and Sam Johnstone as recent call-ups to Gareth Southgate’s squad.

Henderson is unlikely to play much at Manchester United, and Johnstone could be in for a tough time at Crystal Palace. My gut is Ramsdale will be on that plane even if he is number two at Arsenal.

But moving beyond this season, would Ramsdale really be happy to be number two?

He does not come across as someone that will cause issues, but he does come across as someone who wants to play. He has that nervous energy about him

Ramsdale has been a first choice goalkeeper in the Premier League for 4 season (a season each at Bournemouth and Sheffield United before joining Arsenal).

He is only a couple of years younger than Raya, so if he settles on the number 2 shirt (or number 13?), he is basically committing himself to a career as a second choice keeper. That is a huge change.

Ramsdale will have no shortage of suitors in the Premier League, but the question remains whether someone would pay him £120k a week, and if he would want to move for a pay cut? Also, does he want to head for another club that fights relegation year after year.

In 12 months time, I could see him at either Brighton or Brentford. He would suit the pair of him.

If Arsenal decide to make the Raya deal permanent, could we see Ramsdale going the other way for a similar price tag? Basically a “straight swap” of goalkeepers? It could happen…

Enjoy your Friday.

Keenos

Thank you, Theo

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Just realised the post scheduled for today is actually launching tomorrow. So a bit of a late blog from me today!

I’m sitting in me garden, few Efes in, watching the watered down Soccer Saturday. The show is certainly a shadow of what it was in the early 00s.

So yesterday Theo Walcott announced his retirement from football at the age of 34. I honestly think he is one of the most underrated players of the “Emirates Era”.

108 goals is not to be sniffed at. It puts him 15th on our all time top scorer list. Ahead of Paul Merson. Ahead of Robert Pires, Alexis Sanchez, Freddie Ljungberg and Geordie Armstrong.

He signing came with a lot of hype. Labelled the English Messi. He might never have hit the top, top level but that does not mean he was a bad player.

I wish him well in retirement. He always came across as a top lad. A nice guy. Someone who understood who he played for and what he represents.

Other Arsenal news includes Nuno Tavares being on the verge of a move to Nottingham Forest and Folarin Balogun being linked to Inter Milan. I expect to see some big departures next week.

A little side note, interesting to see Charlie Patino get loaned out again rather than sold. Maybe he has looked at Chelsea are realised the grass is not always greener.

Tomorrow we should be back to our normal blogging scheduled. I’m going to enjoy the sun and drink more. Have a good one.

Keenos

https://x.com/afcmetaller/status/1692890161883840716?s=46&t=NnmMnpIdEx5zWqnbfbhYSw

Former future Arsenal captain “wasting his talent”

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“Guendouzi endures torrid night as Marseille exit the Champions League” was the article headline dropped into the She Wore WhatsApp group yesterday morning. And it made me chuckle.

Marseille were heading through to the Champions League qualifiers, leading Panathinkos 2-0 (and 2-1 on aggregate) following a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Matteo Guendouzi started the game on the bench, as he has done for all 3 of Marseille’s game this season. He was bought on in the 68th minute to help shore up the midfield and see the game out.

Deep into second-half stoppage time, Guendouzi was then penalised for handling the ball inside the box, gifting Panathinaikos the chance to take the game to extra time. A chance which the Greek side took, scoring from the penalty spot in the 99th minute.

After extra time finished goaless, the match went to penalties.

Matteo stepped up to take Marseille’s first penalty. His shot was well-saved by goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli. The remaining players from both sides all converted their spot-kicks ensuring that Marseille crashed out 5-3 on pens in front of their home fans.

It is almost 5-years to the day since Matteo Guendouzi made his Arsenal debut. Most fans came away from the 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City realising we had a bright young talent on our hands.

He would go on to become a regular for Unai Emery’s Arsenal, leading many (including myself) to say he could potentially become Arsenal captain in the future.

In the summer of 2019, he was arguably the best young midfielder in world football, and was being talked up alongside the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Jack Wilshere as the best teenage midfielders seen at Arsenal. Guendouzi was being linked to big money moves to Bayern Munich and PSG.

The only young midfielder in English football who looked close to Guendouzi was some fella at West Ham.

Declan Rice was just 3 months older than Guendouzi, and had also established himself as a Premier League first team regular over the previous 12 months.

Guendouzi and Rice shared a lot of similar attributes – both had a good mixture of physical and technical attributes, and the ability to drive forward with the ball.

During 2019, both Guendouzi and Rice would receive their first call=ups for their countries.

A tough second season at Arsenal was marred by childish behaviour and fallings out with different managers and coaching staff. Whilst he is was physically a man, he was clearly mentally immature.

There were reports of him mocking Emery’s accent and a falling out with Freddie Ljungberg during the Arsenal legends tenure as caretaker manager.

As football prepared for a return after Covid, Arteta took his squad to Dubai to prepare.

In Dubai, Guendouzi firstly got into a scrap with Sokratis. Arteta came down harder on Guendouzi than Sokratis which the young Frenchman took exception to. Things then boiled over and the pair got into a shouting match.

Despite pleas from the the likes of David Luiz for Guendouzi to act professional, Guendouzi reprimanded on second occasion during Arsenal’s training camp – for taking his shirt off at music event. This led to given him receiving a dressing down by technical director Edu.

When football finally back, Guendouzi became emboriled in a a post-match altercation with Brighton player Neal Maupay. This led to Guendouzi being excluded from Arsenal training and left out of the club’s match-day squads due to a history of issues with his “attitude and general conduct.”

Guendouzi would not play for Arsenal again, and in the summer of 2020, Arsenal looked to move him on. But other clubs had done their research on him and no top club seemed to be willing to take the risk. In the end he joined Hertha Berlin on loan.

He returned from Germany without enhancing his reputation on the pitch, and Arsenal looked once again to sell. And once again there were no buyers.

Whilst Guendouzi had missed out on France’s Euro 2020 (held in 2021) squad, Rice was becoming one of the first names on the England teamsheet. By the time Guendouzi made his debut for France at the end of 2021, Rice already had 27 caps to his name.

Another loan deal beckoned for Guendouzi and this time he returned to his native France for Marseille.

A good first season saw him make France’s World Cup 2022 squad and gain 6 caps for his country. It also led to to Marseille signing him permanently.

Maybe it is second season syndrome, but like at Arsenal, his performances dropped off after his first campaign with Marseille. This led him to be in and out of the team and starting 10 less games in Ligue 1.

Whilst Guendouzi was struggling for his place in the Marsielle team, Rice had been named captain of West Ham and led them to their first trophy in over 40 years. That secured him a big money move to Arsenal.

This season, Guendouzi has started all 3 Marseille games on the bench, and his coslty errors saw his team fail to qualify for the Champions League.

It is incredible to think that there is very little in age between Rice and Guendouzi.

In December 2019, both players were valued at £50m by Transfrmarkt. Since then, Rice’s star has continued to rise whilst Guendouzi’s has plummeted.

Transfrmarkt now rate Rice as the best player in the world born in 1999. Guendouzi is just 30th. They also rate Rice as the 6th best midfielder in world football (Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala, Pedri, Federico Valverde and Gavi are the top 5). Guendouzi is 41st.

Rice has gone on to make 43 appearances for his country, whilst Guendouzi has just 7 French caps.

Had Guendouzi developed how we would have expected back in December 2019, we may not have had to spend £105m on Declan Rice.

Now 24, and struggling for starts in the French league, Guendouzi could become one of the biggest waste of talents of the modern era.

Keenos