England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale made the decision to leave Arsenal this summer, and he joined Southampton on transfer deadline day.
Ramsdale has expressed his delight about moving back to the South Coast, and Arsenal earned a good fee for their second-choice goalkeeper, after David Raya replaced him at the start of last season.
The decision to replace Ramsdale with Raya was initially criticised, but Mikel Arteta was vindicated as the Spaniard found his form to perform superbly, winning the Premier League Golden Glove.
Ramsdale is aiming to find his best form and regain his place in the England squad at Southampton, but it has been a tough start for him, as he has lost 3-1 to Brentford and 3-0 to Manchester United in both of his appearances so far.
Arsenal fans are divided about his performance against Man United, but some are adamant that his display showed that replacing him with Raya was a masterstroke.
Arsenal fans critical of Aaron Ramsdale as Southampton lose to Manchester United
Arsenal fans have highlighted aspects Ramsdale’s display against Man United. The 26-year-old did make some good saves, but some have pointed out his weaknesses in the goals scored by Matthijs De Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.
“That goal is peak Ramsdale. Should’ve come for it, didn’t, then pretty weak dive,” a fan posted of the first goal Ramsdale conceded.
“After watching Raya it’s hard to watch Ramsdale and not think his body shape and often position during action moments are so wrong,” another added.
“Ramsdale has that quality where a goal isn’t his fault but the way he dives makes it looks like he should get closer to it,” a fan pointed out.
“The way fans were crying when Raya came in. He’s so much better than Ramsdale it’s not even funny,” another fan posted.
“Wouldn’t say this is Ramsdale’s fault (Stephens playing everyone onside) and I thought he had a good game but these are the sorts of details Raya prevents through his proactivity off his line. He claims this cross or at the he very least deals with it,” another fan highlighted of the first goal.
“People are just looking for opportunities to pounce on Ramsdale because man has been decent in this game, Southampton defenders are clowns,” one fan stated in defence of the former Arsenal goalkeeper.
Aaron Ramsdale deficiencies highlighted in Southampton defeat, it’s why Arsenal replaced him
Although Ramsdale was not wholly to blame for any of the goals, the first goal Southampton conceded showed why Arsenal chose to replace him with Raya.
A floated cross from Bruno Fernandes attacked the box, and whilst the Southampton defenders did themselves no favours, Ramsdale’s poor positioning and indecisiveness showed.
In the same situation, Raya would have attempted to claim the ball before the header arrived. Ramsdale initially moved to claim it, did not attempt to, but was then unable to reach the resulting header.
Whilst these are small details, it was a big enough reason for Arteta to push to bring in Raya, and he has been vindicated in his decision.
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