‘Everything he did’: Mikel Arteta hails 25-year-old Arsenal player’s display v Monaco

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has praised Gunners goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale for his display against Monaco.

The Gunners boss said “everything he did in ball possession” against the Ligue 1 side “was really good”.

Arsenal wrapped up their pre-season friendly programme with a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

Though the Gunners and the visitors couldn’t be separated after 90 minutes, the hosts won the ensuing penalty shootout.

This saw Arsenal lift the Emirates Cup ahead of this Sunday’s Community Shield meeting with Manchester City.

There were plenty of positives to take from the game, including a solid display from Ramsdale.

The 25-year-old pulled off an excellent save to deny Aleksandr Golovin early in the game.

Ramsdale was good with his hands and feet throughout the encounter, and couldn’t do much about Monaco’s goal.

He then saved a penalty in the shootout to help last season’s Premier League runners-up retain the Emirates Cup.

Arteta told the Arsenal website: “He was really good. I think he was really composed in the game.

“I think he didn’t have to intervene too much, I think the two actions, one was a goal that was very close range, one is the action where they have the cutback and they hit the post, and there was not much more to do.

“Everything he did in ball possession was really good.”

Over the past few days, there have been reports linking Arsenal to Brentford’s David Raya.

When pressed on the subject, Arteta said he was “not going to talk about any player that is not here”.

And when asked whether Ramsdale is still in his plans, the Arsenal boss replied: “Yes, it’s still the same.”

Our view

Ramsdale has been a huge player for Arsenal, enjoying a superb maiden season at N5 en route to second place in the Premier League.

He very quickly silenced the many doubters he had when he joined, making the first-team gloves his own ahead of Bernd Leno.

Obviously the prospect of a new top goalkeeper joining will raise some eyebrows with regards to the incumbent.

Nonetheless, Arteta has stressed that Ramsdale is still in his plans, and with a display like Wednesday’s, there’s no need for a replacement.