‘Wild’… Pundit says Arsenal signed £6m player because of a skill he’s actually ‘useless’ at

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Matt Turner isn’t having the best of times since leaving Arsenal.

The American goalkeeper has had a tough time of it between the sticks for Nottingham Forest this season, and he made a notable mistake in his last Premier League appearance against Manchester United.

Turner made an error when playing out from the back, and after his mistake, he was labelled as ‘useless’ with his feet by Gary Neville.

However, speaking on Filthy Fellas, Nedum Onuoha has gone out to bat for Turner, stating that he actually knows that the data suggests the goalkeeper is actually very good with his feet, claiming that his ability on the ball is actually the reason Arsenal signed him a few years ago.

Arsenal signed Turner because of his ability with the ball at his feet

Onuoha spoke about the £6m goalkeeper.

“The man at Forest, Turner, the instant reaction yeah was that he’s not good with his feet, but did you know that Arsenal signed him because of the data they had about him being able to play out from the back. You can make a mistake, but Gary Neville said he is useless with his feet, and that is wild,” Onuoha said.

Difficult

Stats are very useful in football recruitment, but it is very difficult to use them when assessing goalkeepers.

Yes, the numbers show that Turner is decent with the ball at his feet, but the fact that he’s so confident in his abilities can sometimes lead to overplaying and errors.

Neville was probably harsh to call him ‘useless’ at that particular skill, but the fact of the matter is that he didn’t cover himself in glory against United in his last game.

If Arsenal’s analytics team think that you’re good, then you must have something about you, and Turner’s ability with the ball at his feet has perhaps been unfairly scrutinised as of late.