'Exceptional' Ramsdale is praised by Arteta as Arsenal prepares to face West Ham.
Mikel Arteta has praised Aaron Ramsdale's performance, calling his improvement at Arsenal "against the odds" and noting how the team stood by the goalie after he arrived in the face of online hate.
In Arsenal's race for the title, Ramsdale has been excellent, most notably preserving them a point at Anfield on Sunday with heroic last-second stops from Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konaté. He has emerged as a strong, charismatic leader who directs most of the team's build-up play, but Arteta alluded to the player's earlier, less secure phase in his career. He was relegated from the top division with Bournemouth and Sheffield United prior to heading to north London, thus external concerns arose when Arsenal paid the latter an initial transfer fee. Ł24m for him in August 2021.
He has performed incredibly well, likely against the odds, Arteta remarked. that was challenging to fathom that because, when you consider his background and where he was coming from, he was demoted twice. But we could see that he had the personality, charm, and character to play for our team and the potential to fit in with our style of play. I consider him to be extraordinary when you consider the growth he made over the previous two seasons.
Some online trolls had preconceived notions about Ramsdale before seeing him play for Arsenal, and as a result, they insulted him. Arteta and his team had noticed features that others had missed, and he acknowledged the 24-year-old has risen above the noise and proved doubters wrong.
“Just before he played his first game, that harassment was taking place," he claimed. "You're receiving that abuse before you've even performed. Therefore, you must distinguish between the two, comprehend its source, and then begin to perform your duties. And after that, you'll face a different kind of evaluation for your performance on the field.
"It was difficult; he need assistance, and we had to keep him safe, but he was prepared to do it. He was aware of the possibility of that happening; we had previously talked about it: "You're coming from this situation, you're going to Arsenal, and there will be a lot of questions hanging over your head." And you must carry out that. If not, you definitely go. and pay Ł85m for a goalkeeper who’s won everything: you don’t have those questions, that’s a different story. We weren’t in that position.”
Speaking about the likelihood of abuse head on was, according to Arteta, the best way to form a shield. “First of all [we talked] about it,” he said. “‘This is coming, don’t react, be proactive and discuss it: expect it and get away from it. Don’t read it, that’s not going to help.’”
Ramsdale will take his usual place when Arsenal visit West Ham on Sunday. They can wait to see how Manchester City fare against Leicester first, but know another slip may well be costly to their ambitions. William Saliba remains absent with his back injury; Arteta hopes the defender will return in “the next few weeks”, their assignment with City at the Etihad on 26 April an obvious target for his comeback. Better news for the manager comes in the availability of Eddie Nketiah, who has been out for the past month with an ankle problem but should be among Sunday’s substitutes.
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