Aaron Ramsdale has lost his place in the Arsenal goal – and is suffering. A reaction from his father to a TV pundit’s statement didn’t make things any better for him recently.
“It’s easy to take the position as regular goalkeeper for granted, but that can be over very quickly,” Aaron Ramsdale had said in an interview in the summer. Now that phrase has caught up with him faster than expected. David Raya, who Arsenal initially signed on loan from Brentford FC in the summer, has snatched number one status from him. And that’s something Ramsdale is chafing at.
“I’m suffering and it hurts me not to play,” the 25-year-old, who in the summer had still issued the offensive goal of replacing Jordan Pickford as England’s regular keeper, said on the sidelines of the recent international trip. The fact that he was a player in demand, even though he didn’t get to play, was also thanks to two other protagonists: his father and TV pundit Jamie Carragher.
When Ramsdale was caught on camera applauding a Raya save during the derby against Tottenham (2-2) at the end of September, Carragher said it was like the Oscars, with a cut-out nominee clapping and smiling for the winner. Which in turn Ramsdale’s father Nick commented was a “disgrace” and denied Carragher his son’s class.
“He’s obviously just had a few too many!”
Although the Ramsdale headlines didn’t exactly die down with that, Aaron now came to Nick’s defense. “It doesn’t help that my dad does this, but he was on a golf trip in Spain with 19 other guys from the local pub. I wasn’t too angry with him. He didn’t say anything inappropriate. It just wasn’t helpful to the situation, he knew that. He obviously just had a few too many on the golf course!”
As of now, though, he said he hopes for more calm. “It’s a position that they say if it’s not talked about, it means you’ve done a good job. There’s a lot of talk right now. Whether it’s me playing or David, we just have to be able to focus.”
Ramsdale describes his relationship with Raya, who has given coach Mikel Arteta little reason to reconsider his decision so far, as “professionally very good.” The Spaniard also catches him sometimes when he is “down because of the situation.” Ramsdale has experienced firsthand that this situation can quickly change again.
