StuartL wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:06 pmI don’t suppose you have had 30 years in football Neil ?Retro Gunner wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:17 pmmcdowell42 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:30 amGrowing belief at Fulham that they can wrap up a deal for Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Still work to be done, but likely fee would be around the £10m mark.
I have no faith in Arteta, so most of what he does puzzles me, but I could never work out why he dropped Martinez, who'd performed fabulously well in the run in of the 19/20 season, including being a big part of the winning Cup run and immediately reinstated Leno once fit and sold Martinez. Then, in no time at all, he buys Ramsdale and drops Leno. Made no sense.
It's only my opinion, but Martinez is a better keeper than both of them and ticked all the right boxes for me. Big and commands his area, catches the ball instead of constantly punching it (or trying to punch it in Ramsdale's case), reassures his defenders, rather than Ramsdale's chaotic and hysterical screaming, shouting, high fivingand arm waving.
The clown Arteta got rid of the best keeper we'd had for years, for no discernible reason. The guy had performed brilliantly.
I would happily have kept Martinez as no1, as long as his performances merited it, but, if rumour is to be believed, he wanted an assurance that he was no 1 over an experienced keeper and if Arteta had caved to his demands that early in his career he would have been crucified.
If we can have the Ramsdale who was performing at the level prior to his England call up then, in my opinion, we got an upgrade.
You know I'm an old fucker Stuart, so it's well in excess of 30 years now!
Well, in my opinion, Arteta should have told Martinez that he had earned the No. 1 position, which his impeccable performances over a sustained period warranted (if memory serves me well, he was comfortably the Prem's best performing keeper over that period), but that, of course, no one can be guaranteed to be a permanent No.1. That if his level dropped, then Leno was waiting in the wings. I can't see that Emi would have objected to a structure that should apply to all footballers in any position...eg. if you're performing you're in, if not you're out.
I suspect that Arteta knew that he'd lose whichever one wasn't made number 1 and decided that he'd prefer to keep Leno. As usual with Captain Black, it was the wrong decision. Very quickly afterwards decides that Leno isn't cutting it (meanwhile, Emi performing very well at Villa) and brings in Ramsdale.
As for Ramsdale, I'm far from convinced. Too erratic and chaotic for my liking. Defenders need a calm and reassuring presence behind them and his manic antics are more inclined to cause panic. He also rarely catches, even when it's very possible, which Emi always does. He'll make spectacular reaction saves, but his decision making is often horrific and his positioning suspect, he doesn't command the area in a calm, dominant manner and the ball often bounces off him into very dangerous areas. Let's be honest, over 90% of a keeper's job, is not those spectacular saves (which Martinez made plenty of too btw), it's a cool, calm and able presence, that reassures the backline instead of spooking them.
I'll make a prediction now....there'll be some serious questions raised about Ramsdale (at least on here
) during the course of the next season.
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|| Arsenal & Lyon are in negotiations for Lucas Paqueta. Lyon requesting €60m (£50m). The player wants to make a leap in his career both financially & sporting wise [Via - @Gabe_Carneiro].
