Aaron Ramsdale wants to prove to Gareth Southgate he should be England’s first-choice
By Art de Roché
Aaron Ramsdale wants to prove he should be Gareth Southgate’s first-choice goalkeeper for this December’s World Cup.
The 24-year-old impressed during his debut season at Arsenal last year, keeping 13 clean sheets and making three England appearances, but understands there is still work to be done.
“I’m in and around it at the moment,” he said during a roundtable discussion ahead of Amazon’s Arsenal: All or Nothing documentary airing on August 4.
“But things can change very quickly, especially this season there is going to be Jordan (Pickford), myself, Sam Johnstone, Dean Henderson, Nick Pope and probably some others.
“There are probably going to be five or six English goalkeepers trying to get on the plane so although I’m around at the moment I need to keep myself there.”
Despite suffering a dip in form at the back-end of last season, Ramsdale has generally impressed since moving to Arsenal last summer.
And he caught the eye of another manager when he made two of his best saves during the campaign came home and away against Leicester City. One was a tip onto the bar and subsequent rebound save after a James Maddison free kick at the King Power Stadium.
The other was a strong palm to a Harvey Barnes header at the Emirates in March, which resulted in Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers calling him “the best English keeper at the moment.”
“I never actually saw that interview,” Ramsdale admitted. “It is another thing, if I had comments on (social media) it probably would have popped up on the timeline or something.
“So it was probably two days after when one of the lads in the dressing room asked if I had seen what Brendan said about me.
“It is always great, from that week onwards you do feel 10-feet tall to have the respect of another manager but the thing for me is it wasn’t the England manager saying it.
“I still had to prove to him (Southgate) that hopefully that was the case and there is still a long way to go.”
Ramsdale has been open about turning comments off his social media pages following abuse he received ahead of his transfer to Arsenal last summer.
Even during the mostly positive experiences since moving to north London, he has not been tempted to turn them back on.
“You are just setting yourself up for a downfall (if you turn them back on),” he added.
“The people I need to impress, like I said, are the manager, the coaching staff and ultimately my team-mates. If I have their trust, then I’ll have the fans’ trust as well.”
https://theathletic.com/3469814/2022/08/02/aaron-ramsdale-wants-to-prove-to-gareth-southgate-he-should-be-englands-first-choice/
Aaron Ramsdale wants to prove to Gareth Southgate he should be England’s first-choice
By Art de Roché
Aaron Ramsdale wants to prove he should be Gareth Southgate’s first-choice goalkeeper for this December’s World Cup.
The 24-year-old impressed during his debut season at Arsenal last year, keeping 13 clean sheets and making three England appearances, but understands there is still work to be done.
“I’m in and around it at the moment,” he said during a roundtable discussion ahead of Amazon’s Arsenal: All or Nothing documentary airing on August 4.
“But things can change very quickly, especially this season there is going to be Jordan (Pickford), myself, Sam Johnstone, Dean Henderson, Nick Pope and probably some others.
“There are probably going to be five or six English goalkeepers trying to get on the plane so although I’m around at the moment I need to keep myself there.”
Despite suffering a dip in form at the back-end of last season, Ramsdale has generally impressed since moving to Arsenal last summer.
And he caught the eye of another manager when he made two of his best saves during the campaign came home and away against Leicester City. One was a tip onto the bar and subsequent rebound save after a James Maddison free kick at the King Power Stadium.
The other was a strong palm to a Harvey Barnes header at the Emirates in March, which resulted in Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers calling him “the best English keeper at the moment.”
“I never actually saw that interview,” Ramsdale admitted. “It is another thing, if I had comments on (social media) it probably would have popped up on the timeline or something.
“So it was probably two days after when one of the lads in the dressing room asked if I had seen what Brendan said about me.
“It is always great, from that week onwards you do feel 10-feet tall to have the respect of another manager but the thing for me is it wasn’t the England manager saying it.
“I still had to prove to him (Southgate) that hopefully that was the case and there is still a long way to go.”
Ramsdale has been open about turning comments off his social media pages following abuse he received ahead of his transfer to Arsenal last summer.
Even during the mostly positive experiences since moving to north London, he has not been tempted to turn them back on.
“You are just setting yourself up for a downfall (if you turn them back on),” he added.
“The people I need to impress, like I said, are the manager, the coaching staff and ultimately my team-mates. If I have their trust, then I’ll have the fans’ trust as well.”
https://theathletic.com/3469814/2022/08/02/aaron-ramsdale-wants-to-prove-to-gareth-southgate-he-should-be-englands-first-choice/