Tag: Aaron Ramsdale

Aaron Ramsdale signs new Arsenal contract. How will Matt Turner respond?

Ramsdale looks entrenched as the Gunners goalkeeper for the long term

It wasn’t already clear, Arsenal has further emphasized that Aaron Ramsdale is the club’s goalkeeper of the present and future.

Arsenal announced on Thursday that Ramsdale has signed a new long-term contract, rewarding the 25-year-old for a stellar run that has seen him lock down the starting role in north London.

Ramsdale signed for Arsenal in 2021 and quickly overtook Bernd Leno for the starting role. Now near the end of his second season as Arsenal’s starter, the club has chosen to extend a contract that had two years remaining.

“We’re all so happy that Aaron has signed a new contract,” manager Mikel Arteta told the club’s website. “The way Aaron has developed over the past two years has been exceptional, with his performances, contribution and overall adaptation to the club.

“It’s great that we’re continuing to build our future with our biggest talents in our young squad. We’re all looking forward to enjoying many more years of Aaron the player and the person at the football club.”

Ramsdale added: “To get it after two years, I’m buzzing. It just means I can concentrate and keep my head down, and hopefully after a few more years I’ll get another one and carry on living the dream at the football club.”

What’s next for Turner?

News of Ramsdale’s extension won’t change much for the club’s backup Matt Turner, who likely wouldn’t have had a major chance to overtake the incumbent regardless.

But it does further emphasize that Ramsdale is entrenched for the long term, which could force Turner to eventually begin considering his own future.

Turner joined Arsenal last summer from the New England Revolution and has made seven total appearances this season, none of which have come in the Premier League.

The 28-year-old has previously spoken about how much he’s grown in north London from training alone, but his competitors for the U.S. national team starting role are all currently playing much more frequently.

Turner will presumably want to start at some point. Barring injury, it looks increasingly unlikely that will happen at Arsenal.

[lawrence-related id=16054,15870,14482]

Liverpool agonizingly blew 2 golden chances to bury Arsenal’s Premier League title chances

This was SO close to being a mind-boggling collapse.

The Premier League title race is coming down to the wire between Arsenal and Manchester City. Arsenal seemingly did everything to open the door for City in a 2-2 draw against Liverpool Sunday.

If not for a chance miss by Mohamed Salah and a very clutch save by Aaron Ramsdale, we’re probably having an entirely different conversation about City eventually chasing Arsenal down.

After the Gunners took an apparent commanding 2-0 lead, Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp’s battled back. While the Reds would eventually knot the match up anyway, Salah had a golden chance on an early second-half penalty to tighten the pressure.

He missed.

Salah’s reputation as one of the best players in the world precedes him. So much so that Klopp was actually shocked the midfielder didn’t pot the penalty.

No matter. Liverpool found a way to keep matters interesting with Arsenal regardless. And in the closing seconds, the Reds and Ibrahima Konate almost buried the Gunners and put a cherry on top of an embarrassing collapse.

Except Ramsdale made a miraculous save to keep it level:

PHEW. Imagine being that close on the doorstep and not scoring. Imagine being the goalie, holding what might be an eventual Premier League title, in your gloves.

After holding a 2-0 lead, a draw is nonetheless awful news for Arsenal. They hold just a six-point lead on City in the Premier League Standings with eight games to play (City has nine remaining matches). But a loss would’ve been disastrous. A loss — with Salah conversely making his penalty and Ramsdale actually not being a hero — would’ve opened the door to almost certain chaos.

Sporting’s 46-yard goal, penalties sink Arsenal in Europa League

Pedro Gonçalves’ golazo ended Arsenal’s dreams in Europe

Arsenal is out of the Europa League, with Sporting Clube shocking the Premier League leaders on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate finish to their round of 16 tie.

Granit Xhaka gave the Gunners a first-half lead at the Emirates Stadium, but a Pedro Gonçalves goal from 46 yards brought the Lisbon club back to equal footing in the 62nd minute.

Sporting — who finished with 10 men after Manuel Ugarte’s late second yellow card — held on for dear life in extra time, with Leandro Trossard hitting the post on a breakaway.

In the penalty kick tiebreaker, Aaron Ramsdale was close on two different Sporting attempts, but Antonio Adán’s save on Gabriel Martinelli was all the difference, with Sporting advancing 5-3 on penalties.

Wait, hold on a second. We may have passed over something a bit too quickly. A goal from 46 yards?

Well, yes. Paulinho and Jorginho clashed over a loose ball at midfield, where Gonçalves pounced to take control. Left with the space left open by Jorginho stepping up, Gonçalves took a touch, and spotted Ramsdale’s positioning: well off his line, as is appropriate when your team is pushed up high.

Ramsdale read Gonçalves’ intentions and began backpedaling, but it was too late. The Sporting playmaker only had eyes for goal, launching a shot from what UEFA later said was 46 yards out over the England goalkeeper.

It didn’t determine the outcome, but it was the moment of magic Sporting needed to get a goal that otherwise might never have arrived.

Enjoy (or if you’re an Arsenal fan, hate-read) how the internet reacted to Gonçalves’ incredible strike.

Mikel Arteta praises Matt Turner after Arsenal Europa League shutout win

The Arsenal boss liked what he saw as Turner kept a clean sheet

Matt Turner’s good run of form continued Thursday, as he helped Arsenal to a shutout victory in the Europa League.

Mikel Arteta gave the U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper a third start in continental competition, and Turner helped Arsenal to a 1-0 away win over Bodø/Glimt. That broke a 14-game home winning streak in European competition for the Norwegian club, and puts Arsenal on the brink of advancing from their group.

Turner only had to make one save in a game that was largely a tactical stalemate, but he did have to intercept numerous through balls and help organize a defense that was under pressure in the second half. Bodø/Glimt forced Arsenal to do plenty of defensive work and clock management — Turner himself was booked for time-wasting in stoppage time — but ultimately the Gunners navigated the challenge.

The victory keeps Arsenal’s superb start to the season rolling along. They’ve won 11 of their 12 competitive games this year, and a single point in any of their remaining three Europa League matches will seal a spot in the next round.

Arteta praises Turner

Following the match, Arteta told reporters that he’s seeing the improvement the club had hoped for after making a summer move to acquire him from the New England Revolution.

“He’s getting better, obviously we’re asking him different things from what other managers have asked him to do,” said Arteta. “He was much better in the first half than in the second half in my opinion we could have had some more control. But I think he was really good in the goal in situations especially when defending the area in behind the center halves and in the one against one situations, he was really good.”

Asked directly if he’d have enough confidence to start Turner in the Premier League, Arteta gave a clear, simple answer: “Yes.” Aaron Ramsdale remains first choice, though, and barring injury it seems likely that Turner’s next appearances will remain in the Europa League and cup competition.

Still, Turner will have an opening for a regular run of matches in the near future. Arsenal will host PSV next Thursday, October 20, before playing them in the Netherlands one week later. They then conclude their Group A schedule with FC Zürich coming to the Emirates on November 3, and six days later, they will host Brighton in the Carabao Cup.

[lawrence-related id=7536,107,7751]