Neville: Arsenal star will ‘knock’ on Arteta’s door after Chelsea draw with £30m man ‘not good enough’
Gary Neville thinks Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale will be “knocking” on Mikel Arteta’s draw after David Raya’s performance against Chelsea.
Ramsdale has barely put a foot wrong in recent seasons but Arsenal – who are second in the 2023 Premier League net spend table – signed Raya from Brentford during the summer transfer window.
The Spain international has joined the Gunners on an initial loan deal and they have the option to sign him permanently for around £27m next summer.
Raya has swiftly dislodged Ramsdale to become Arsenal’s new number one goalkeeper but he has endured a rough start to the season.
The 28-year-old is usually great with the ball at his feet but he has been caught out in recent games and he was also lobbed by Mykhaylo Mudryk during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Neville was on commentary for this game and he thought Raya’s “positioning” for Mudryk’s goal was “not good enough”.
“His positioning is not good enough there – he is too far forward. There are question marks, the last three games he has not been good,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“You now have the dilemma where the other goalkeeper who is not here is at home, and he will be knocking on the door saying, any chance boss? He was beyond the near post, that just isn’t right. Why he’s there, you’ll have to ask him.”
READ MORE: 16 Conclusions from Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal… A bad day for goalkeepers apart from Aaron Ramsdale
Speaking post-match, Arteta admitted Arsenal “didn’t play with enough purpose and clarity” to begin with against Chelsea.
“I think what went wrong was the start of the game,” Arteta said. “We didn’t play with enough purpose and clarity. We were just moving the ball without the intention to threaten them. That’s a really dangerous thing to do against teams like Chelsea.
“Then we didn’t win enough duels, and in tight areas when we had them, they escaped from that and they attacked open spaces, and they are really dangerous things to do.
“When we changed that and we changed the level after 20, 25 minutes, especially in the second half then it’s a different game. We became a much better team, even though we conceded the second goal and it’s a disappointment.
“The way the team reacted to the second goal is phenomenal from the players on the pitch and the players on the bench thinking ‘how the hell am I going to change this game?’ I loved that.
“I really liked as well going into the dressing room and it’s really quiet, after drawing 2-2 with Chelsea and coming back from 2-0 down, because I know that they wanted more. That’s the positive.”
