Gary Neville came up with a bizarre way of assessing the rivalry between Arsenal keepers Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya after the former’s howler at Brentford.
Since Raya’s arrival on a season-long loan, he has become Mikel Arteta’s regular keeper, although the Gunners boss has been keen to stress he doesn’t have an undisputed number one. With Raya barred from playing against his parent club, Ramsdale was handed a rare start, his first in the Premier League since the start of September.
However, it almost got off to a disastrous start for the former Sheffield United stopper. Ramsdale received the ball in his own six-yard box in the 13th minute, having been goaded by the home fans with pro-Raya chants. The 25-year-old was clearly rattled as he fumbled over the ball, only to be spared huge embarrassment by Declan Rice’s goal-line clearance.
READ MORE: Ramsdale makes big howler as Arsenal fans say 'that's why you're not number one'
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Raya has also made a number of mistakes since arriving at the Emirates and Sky Sports pundit Neville believes too much pressure is being placed on the pair. Posting on X (formerly Twitter) after Ramsdale’s error, Neville said: “This is what happens when you have 2 keepers eating each other! You put them both under pressure.”
However, in response, many fans continued to point the finger at the keepers themselves. One said: “They’ve got two number two goalkeepers, neither good enough to be a number one, embarrassing situation!”
Another waded in: “Gary, there is no excuse for what Aaron Ramsdale has done. That was very wrong of him.”
Who should be Arsenal's number one? Tell us in the comments section below
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A third pointed out: “Players have competition in every other position and yet they cope, why should the mentality of a goalkeeper be different?” A fourth added: “That was a terrible mistake he got away there. Though Raya had similar vs Chelsea.”
Jamie Carragher disagreed with his Sky Sports colleague, tweeting: "Arteta has created this pressure on his keepers narrative is nonsense!!!!! Arteta should improve on his goalkeeper if he feels it’s right, is he supposed to sell the other one the same day. He did it with Ramsdale/Leno There is no battle to be number one, Raya is the number one!!"
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