Mikel Arteta has told Aaron Ramsdale he expects a positive reaction from the axed Arsenal goalkeeper who was forced to watch his side’s win over Everton from the substitutes’ bench.
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The England international has been Arteta’s undisputed No.1 ever since he dislodged Bernd Leno just four games into the 2021/22 season.
In truth, Ramsdale had done little wrong at the start of the current campaign to merit losing his place, but the summer arrival of David Raya always suggested a changing of the guard was inevitable at some point.
Whether Ramsdale returns for Arsenal’s first Champions League game in six years remains to be seen, but Arteta hopes the 25-year-old responds in a similar fashion to the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz who were also among the replacements against Everton.
‘The same as Gabriel Jesus, the same as Kai Havertz, the same as Tomiyasu,’ said Arteta when asked how he hope Ramsdale would react to losing his place.
‘Exactly the same. We play with 11 players. We don’t play with 10 plus one, or sometimes nine. We play with 11 players. Exactly the same.’
Raya enjoyed a serene first game between the posts for his new club with Everton hardly registering a threat but Arteta declared himself happy with the Spaniard’s performance, along with that of Fabio Vieira who earned his first start of the season.
‘What I want is that the players that desreve to play that they play.You know when Fabio deserves to play he’s been knocking on the door for a few weeks now and you can tell that he was ready and he contributed,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘He had some great actions that could’ve ended in goals and that’s what they need.
‘When they are ready they play and they play well and I think they [Vieira and Raya] both did that today.’
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