Aaron Ramsdale’s drive to win with Arsenal has never been in question – and a clip from the win over Wolves has summed up the goalkeeper’s influence on the team.
Ramsdale has become a huge character in the Gunners’ dressing room since arriving in a £25million transfer from Sheffield United in the summer of 2021. At the time some questioned the move and the transfer fee, but Ramsdale has proven himself to be worth every penny for Mikel Arteta.
Ramsdale kept his seventh clean sheet of the Premier League season as Arsenal moved five points clear at the top of the table on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Wolves. Martin Odegaard scored both of the Gunners’ goals in the second half as they took full advantage of Manchester City ’s 2-1 defeat by Brentford earlier in the day.
Arsenal limited Wolves to just two shots on target, meaning Ramsdale didn’t have too much to do in the game. But his role in communicating and organising the team cannot be underestimated – and it was shown by something he shouted at Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Ukrainian left-back was guilty of dwelling on the ball and trying to be too clever with it when Arsenal were defending their lead. And that wasn’t something Ramsdale was going to accept.
A clip posted on social media showed Ramsdale’s reaction. With anger clearly in his eyes, he screamed at Zinchenko: “Stop f****g taking the p***!”
HAVE YOUR SAY! What do you make of Aaron Ramsdale's rant? Does it show his importance to Arsenal? Comment below.
It is not the first time Ramsdale has used an expletive-filled sentence to get his point across to his teammates. The Amazon Prime documentary series on Arsenal showed his approach clearly, with a clip from the dressing room after a loss against Everton at Goodison Park going viral.
"That's f****** embarrassing!" shouted Ramsdale as he walked back into the dressing room. He then launched a water bottle and towel across the floor before continuing his passionate tirade towards his shell-shocked teammates. "Every f****** game, so f****** naive," he shouted.
Speaking in his post-match press conference following the Wolves win, Arteta revealed just how important he thinks having a competitive edge to the dressing room dynamic is.
“I’m more focused on our way of playing and our way of living together and the atmosphere that we have in this dressing room and around Colney and the bond that we are creating with our supporters in our stadium and the relationship between every member of the club,” he said. “That’s much more powerful and now the aim is to focus on playing better every day.”
Arsenal now have a lengthy break for the World Cup before returning against West Ham in the Premier League on Boxing Day. Arteta’s men then face Brighton on New Years’ Day and Newcastle four days later.
