Aaron Ramsdale has denied that Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven is a ‘reality check’ as he offered a strong response following a difficult night for the Gunners.
Ramsdale has been crucial to Arsenal's electric start to the 2022/23 campaign but his first appearance in the Europa League was a night to forget. The 24-year-old shot-stopper was signed from Sheffield United for £25million in 2021 as he replaced Bernd Leno as the Gunners' No.1 goalkeeper.
Mikel Arteta opted to hand summer signing Matt Turner opportunities in the Europa League group stage as the American helped the north London outfit secure qualification for the knockout rounds. Ramsdale replaced Turner for the trip to Holland but Arsenal were unable to bounce back from their disappointing draw against Southampton in the Premier League last weekend PSV came away with a 2-0 win to keep them in the frame for top spot of the group heading into the final matchday.
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Luuk de Jong sealed the win with a brilliant header from a corner kick in the 63rd minute as the Gunners goalkeeper came off his line only to be beaten in the air by the Dutch striker. Despite a tricky night for Ramsdale and his teammates, when asked whether the defeat to PSV was a 'reality check' for Arsenal, the England international responded: "Not really.
"At the Southampton game we knew what went wrong and obviously we will look at what went wrong in this game in more depth. The manager is great giving us the detail we need to improve.
"So I don’t think it’s a reality check, I just think we need to go back to what we were doing, our basics better, than what we have shown in the past two games."
The Gunners remain in pole position to finish top of Group A and only need to match or better PSV's result against Bodo/Glimt on the final matchday to qualify as group winners. Asked whether he believes Arsenal can qualify top of the group heading into the knockout rounds, Ramsdale offered a strong response saying: "Absolutely, yeah.
"We would have loved to have done it tonight, but we have got one more game to seal top spot. That’s what we will be going for at home in front of our fans and hopefully we will put on a better display as tonight wasn’t good enough.
"The travelling fans travelled out here and we didn’t put in a shift for them really."
The last two performances against Saints and PSV may be a worrying sign to some, but the Gunners remain top of their Europa League group and the Premier League with just a few weeks left before the World Cup begins. Arsenal know they must try to stay top heading into the break to put themselves in the strongest position possible when club football resumes on Boxing Day.
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