Arsenal fans are finally starting to see Matt Turner consistently play in an Arsenal shirt for the first time since signing in the summer. The goalkeeper made a £7.5million move to north London in the summer to replace the departing Bernd Leno.
The 28-year-old was bought in to be a solid backup option for Aaron Ramsdale. But, the American had come under criticism in the last few weeks which provided as a transfer warning for Mikel Arteta.
However, his last two performances in the Europa League has eased the pressure on the goalkeeper. Turner has kept back-to-back clean sheets to give the Gunners major leverage in topping their European group.
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Turner had been on international duty with the United States squad at the back end of September. It is here where he received worrying critics after his last performance.
The goalkeeper started for the United States in their goalless draw against Saudi Arabia. Despite keeping a clean sheet, he still came under fire by the media.
NBC gave him a score of 6.5/10, but they warned that his distribution may not be good enough to earn him the number one spot for the World Cup.
"A good if not great shot stopper, his footwork might be what costs him a starting spot to Zach Steffen," they wrote.
Meanwhile, MLS Soccer only handed him a 4.5/10 rating. And they also picked up on his struggles with his feet.
"The former New England Revolution goalkeeper turned over possession really sloppily early in the second half, but otherwise was solid. He wasn’t called into action often, but was reliable when he needed to be," was their reaction.
This was concerning news for Arsenal, as Ramsdale is so pivotal to Arteta’s side due to the strength of his distribution. With Turner previously struggling in this department, it had cast initial doubt on his ability to replicate what Ramsdale offered if the Englishman is not available for selection.
However, Turner’s performances against FK Bodo/Glimt is a good response to the recent critics having achieved two clean sheets and showing an improvement on his distribution.
Speaking about Turner’s distribution, Mikel Arteta said: “He’s getting better, obviously we’re asking him different things from what other managers have asked him to do. He was much better in the first half than in the second half in my opinion we could have had some more control.”
Turner has shown in recent weeks that he has the potential to be a solid back-up to Ramsdale. The critics coming Turner's way will begin to shift to more positive feedback.
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