Aaron Ramsdale's End Of Season Form: Is It Something To Be Concerned About?

Eyebrows were firmly raised when Arsenal brought in Aaron Ramsdale. Expectations were minimal and absolutely every fan and pundit thought Bernd Leno would be the Arsenal number one.

Fast forward a year and we are all looking on as Leno’s move to pastures new gathers pace, alongside Arsenal fans and pundits now questioning whether Ramsdale’s dip in form towards the end of the season is something to be worried about.

As said, the expectations were super minimal as the signing was derided and scoffed at by so many, especially those external to the club.

As it turned, Ramsdale exploded into the side and playing out of the back transformed from being precarious and nerve-wrenching for Arsenal fans, to a more tried and tested process.

Even if Ramsdale reminds everyone of having the slight eccentricity mirrored to a Jordan Pickford, he has the necessary confidence and personality required for the rest of the Arsenal players to trust as well as for the opposition now beginning to wonder whether pressing is worthwhile, therefore creating a sometimes half hearted press.

A truly transformative signing. So much so that fans of other clubs had begun to mock the way that he was making saves.

That’s when you know that a player is an asset.

The faux negativity to lament a player when things are going well is certainly a good sign when it comes to whether a player is having a positive impact.

As it turns the young goalkeeper went through a little dip in form towards the end of the season and his confidence seemed to be visibly affected.

It’s as if he didn’t fully believe in his own ability with enough conviction as much as at the beginning of the season. It’s only natural that a keeper goes through moments, especially at such a young age.

I think the end of the season came at the right time for him (and a fair few other players for that matter) as he appeared to be mentally fried from the pressure cooker of chasing down that fourth Champions League spot.

The summer will have allowed him to reset a little and you can see that in the pre-season fixtures he’s played in, there has been a more relaxed approach.

Of course, with pre-season it’s always tough to know where a player really is. The pressure is quite minimal, especially when you know the competing goalkeeper is on his way out, so it remains to be seen where he actually is.

There aren’t many tougher places to go than away at Crystal Palace, especially considering the humbling that Arsenal received there last season. It will be a clear representation of where he is mentally for the season. 

I think that it is going to be a concern for Arsenal, however the additions at the back in William Saliba and Oleksander Zinchenko will mean that he has more assured protection in front of him.

As well as this, having the trust from the man in charge, Mikel Arteta, will likely give him what he needs to move a step further in his development as the Arsenal number one.

Ultimately, whilst Matt Turner has been brought in, it’s difficult to see him displacing Ramsdale. I guess we probably all thought exactly the same about Ramsdale displacing Leno last summer, however one thing we knew about Leno was about the weakness in his ability to play out from the back.

We know that Ramsdale has this in spades and therefore we are arriving at this conclusion with more data, the eye test and the knowledge that he can do it over the course of a season.

With that all in mind, we can be rest assured that he will be given the time to settle back down into the rhythm of being Arsenal number one.

One thing that will help him is that the fans really appear to be on board with the squad, especially when it comes to the more vocal and charismatic members of the band.

That fan backing will give him the platform needed to make mistakes if he has to, which are inevitable at the very top level and almost the price you pay for playing the protagonist in the modern game.

Alisson of Liverpool and Ederson of Man City play similar ways, and have their fair share of errors but their productivity as a team far outweighs this. Their fans have fully come on board with this, and it feels as thought the Arsenal fans are headed in the same direction.