Arsenal see the best and worst of Aaron Ramsdale vs Man Utd

Any time where victory is secured over Manchester United the overriding emotion is unbridled joy. How you win, where you win, and who helps secure it is irrelevant. Arsenal vs Man Utd is a unique Premier League fixture in that sense.

Other than Tottenham there is no side in the division who it feels sweeter to get one over on. That may vary depending on the individual, but generally you’ll find the hatred is strongest between those two sides.

That doesn’t mean that, when the dust settles, the negative aspects of victory can’t be examined. In the case of Saturday’s 3-1 win it was crystal clear where the Gunners’ issues where: the defence.

Having taken the lead inside three minutes, the team should have been lifted. There is no greater confidence boost than a goal, especially one so early into a home fixture. But Arsenal were panicky. This wasn’t the calmness and ‘300,000 passes’ that Mikel Arteta wants to see. Evidently that was the aim, it just wasn’t executed.

Arsenal see the best and worst of Aaron Ramsdale vs Manchester United as Gunners goalkeeper makes errors and crucial saves in 3-1 win

Unfortunately, Aaron Ramsdale played a large part in that.

Shaky away at Chelsea in midweek and generally less assured across 2022 than he had been in 2021, much of the tranquility he brings with the ball at his feet showed signs of cracking. One pass straight into Bruno Fernandes required a goal-saving intervention from Gabriel and on other occasions he sold his defenders short with some erratic and loose distribution.

Gabriel takes the blame as much as he does for allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to ghost past him to reduce the deficit, yet equally Ramsdale got caught in two minds and was left flapping at thin air when he neither held his ground or nipped out to meet Nemanja Matic’s cross.

These are the sort of interventions that knock not only the goalkeeper’s confidence, but that of his defence, too.

What’s apparent is that nothing fazes Ramsdale. When Arsenal scouted him there was a lot of emphasis on him as a character: how he responds to setbacks, what aura he transmits, and how he handles pressure.

There are some concerns over the drop off in quality he’s shown of late, just as there are none over his focus and mentality. Making the errors in possession that he did could see a keeper fold in a match. Ramsdale, to his credit, did not let those moments faze him and he kept his cool to make a superb fingertip save from Diogo Dalot in the second half that pushed his effort onto the post.

Maintaining composure with the help of Mohamed Elneny always showing for the ball, he rode the mistakes and produced key moments in that match that helped preserve Arsenal’s lead. Likewise, he could have been responsible for letting it slip.

Despite being richly experienced for his age, Ramsdale remains a young goalkeeper at 23 years old, one who is embarking on his first season at a club of this size, one that, for a change of scenery to him, isn’t battling relegation. With undoubted areas to work on, the fortunate aspect of it is that, as of yet, these errors haven’t proved costly.

Fans saw the best and worst of Aaron Ramsdale against United. While he’s an excellent young goalkeeper, all involved need more of one and less of the other.