Arsenal player claims he’s taking more risks in training but has experienced ‘a bit of failure’

Follow us on Google Discover

Matt Turner has praised Mikel Arteta whilst admitting that he now has to take more risks in Arsenal training than ever before.

The Gunners were keen to add a new goalkeeper over the summer with Bernd Leno on his way out.

Leno ended up joining Fulham but Arsenal had his replacement snapped up long before that deal materialised.

Arsenal chose to go with Matt Turner, effectively agreeing a deal with New England Revolution just after the January transfer window.

Matt Turner has praised Mikel Arteta

Turner was a surprise choice for Arsenal.

Aaron Ramsdale added so much to the Arsenal side just by being very adept at playing the ball out from the back.

Adding another goalkeeper in that mould seemed to make sense but Arsenal went down a different route.

Turner came in despite being mostly known as a good shot-stopper who needed some work on the deck.

We have already seen that with Arsenal in Europa League games when Turner has come in for Ramsdale.

Turner hasn’t looked all that comfortable with the ball at his feet and it’s clear that Arteta and co will have to do plenty of work on him moving forward.

Turner is 28 already though; he’s not old for a goalkeeper but also not exactly a kid, so he will need to get up to speed pretty quickly.

The American will hopefully kick on and improve at Arsenal but he has admitted that training is a real adjustment.

Turner has told Football London that he can often experience ‘failure’ in training because he now has to take more risks on the ball than he ever has before.

Turner also praised Mikel Arteta as ‘fantastic’ and suggested that the Arsenal boss is always trying to help him as he adjusts to life in North London.

“Working under him has been fantastic,” said Turner. “He figured out what makes me tick early on I think, and sometimes the way we train can come with a bit of failure because you’re asked to take more risks than I have done traditionally in the past but he always picked me up and told me to keep my head up. If I was frustrated, don’t show it and keep your head high,” he added.