Aaron Ramsdale admits that Arsenal are using Liverpool for inspiration following Saturday’s 4-0 Premier League defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s men at Anfield, speaking to the Gunners’ official website.
Now, domestic glory may feel like little more than a pipe dream right now but if you had told Liverpool fans during the first few months of the Jurgen Klopp era that they would be Premier League and European Champions in 2020, even the most rose-tinted of Reds supporters would have been forgiven for questioning your sanity.
Liverpool, remember, finished eighth in the table during Klopp’s first season at the helm in 2015/16, 21 points off the top and having conceded more goals than West Brom.
And while we’re not saying that Arsenal will be conquering the continent in 2024, good things sometimes come to those who wait.
Patience, even in elite-level football, can often be a virtue.
Are Arsenal on the right track despite Liverpool battering?
A four-goal dismantling on Merseyside might have drawn a line under Arsenal’s recent ten game unbeaten run.
But, while Mikel Arteta’s side are far from the finished product just yet, it would be churlish to suggest that one defeat against arguably the best team in the country undermines all the progress they have made in the last two months.
“I think it shows the quality that (Liverpool) have got and where we want to get to. This game isn’t going to define our season. It’s possibly the toughest place to come in the Premier League,” Ramsdale points out.
“This is where we want to get to. We’re not going to hide away from the fact that they’ve won the Champions League and the Premier League in recent years.”
Liverpool made their superiority count early in the second half, doubling their lead through Diogo Jota while hassling and harrying Arsenal into submission.
Questions were certainly asked, post-game, about whether Arteta made a mistake instructing his team to play out from defence against a side who press like no other, especially after Nuno Tavares gifted Jota his goal with a misplaced back-pass.
“I think that’s where we need to learn on the pitch,” Ramsdale adds.
“We obviously had our gameplan but as a young team, sometimes we stick to the gameplan too much and we need to learn to possibly be strong with each other and talk more to try and weather the storm.
“The quality that they’ve got – we’re aspiring to get there. We’re working and, like I say, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
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