Lee Dixon has shared that he has been ‘superbly impressed’ by Aaron Ramsdale at Arsenal, as he told JOE’s podcast.
The Highbury legend shared what ‘you don’t see on TV’ about the Arsenal goalkeeper and how he is ‘so on it’ and ‘so on the game’ when he is watching him from the commentary box.
There aren’t many in-form goalkeepers in the Premier League than Ramsdale, at the moment, who is shutting up a lot of his critics after his summer transfer move.
Many questioned the Englishman and whether he had the qualities to make that step up to Arsenal.
Well, he is proving many, many people wrong and is fast becoming a key player for Mikel Arteta and a big reason as to why they are starting to turn their ship around.
Nonetheless, Dixon shared what has left him wowed about Ramsdale off the ball, when he watches him live at the ground, which probably doesn’t get picked up on TV screens.
“It’s different for goalkeepers because they aren’t on camera that very often unless they are doing something,” said Dixon.
“When I am doing commentary or radio, or something like that, and I have got a bit of downtime. I am always looking off the ball, just to see what’s going on.
“You don’t see that on the TV, if you are watching the game and I hadn’t seen an awful lot of him live. And I was watching him, he’s so on it and he’s so on the game.
“His distribution, you see him ping the ball on the telly and you go ‘oh, he’s pinged the ball to there’. When you see it in real life and real-time, you see the gaps he’s knocked it in and how accurate he is with his passing. I mean, he can kick a ball better than I can – I have been superbly impressed.”
That Ramsdale save from James Maddison’s free-kick is one the Arsenal supporters will store in their memory bank for a long time.
But it’s not just his shot-stopping ability that has been showcased since he replaced Bernd Leno in between the sticks.
It’s the character and vibrant nature in which he is playing the game that rubs off on his teammates and the supporters.
Whenever Arsenal score, there is worth putting a camera on the England international because he is probably the most animated of them all.
Either way, Ramsdale has only been at the Emirates for a few months and he is already becoming a firm fan favourite.
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