August 10th 2023.
David Raya is set to complete his move to Arsenal this week, but Peter Schmeichel is not pleased with Mikel Arteta’s decision to sign the Brentford goalkeeper. Arsenal agreed to pay £30 million for the Spaniard, and he is due to undergo a medical on Thursday.
The move will put Aaron Ramsdale’s position as Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper under threat. Arteta wants competition for all positions in his squad, but Schmeichel believes this decision will create a ‘bad atmosphere’ in the dressing room.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Schmeichel said: “I absolutely do not get it. I cannot understand how a manager can come to the conclusion that it’s a great thing to have competition for the number one shirt. A goalkeeper’s position is very reactive. You cannot create anything on your own, you have to wait for things to happen. You’re now asking your goalkeeper to prove you’re better than the other one. That means you now have to go and do stuff, and you don’t want that. It’s the one position on the pitch where you just want steady.”
The former Manchester United goalkeeper believes that having two goalkeepers competing for the number one shirt puts a lot of insecurity into the two of them. He added: “At the same time, having two challenging for number one, you’re also creating potentially a bad atmosphere in the dressing room because it’s a straight up competition between two guys who will either start or not play. They need to know if it goes wrong, which it does now and again, everyone makes a mistake and everyone costs a goal, that the manager says, ‘that’s alright, mate, you’re still my number one’. You need to have that confidence. If you don’t, you cannot perform 100 per cent for the team.”
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