Aaron Ramsdale labels Arsenal teammate ‘Rolls-Royce’ who still needs occasional ‘digging out’
Aaron Ramsdale hugs Thomas Partey after Arsenal beat Wolves
Aaron Ramsdale has hailed the impact of ‘Rolls-Royce’ defender William Saliba at Arsenal but admits the centre-back still needs ‘digging out’ on occasion.
Mikel Arteta’s men cemented their place at the top of the Premier League with a resounding 3-1 win over north London rivals on Saturday, maintaining their one-point advantage over Manchester City.
Saliba put in another outstanding performance against 10-man Spurs. Indeed, he kept the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Richarlison at arm’s length for most of the game.
The 21-year-old has been the club’s most impressive defender since returning from a loan spell at Marseille in the summer.
Indeed, his partnership with Brazilian Gabriel Magalhaes has turned into one of the best in the league.
And speaking about Saliba’s performances, Ramsdale admits the player is not the finished article just yet and still needs to odd nudge if he makes a mistake.
The England keeper said: “He has fit in really well. It is a credit to him that he has been put straight into the team. He is a bit of a Rolls-Royce with the way he moves and he has never seemed phased.
“He is still a young boy so still makes mistakes so at the minute it is either Ben (White), myself, Gabriel or Thomas Partey digging him out and he is digging other people out as well.
“That is the main thing at the minute, our mistakes aren’t leading to too many things and that is the sign of a team with good characters in and around that back five.”
Arsenal using Champions League woe as motivation
Arsenal‘s victory over Tottenham on Saturday went a little way to making up for last term’s end-of-season debacle.
The Gunners missed out on a Champions League spot to their bitter rivals. And Ramsdale claims events last term were used as motivation for the current campaign.
He added: “The experiences at the end last season are adding to our team spirit and mentality.
“It’s not just the lads who have come in who have brought this winning mentality. We all have this fire burning inside because of what happened at the end of last season.
“We spoke about it before the game, to play the game and not the occasion and that’s what we did.
“The day I returned to pre-season, two weeks late through internationals, I came back and the standard of training had increased.
“From the start of the season we played really well in games and we’re winning, that helps.
“It is a never-say-die attitude, the way I would word it is an ‘Eff it mentality’. Who cares we have conceded? We have got 10 minutes, 70 minutes, we will play our way. We never run out of time.
“That is the big thing for us and the manager, we don’t stop working.”
The Gunners are next in action on Thursday when they face Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League. Their next Premier League outing is a home clash with Liverpool on Sunday.
