Aaron Ramsdale’s rise to becoming Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper was incredibly quick.
The now three-cap England international hasn’t looked back since usurping former Germany ’keeper Bernd Leno (now at Fulham) in September 2021, a month after signing from Sheffield United, and he signed a new contract a couple of weeks ago to further cement his status as the club’s No 1.
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Ramsdale, who also turned 25 in May, has now made more appearances for Arsenal (78) than any of his previous clubs. It hasn’t always all been plain sailing, as is to be expected with young goalkeepers, but he has become a key component in what Arsenal do, both on and off the pitch, in his two seasons.
In possession, varied distribution allows Arsenal to take games in the direction they want. He has been a reliable shot-stopper for large stretches of this season, albeit with some dips in form, making saves at crucial points in matches to help his side either hold a lead, stay level and/or go on to win.
The Athletic assesses some features of Ramsdale’s game that have helped him become such a key figure, with contributions from our in-house goalkeeping expert Matt Pyzdrowski, who played professionally in MLS and in Europe between 2010 to 2022.
Positioning and composure
Some of Ramsdale’s best saves this season have come in one-v-one situations.
He rarely rushes out to an opponent’s feet to make them. Here, during the 3-1 win over Chelsea in May, when Ben Chilwell was clean through at 1-0, Ramsdale is inside his six-yard box as the left-back takes his final touch to set himself.
Chilwell’s next touch is his shot, and Ramsdale has barely moved. He’s actually deeper in his six-yard box than he was a moment earlier, and has accounted for the angle before making a strong save.
A similar stop, which was just as important, came in the 4-2 win over Leicester City in the first home game of the season back in August. Wesley Fofana broke into the box three minutes in, but Ramsdale held his position and saved well to keep the score at 0-0 and allow Arsenal to settle, rather than have panic infect the Emirates Stadium.
Matt Pyzdrowski’s analysis: A lot of it comes down to decision-making as well as Ramsdale’s skill set and physical traits. He can afford to do that because he is so quick and athletic. He’s really good at holding his position and when the striker puts his head down to shoot, he’ll close the angle. Part of the reason is he’s excellent at spreading to make the save, where he throws his arms and also his legs at the ball.
The advantage is you give yourself more time, but also put pressure on the attacker. When you just run out erratically, it makes the decision for the opponent, who might then dribble around or dink the ball over the ‘keeper, which doesn’t often happen to Ramsdale.
Spreading himself and adrenaline
A prime example of Ramsdale making his body as big an obstacle as possible to good effect came away to Leeds United in October. After William Saliba loses the ball to Patrick Bamford, you can see Ramsdale stops backpedalling at around 10 yards out.
As Bamford approaches, he doesn’t go forward to meet him, but moves across and back.
He’s stayed pretty much at the same vertical distance from goal, but has closed the angle so much that Bamford’s low shot catches him in the, uh, groin region.
Ramsdale’s instant reaction to impact wasn’t a wince, however. It was to get straight back to his feet, follow the ball back to Bamford’s feet and fall on it. Then came the pause in play for him to catch his breath.
He made a similar save against Portuguese visitors Sporting in March’s Europe League last-16 second leg, when Marcus Edwards was through on goal. On that occasion, Ramsdale held his position and stayed upright long enough for the shot to hit him in the face. After some treatment, he played on.
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Matt Pyzdrowski’s analysis: It’s the adrenaline and it’s also part of the training where you can make four or five saves in a row. Part of that is conditioning and part of it is technical. You need to train reactions for when they’re actually needed.
Subconsciously, he wouldn’t even feel the pain when it happens. He knows the ball hits him, then he has to find it again and make the follow-up save. Once everything calms down, the feeling sets in. Part of that will be a tactical decision too, so his team can get a break and relieve pressure.
Even if they’re in immense pain, goalkeepers won’t react because their will to make the next save is greater than what they’re feeling.
Hand position
Ramsdale’s standout performance this season came in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield on April 9.
It was an afternoon that showcased much of what makes him so impressive. Although tipping away a shot destined for the top corner catches the eye, it is not an area of his goal Ramsdale, who isn’t a giant of a ‘keeper at 6ft 2in (188cm), is proficient in protecting.
But there are more technical aspects at play that allow him to make those saves.
Matt Pyzdrowski’s analysis: Ramsdale normally rests his hands around waist height — especially for shots from beyond eight to 10 yards — which is ideal, as well as being tucked into his body. If you look at someone such as Jordan Pickford, who is excellent for Everton (and England’s first choice), he has a totally different style. His hands are a bit wider, but they get similar results, so a lot of it is down to preference.
When you look at Ramsdale’s top- versus bottom-hand saves and when to choose which to go with, his decision-making is so clean. For this stop against Mohamed Salah to the back post — which was voted the Premier League’s April Save of the Month — he starts to go for it with his top (left) hand, but then shoots out his bottom one.
To have that clarity of thought in the moment, when you don’t really have time to think, is remarkable.
If he had a lower hand position to start with, it’s harder to get to the top corners. One instance that comes to mind is Emiliano Martinez for Argentina in their shock World Cup loss to Saudi Arabia last November. He has a very low position, so it takes more time to get your hands up high.
Martinez gets his fingertips on the ball here, but doesn’t have enough power to keep it out.
That’s one of the advantages of Ramsdale’s more neutral set hand position, especially for shots from outside 10 yards. It benefits him when he wants to throw his hands to the top corners of the goal because time’s on his side. It affords him the ability to change hand positions mid-flight, as he did in the above example against Salah. He can’t make that save with a lower set hand position.
Footwork, confidence and bravery
Ramsdale’s reach for Salah’s deflected shot was not his only specular save that day against Liverpool. Even deeper into added time, with Arsenal hanging on for a point, he scrambled across his line to deny Ibrahima Konate in the centre of the goal.
The emphasis here shifts to how his feet put him in a position to make the save after his initial focus has been on Darwin Nunez at the back post.
As Ramsdale watches the ball fly across the six-yard box, he shuffles back over…
…and quickly adjusts his feet so he can launch off his left foot to make the save, without any added complications.
Matt Pyzdrowski’s analysis: The thing you look for when Ramsdale plays is the efficiency of his footwork, because he is very quick. One thing that can happen to bigger goalkeepers is they don’t work on footwork as much because they rely on their size. Ramsdale’s not the world’s tallest ‘keeper but is still big and has really good footwork.
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How quickly he moves his feet and how he can readjust his body and improvise are key: knowing the ball’s already behind him, showing quick feet towards the back post and then throwing yourself.
The Bournemouth one, which won the Premier League’s March Save of the Month, is further out but the same idea — a quick change of direction where you don’t have time to think, it’s just instinct and throwing your hands to the ball.
That’s something you teach from a really young age and you see Arsenal’s goalkeepers coach Inaki Cana working on that in occasional videos he posts on YouTube.
Every goalkeeping coach will tell you something different but personally, footwork is the foundation of a ’keeper’s success. If you have good footwork, you’re going to make more saves. If you have bad footwork, it doesn’t matter how good your reflexes or technique are, there are some shots you just won’t reach.
There is still room for Ramsdale, and the defence ahead of him, to improve.
More consistency will be required next season The dip he suffered at the start of this one and then Arsenal becoming more porous after the World Cup break in November and December means he conceded 38 goals from 39 expected goals on target (xGOT) — a metric which considers the quality of the on-target attempts a goalkeeper has faced, accounting for the placement in the goal and the angle from which the shot is taken.
His goals prevented number is minus-one in total (or 0.03 per 90 minutes), which is average for goalkeepers in the Premier League. In March of last season, he had conceded 17 from 21.2 xGOT (so, preventing 4.2 goals), in a more consistent and less busy display throughout the campaign.
From a goalkeeping standpoint, Ramsdale could do better when shots are fired in and around his legs and with penalties, but time is on his side. He has elevated the goalkeeper position at Arsenal since arriving two summers ago and is a key cog for their maturing side.
(Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)