But given that Friedel, who made 450 appearances in the Premier League, was in this very situation at Liverpool many, many years ago, he doesn’t think it’s going to end well, as he told The Transfer Show on Sky Sports (07/08/23 at 7:45 pm).
At the time, the American had come into Liverpool in 1997 and he started to compete with former England shot-stopper, David James, for the number one spot.
It didn’t go too great because he spoke about how James, who he now has a good relationship with, ‘didn’t treat me well’.
There’s no doubt that, when Arsenal announce this capture of Raya, then it will be another statement to the rest of the league, but Friedel has his doubts.
“It’s an embarrassment of riches because both Raya and Ramsdale are very good,” said Friedel. “I work for a data analytic company, for goalkeepers only, and Raya’s scores were very high. They were actually higher than Ramsdale’s.
“But Raya is good. Raya is very, very good. You are bringing in another number one. It’s very difficult. Actually, it’s impossible. I’m not going to say ‘it’s very difficult’, you just don’t keep two number one goalkeepers happy.
“When does Raya get his chance? You are thinking ‘does he overtake me?’ It doesn’t really matter what the Head Coach says, you have two outstanding keepers. One of them is going to be upset all the time.”
Raya vs Ramsdale
It seems as though Ramsdale will keep the gloves, for now, but he now knows that he can’t put a foot wrong.
This can end in two ways, either he is replaced within a few weeks or he takes his game to such high levels that Raya remains on the bench.
Either way, it’s probably a win-win situation for Mikel Arteta because of the quality of keepers he now has to work with and call upon.
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