There are many things in the world I don’t understand and don’t expect to ever comprehend.
Let’s start with the highlight of the past few weeks. The one that made me laugh the loudest. I mean, if this did not make you laugh then I fear you’ve already been pronounced dead and you just don’t know it.
How is it that the owner of the wankers down the road is even more stupid that we knew? It’s not enough to oversee the appointment of Harry Redknapp, AVB, Morinho and Conte (to name just a few). But he’s stupid enough to share (allegedly; thank you Mr and Mrs Lawyer) inside trading information with his pilots, chefs and others in his employment. I mean, when you have billions of dollars, rather than put them in jeopardy would it not be easier to just pay them a little more from your bags of gold? It’s mind-blowing funny though. When you thought that club could not be more incompetent, they find ways to plum new depths. It tells you all you need to know about their leadership and management expertise.
My hope here is that their glorious leader is now tied up in his legal related activity such that collectively they are unable to extract themselves for long enough to figure out how to sell the club to someone in the Middle East nor how to self-off their primary asset to Bayern Munich. In addition to be the dumping ground for all of LA Chelseas managers maybe they’ve taken a leaf our of Abramovich’s book on how to further tarnish a club and any resemblance of respectability. It’s all quite heartening and highly amusing.
So, while this is borderline incomprehensible, it brings me to my point. Why are we looking to replace, upgrade or challenge Aaron? It does not make sense. Not that all prior moves of Arteta have made sense at the time. And I acknowledge that he has a slightly superior track record in making football decisions than I have (currently). And I remain a fervent believer in Arteta. But this one escapes me. Of course, I felt the same way about Jorginho and have been proven wrong on that one. Though I still expect to be right on the current Vieira.
So why would we pay £40m for Raya? When we had Leno and spent £30m on Aaron no-one thought that made sense. Having watched Ramsdale, I thought this was a smart move that would help the team. Ramsdale has helped lift this team up. So, why do we need Raya?
The argument that we need competition in every position does not hold for goalkeepers. You can have White and Tommy compete for the right back position because both are versatile enough to move to other positions. In fact, the primary characteristics of new signings seems to be their versatility. But that does not hold for goalkeepers. Only one can play while the other has to occupy the bench. There are no other opportunities. I’ve yet to see a goalie play left back (though they would have been an upgrade on Santos).
So, the idea of believing this will provide competition is bogus. Even City with all their money have not gone done the path of having to world-class, high quality goalies. Imagine that. Not even City.
Next, Raya is older than Ramsdale by a few years. So, who will be patient enough to wait out their time? It took Ramsdale 3 games to take over from Leno. How long will Raya wait?
And, if we have a spare £40m to splash around couldn’t we spend it on something that actually plugs an obvious gap in our squad? For instance, a back up to Saka? Or to Jesus? You can’t spend £40m on a backup goalie. Or £30m. Maybe if he cost £15m or £20m and we sold Turner for £15m, then that might make some sense and clearly place Raya as a backup. But you can’t pay £30m+ for a backup goalie. What would that say to Ramsdale? That basically we have no faith in him and that he will be replaced. And if that’s not the case, then you’ll have Raya sitting around expecting to play and becoming upset and disruptive.
Ramsdale has added personality and character to this team. Aside from supporting the team I want to support players that clearly demonstrates a connection to the club, players and fans. A personality; someone with character. And that is Ramsdale. This is the type of player that should be the backbone of the club for 10 years or more. He is as close to Seaman and Lehman as anyone we’ve had in 10 years. If, after watching him for two years you are still unconvinced you should read the brilliant interview he gave for Players Tribune.
You can’t rotate goalies. They need to play consistently to develop an understanding with the defenders. In the same way we don’t rotate center-halfs. You need consistency in defense.
The amount we pay for Raya will tell us whether he’s a backup or his here to genuinely replace Ramsdale. Because Ramsdale won’t hang around if he is no longer our number 1 keeper. And then we’re back looking for another backup keeper.
The only play that makes sense here is that we want sign Raya to prevent Bayern Munich from spending money on him. And thus, saving all they money up to acquire the number 10 from down the road. That I could buy-into. That would make me laugh.
Ok, that’s it for now. This pre-season is proving quite interesting. And I’ve yet to react to the new, most wonderful, statute of Wenger the King of Kings, Emperor of Highbury.
-LB7