Graeme Souness Tells Aaron Ramsdale To Stop Letting His Dad Fight His Battles

By The Editor
on 18th November 2023

Graeme Souness tells Ramsdale to put his big boy pants on…

Former Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness has called on Aaron Ramsdale to fight for his position on the pitch, and not allow his father to fight for him after Nick Ramsdale did an interview lamenting the situation, the Daily Mail reports.

Ramsdale has only made two starts since September in all competitions, with both of those outings coming in the Carabao Cup against Brentford and West Ham United, respectively.

Mikel Arteta decided to draft in David Raya following the September international break, a move that shocked many and has since been the source of much debate.

Raya has had a few shaky moments between the sticks, though his presence has brought a sense of calm to the defence – leading to six clean sheets in all competitions since his introduction.

Ramsdale’s dad went on the Highbury Squad podcast this week and claimed that he didn’t like the way his son was dropped and bemoaned the mood it’s since put him in.

For Souness, the signs are not good if you need your family whining to the public about your profession.

“It is time for Aaron Ramsdale to do his own fighting, rather than his dad doing it for him after his appearance on a podcast this week,” Souness wrote in his column.

“The Arsenal goalkeeper has to show what he is made of and deal with the situation in which he finds himself. Mikel Arteta fancies David Raya more than he does Ramsdale right now, but that can change.

“For Ramsdale, this a tough, mental challenge. He cannot point to anything he’s done wrong on a consistent basis that has cost him his place in the team. Sport at the highest level can be cruel and can be seen to be unfair.

But there is only one person who can right that perceived injustice — and it’s not Ramsdale’s dad,” Souness added.

I’d never thought there would be a day I agree with Souness’ assessment of an Arsenal player, but he’s spot-on about Ramsdale.

Some of the rhetoric surrounding his demotion has been pathetic and while some may say it hasn’t come from the 25-year-old directly, it’s not hard to determine that his inner circle are just publicly projecting his private thoughts.

At the end of the day, our collapse in last season’s title race is one that Arteta stated he’d never forget and his summer business made it clear who he deemed responsible for that.

Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and David Raya all arrived with the intention of starting under Arteta. It seems, for whatever reason, they would’ve replaced the likes of Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Alex Zinchenko and Ramsdale.