Aaron Ramsdale is set to stake his claim for the Arsenal No 1 shirt on Wednesday against West Ham in the Carabao Cup, his first appearance for a month.
A short trip to East London it may be and a local derby of sorts, but Mikel Arteta was already laying the groundwork for rotation on Saturday.
He took the opportunity to rest Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Magalhaes against Sheffield United, and made special mention of the strain on his squad over the last three weeks, when most have travelled away on international duty as well as played against Manchester City, Chelsea and Sevilla.
And while goalkeeping may not be the most physically taxing job, David Raya would be forgiven for complaining of mental fatigue.
The scrutiny on the Spaniard has arguably not been helped by Arteta, who has been insistent that he has two world-class goalkeepers and he will select on form, not on seniority.
“We want two players per position,” he insisted in pre-season, when quizzed as to whether £30m summer signing Raya or current incumbent Ramsdale would be given No 1 status.
But Ramsdale has now made just four Premier League appearances this season to Raya’s six, and the Spaniard has played all three Champions League games. In fact, since he was dropped at the start of September, Ramsdale’s only appearances have been against Brentford in the Carabao Cup and on national team duty for England against Scotland.
Raya and Ramsdale had about the same amount to do on Saturday, even though the former was technically on duty in the Arsenal goal, which will ease the pressure on him if only to create further distance from the passing mistakes against Lens and Chelsea, both of which cost the Gunners points.
In that sense, Raya may be glad of a game out of the spotlight, although it does give Ramsdale a chance to restart the debate which shows no sign of fizzling out. This weekend, even Arsenal royalty weighed in.
“I like Ramsdale. If I was in his position I would not give up,” said legendary manager Arsene Wenger, on pundit duty for beIN Sports.
“I believe he has the chance to come back into the team. I don’t know if he’s better. I just think Ramsdale has made decisive saves in the games last season.
“I don’t believe in rotation with goalkeepers, I don’t believe in a lack of clarity of the hierarchy with goalkeepers. That doesn’t work.”
Arteta still describes himself as a “really young manager” but he has done the Arsenal job long enough – he is coming up to his four-year anniversary – for such unsolicited advice to bounce off him.
But it’s a different story for the players. Ramsdale will take heart from the public support and try to capitalise on Wednesday’s opportunity, and he is not the only one either.
Assuming Emile Smith Rowe has pulled up well from his first Premier League start in 17 months, he could start two games in a week for Arsenal for the first time in 18, in the knowledge that Martin Odegaard has been playing through a mystery injury, Thomas Partey is struggling with a muscle problem and the Gunners have two games a week for virtually the rest of the calendar year.
The same opportunity presents itself to Kai Havertz, except that he has had plenty before. He started five of the first seven Premier League games of the season before being dropped after the 2-1 defeat in Lens. His start against Sheffield United was his first since then, and the 90 minutes he was given in game that was dead after an hour perhaps reflects Arteta’s willingness to give the German a chance to prove himself.
The West Ham clash is the first of 14 remaining for the Gunners in 2023, which will become 15 if they win, nine of which would fall in December alone. Havertz and Smith Rowe are the type of players who Arsenal will need to rely on in the cold, dark winter months, and like Ramsdale they will hope that this is the spring of their season.
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