Mikel Arteta has told Aaron Ramsdale to brace himself for scrutiny from the whole country and not just a part of it as he bids to achieve his dream of becoming England’s No.1.
Ramsdale is pushing to displace Everton’s Jordan Pickford after an impressive debut season at Arsenal following his £25m move from Sheffield United.
Though there was a rare slip from the 23 year-old on Wednesday when he was unable to keep out Diogo Jota’s opening goal in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at the Emirates.
Arteta said: ‘Obviously he was gutted after the match and that’s normal because he is such a competitive boy but he needs to realise this is going to happen in your career always.
'If you play for the national team probably you’re going to have a moment when you do something and instead of just some part of country it will be the whole country and if you want to be at the top for 10, 15, 20 years you have to be prepared for that. It is about how you react in those moments.
‘[His reaction has been] top! He wants to be there the next day, wants to go and practice. He is very critical of himself so some days he needs to have some help to put things into perspective and for him to realise how much he has contributed to the team.’
Ramsdale was included in the latest England squad for the upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast along with Pickford and recalled Burnley stopper Nick Pope.
Arteta said: ‘He is there now and going to be fighting for a place and knowing Aaron he will be pushing that very hard because it’s one of his biggest dreams and then it will be down to the coaching staff and the manager to decide who should be the number one.’
