Arsenal fans were perplexed at Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave Ben White out of the England squad for the September international break. This was made even worse when Aaron Ramsdale was left out of the starting line-up for both of the Three Lions' fixtures despite Jordan Pickford not being in the squad.
However, these decisions have actually turned out to be the perfect blessing for the Gunners in recent weeks. Since Ramsdale’s omission from the starting line-up, he has played a key role in ensuring Arsenal top the league going into the World Cup break.
This has been epitomised by the fact that the goalkeeper now has the joint-most clean sheets in the league. This should also boost his chance of being the starting goalkeeper going into the international competition.
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It was certainly a surprise that Ramsdale did not start at least one of the matches for England in September and it highlighted that he is the third choice going into the World Cup. But, Nick Pope’s howler against Germany that resulted in England squandering a 3-2 lead in the last 10 minutes of the match gave Ramsdale an opportunity to move up in Southgate’s rankings, which he has taken by performing at club level.
Ramsdale and Pope both lead the Premier League for the most clean sheets this season with the Englishmen both fighting for the number one spot. Despite their dominance at club level, it seems to be Jordan Pickford who is Gareth Southgate’s current number-one choice.
However, Pickford has only managed to keep three clean sheets this season as his Everton side languishes in 16th spot. Both Pope and Ramsdale are in the top four, and going of club form, which should certainly give them leverage in starting for England.
Speaking to football.london about his chances of going to the World Cup, Ramsdale said: "I'm in and around it, but as we said, things can change very quickly, and this season especially, there's gonna be Jordan [Pickford] myself, Sam Johnstone, Dean Henderson, Nick Pope and probably some others that I've forgotten about so there will be five or six English goalkeepers trying to get on the plane.
So, although I'm around it at the moment, I have to keep myself there."
Ramsdale made his first cap for England in November of last year against San Marino after an impressive start to life as an Arsenal player following his summer transfer move from Sheffield United for a £30m fee.
He has enjoyed a major boost to his career since joining Arsenal. This will be topped off if he can become England‘s first choice stopper going into the World Cup.
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