Aaron Ramsdale's disappointment at losing his place in the Arsenal side will have come as no surprise to former team-mate Bernd Leno.
It has been a frustrating few months for Ramsdale, who has largely had to watch on from the bench since David Raya arrived at the club and swiftly became the first-choice goalkeeper.
While Ramsdale played an important role in the Gunners' Premier League title bid last season, his only appearances this term since the start of September have come in the Carabao Cup.
With Arsenal now out of that competition, having lost to West Ham, Ramsdale's opportunities are set to be limited further. He will likely start against Raya's parent club Brentford after the international break, but the England goalkeeper could then have to wait until the FA Cup in January for his next chance.
It is a role reversal for Ramsdale, who signed for Arsenal in the summer of 2021 and soon replaced Leno, who had been the established number one but left the club at the end of that season to join Fulham. His comments at the time revealed that he was not told by Mikel Arteta why he had lost his place in the side.
“There was no clear reason why I was out, but it had nothing to do with my performance," Leno told Sport Bild in September 2021.
"He [Arteta] is the trainer, he decides. Of course, it’s difficult for me."
Two years later, those comments echo the thoughts of Ramsdale's father, who has hit out at the treatment of his son.
He suggested that the goalkeeper has "lost that smile" and, like Leno, has not had the situation explained to him by Arteta.
"I didn't have a clue, our family didn't have a clue, Aaron didn't have a clue that he was not going to carry on playing," Nick Ramsdale told The Highbury Corner podcast.
"Aaron is going to be the cup goalkeeper, and David Raya is going to be the main man unless something happens, an injury or a sending-off. And Aaron's got to live with that, and he is living with that even though he's not been told it. By anybody. You've got to give the guy a chance, for God's sake."
