Matt Turner earned his English Premier League debut on Saturday and coincidentally it took place at the home of his former club.
Turner started for Nottingham Forest on Saturday, jumping right into Steve Cooper’s starting lineup at the Emirates Stadium. However, it wasn’t an enjoyable result for Forest, who suffered a 2-1 road defeat in its season opener.
Turner, who watched Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka both score past him in the first half, finished the match with five saves.
Nketiah delivered the opening goal for the Gunners in the 26th minute, finishing off Gabriel Martinelli’s clever move with a deflected shot down the middle of Turner’s net. The deflection caused Turner to fall behind the shot, watching it nestle into the back of the net.
Bakayo Saka’s blistering left-footed strike in the 32nd minute would increase Arsenal’s lead to 2-0.
Turner denied Declan Rice his first Arsenal goal in the 76th minute, pushing the midfielder’s shot off the crossbar and keeping the deficit at two goals.
Taiwo Awoniyi came off the bench and celebrated his first goal of the season six minutes later to give Forest a 2-1 lifeline. However, it was the closest that Cooper’s men would get to a comeback as Arsenal held on for three points.
Turner showed positive moments in between the posts and certainly kept Nottingham Forest from avoiding a much-larger defeat.
Nottingham Forest will next host Sheffield United at The City Ground on Friday, August 18.
I think Chris Richards needs to get out of Palace.
Turner showed pretty good.
Guehi went off with an injury late (apparently just cramping) and they brought in 34 yr old James Tomkins. Still talk that Guehi will move this window but would that even help Chris.
I don’t think it will. Roy Hogson is pretty set in his ways. I remember he dropped Dempsey at Fulham for really no reason and Dempsey had to really buckle down and prove himself to Hogson. Eventually working his way to a starting role towards the middle of the season that year.
Maybe Richards can break in, but it’s going to be another grind for him this season.
Think it’s one of those cases where Viera brought him in- was his guy and will be extra difficult to gain the managers trust.
He went off, they lost 2 to 1, but he showed Arteta what he gave up. Hope Arteta feels like an idiot for giving up on Turner. 😎🥅 🧤⚽
That’s doubtful.
Arteta probably knows far better than Forest does what he gave up in Turner.
Arteta also knows that Matt wasn’t going to beat out Ramsdale, at least this season. Because the guy making that call is Arteta himself.
Arteta has expressed how much he respects Turner so it is fair to assume he let Turner go to Forest because he felt Matt deserved to play and it wasn’t going to happen at Arsenal.
That’s the problem with the goal keeper position.
You can only play one and if you have a true #1 like Ramsdale or Courtois or Ederson, you don’t rotate them. which means your backup , no matter how good, can only get so much playing time.
I don’t think Ramsdale belongs anywhere near Courtois. Or maybe even Ederson, though I think Ederson can be a bit flaky. I think Ramsdale is… fine. I think he benefits from an English version of the Zack Steffen effect. I.e. he looks a top class goalkeeper, which is to say nowadays that he looks built like Neuer. And he plays for a team that’s good enough to cover up the fact that his own contributions to their success are marginal.
The whole Turner situation gives credence to what I understand was Leno’s complaint. That Arteta at some point fixated on Ramsdale and nothing was going to dislodge him, merit be damned.
I doubt Arteta will second guess himself here, he doesn’t seem to a guy who does that sort of thing. But if this move gives Matt the chance to demonstrate the value of his particular skills, elite shot-stopping and excellent distribution, especially with his quick throws, maybe Arteta will consider if those things would have been more useful in the run-in last year than just having a big English guy who was “better with his feet”.
Have to hand it to Pep, he’d probably have another trophy or two if he hadn’t let Steffen play some of those cup games.
nkh,
When Matt moved to Arsenal, I said he would beat out Ramsdale.
I think he’s just as good. Nothing I’ve seen since has changed my mind.
Let’s assume both Arteta and I are right, that those two are at the very least, equal. Then what?
So Ramsdale is not Courtois.
Well, we’re not dealing with Courtois, but Ramsdale still might be Arsenal’s #1 for years.
Look around. Many non-Courtois types stay around for a long time in part because managers tend to not want to mess with it and will not rotate. Do I think Arsenal would be just as good if they rotated Ramsdale and Matt? Of course I think they would be just as good.
But I’m not around those guys and you must be “in the room” to make that kind of judgement call. Can you tell me if the defenders prefer to play with Ramsdale for whatever reason?
I have no idea but neither do any of us.
I have a problem with your statement about “merit be damned.” What does that mean anyway? I rate Matt because of his “mentality”. He’s tough and focused. But Ramsdale may be just as tough but since I haven’t seen him as much, I don’t know.
What I do know is that as much as I prefer Matt, he’s not demonstrably miles better than Ramsdale.
Goalkeeping is very much about intangibles and mentality.
Zach Steffen is physically and athletically, equal and maybe even superior to Matt. But he’s nowhere near as mentally tough and disciplined. This is reflected in his inconsistency.
The USMNT has had a number of guys over the years like that.
Million-dollar bodies and skills, 10 cent heads.
Arteta appears to be a manager who prefers a stud #1 keeper and true backups, probably one veteran backup and one young developing backup.
Matt is more like another true #1.
Arteta recognizes that and is trying to do him and everyone a favor by sending him where he will have a chance to be a #1. It’s also better for Arsenal because maybe Arteta realizes that sooner or later Matt will be unhappy and no one wants an unhappy player. Leno proves that.
Everything I have read says that Arteta has nothing but the greatest respect for Matt.
Could Ramsdale get hurt? Could he suddenly go bad and be worse than Matt as Matt leads Forest to European qualification??
Those are all risks, but they appear to be one Arteta is willing to take. That’s why they pay him the big bucks.
Not common for clubs contending for a PL title to rotate keepers. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Arteta and Matt talked, Turner was informed that nothing had changed- barring injury, he likely wouldn’t see much more action this year than last year. And that Matt respectfully requested an exit to someplace he has a reasonable shot at playing/winning the number 1 spot. Dude is coming into his prime and straight up needs to play. Don’t see him remotely content settling for a backup position.