Mikel Arteta was impressed with the performance of his No.2 goalkeeper Matt Turner against Bodo/Glimt
Mikel Arteta hailed the ‘phenomenal’ performance of summer signing Matt Turner in last night’s Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt.
The America international joined Arsenal from New England Revolution in the summer as a replacement for Bernd Leno who signed for Fulham having been relegated to the role of No.2 last season.
Aaron Ramsdale’s continued excellence has meant Turner has been restricted to making appearances in the Europa League so far and he gave his most composed display to date in testing circumstances during a narrow 1-0 victory.
The 28-year-old made one impressive save at the start of the second half to deny Amahl Pellegrino, but it was his decisiveness in dealing with balls over the top and his distribution which really caught Arteta’s eye.
Assessing Turner’s performance, Arteta said: ‘He’s improving, he’s getting better, we are demanding things that are different to what other managers have demanded him to do.
‘He was much better in the first half than the second half. In my opinion we can have more control, he was phenomenal in goal.
‘The way he reads the situation, especially the defending the back of the central defenders, when he needs to control the space there, the way he set himself in the one on one situation he had, was really good.’
Matt Turner kept an impressive clean sheet in Arsenal’s win over Bodo/Glimt last night (Picture: Getty)
Asked if he was confident Turner was ready to start in the Premier League if required, Arteta said emphatically: ‘Yes!’
Victory over PSV next week would see Arsenal rubber stamp top spot in Group A and avoid having to play an additional play-off round in February against a Champions League drop out.
‘In Europe, when you have the opportunity to get there – take it,’ added Arteta. ‘Because a lot of things happen that are very unpredictable.
‘So we will prepare the game next week, obviously after Leeds, and try to win it.
‘Well we knew that it was going to be really complicated. Again I repeat myself, that it’s 14 games that they have won consecutively here.
‘So I think we have to play at a different level today. But the team selection was as well because of some other issues that we have with other players that they could not start today.’
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His best display so far!