Matt Turner was perhaps the most impressive player for Arsenal against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night and Mikel Arteta explaed why he thinks the American is prepared should he be called on in the Premier League.
Many Arsenal fans haven’t been entirely convinced by the little they’ve seen from Matt Turner in goal from Arsenal prior to Thursday night. But in the Arctic Circle, the American gave his best performance of his short Arsenal career.
According to Fotmob, no other player on the pitch rated as highly as Turner.
They gave him an 8.6, the only player to get above Bukayo Saka’s 7.5.
Speaking to the media after the game, Arteta called Turner’s performance ‘phenomenal’.
“He’s improving, he’s getting better, we are demanding things that are different to what other managers have demanded him to do, Arteta said.
“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.”
Arteta was then asked if he was confident should Turner be called on in the Premier League to which he simply replied, “Yes.”
Turner only had one real save to make against the Norwegians, but it was his distribution and reading of the game that impressed, offering Arsenal another option on the pitch.
In total, he played 33 passes, made 47 touches and an impressive nine recoveries. To compare, Ben White made three recoveries, Rob Holding four, William Saliba six, and Kieran Tierney eight.
The 28-year-old has now made three appearances for Arsenal, all coming in the Europa League.
He has kept two cleansheets.
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