Arsenal: West Ham legend says Mikel Arteta has the “worst idea in football”

The narrative surrounding Arsenal goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya has been done to death. If you’ve been living under a rock, Mikel Arteta decided to rotate goalkeepers in his match against Everton, starting the summer signing and loanee David Raya instead of the usual Ramsdale.

But, why is there an uproar? Surely if the Spanish goalkeeper kept a clean sheet and ensured Ramsdale is prepared for tomorrow’s fixture against PSV in the Champions League, this is a good thing, right?

Well, it gets more complicated. See, after the match, Mikel Arteta gave out some rather cryptic bait to the media. He claimed that being a young manager in the business, he has some regrets early in his career. Mainly, there have been occasions where he has wanted to substitute his goalkeeper mid-match for tactical reasons but hasn’t had the courage to do that.

West Ham legend Shaka Hislop criticises Mikel Arteta’s idea at Arsenal

Well, according to the West Ham legend Shaka Hislop, this is the “worst idea in football”. With quotations provided by HITC, Hislop’s argument is that playing the two goalkeepers off each other and essentially making them compete is not good for either of them.

Certainly, rotating goalkeepers mid-match isn’t common in football. In fact, I can’t remember seeing it done unless for injuries or penalty shootout reasons. However, just because something hasn’t been done, it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying. After all, the best innovators throughout history had their ideas criticised before executing them.

Do you think Mikel Arteta should begin rotating goalkeepers mid-match?