Arsenal: Charles Watts reveals his doubts over Matt Turner after debut

Journalist Charles Watts has revealed some doubts over the quality of Arsenal backup goalkeeper Matt Turner after he made his debut for the club.

Earlier this week, the Gunners got their Europa League campaign off to a winning start as they claimed a 2-1 victory away from home against FC Zurich.

Indeed, goals from Marquinhos and Eddie Nketiah were enough to give Arsenal the win. However, as revealed by the scoreline, Turner was unable to keep a clean sheet on debut as he conceded a penalty.

While talking about the American on his YouTube channel, Watts outlined his doubts over the summer signing after noting he looked ‘nervy’ in a couple of moments.

He explained: “Matt Turner was an interesting one. I thought he started off pretty shaky. There was a couple of moments, with a ball at his feet and once when he was trying to claim a cross – it was just after he’d sort of had that bit of an issue with the ball at his feet when, to be fair, Gabriel didn’t help him with the backpass.

“But he just looked a bit nervy. But as the game went on, I thought he improved, Turner; he got a little bit of confidence. He came out and claimed a couple of decent crosses. Didn’t really have to do anything in terms of shot-stopping because they didn’t really threaten or have many shots on target, but they did deliver a few decent balls in towards the end and I thought Turner improved on that as the game went on.

“But I think certainly the jury’s still out on him a little bit. We’re going to have to watch him a little bit more during this Europa League campaign to get a proper judgement on just what sort of player he is.”

TIF Thoughts on Matt Turner and Arsenal…

Turner joined the club this summer, signing from MLS outfit New England Revolution. But with Aaron Ramsdale the undisputed No 1, the American will likely have to impress in the cup competitions if he is to keep his spot.

However, he was also criticised in the player ratings for football.london as the goalkeeper was handed a 5/10, with his display being described as ‘not exactly a confidence-inspiring debut’.

On top of that, despite this recent game being his first competitive start for Arsenal, the goalkeeper also looked shaky during pre-season, with Watts noting back then that he ‘doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence’ that he’s at the level required to be a Premier League goalkeeper.

Still, it’s early days yet and so there will still be time for Turner to prove himself. Worryingly, though, the early signs aren’t great.