Much of Aaron Ramsdale’s style of goalkeeping can be traced back to his days in the Bolton Wanderers youth system.
Legendary goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen was Bolton’s number-one stopper throughout Aaron’s time at the club – during his early teens – and the Finn had a huge influence on the Stoke- on-Trent born youngster.
Jussi actually joined Bolton in 1997, a year before Aaron was even born, and would go on to make more than 500 first-team appearances during a 15-year career forthe Trotters.
It was towards the end of his time there that he began working with promising young keeper Aaron, who had joined after impressing Bolton’s goalkeeping coach at a local soccer school.
“As I was going through the Bolton system Jaaskelainen was a big part of my career – he was my early inspiration,” our No.1 begins.
“Being able to watch him every other weekend at the home games was obviously huge for me, and then becoming close family friends with him and being able to speak to him about football and play in the garden with him and his son William, who’s the same age as me.
“I’m still very close with them, but for me at that age to be around a Premier League player was huge. Also his coach at Bolton, Fred Barber, was the one who trained me in Stoke.
“He’s still coaching at Crewe, after being at Bolton for years, and has a goalkeeping school in Stoke which is where I went to before moving to Bolton. So we had a connection with the Jaaskalainens through different people, and he was definitely an inspiration for me.”
The Finnish stopper, who won more than 50 caps for his country, was such a big influence on young Aaron that many of his traits can be seen in our goalie still today.
“Yes, things like my set position,” Aaron explains. “Obviously getting coached by the same coach that Jussi worked with in Fred, he obviously stuck to his principles and taught all of the people who went to that goalkeeping school the same way.
“So you are given the basis, but then you see someone in the Premier League doing it week in, week out, you know it’s working. So probably the way I position my hands and my legs are very similar to Jussi. I think it’s more subconscious though, after years of training that way with Fred.
“If you see it in people you look up to, you’ll try it, and if it sticks, it stays forever without you even thinking about it.”
Aaron’s other early goalkeeping inspiration was Gianluigi Buffon. The Italian World Cup winner of 2006 who’s still active today, back at first club Parma in Serie B, at the age of 45.
“My first real memory of football and goalkeeping was the 2006 World Cup,” Aaron, who was eight at the time, continues. “That’s when I got Buffon’s goalie shirt, the gold Italian shirt with a little white undershirt, around the collar. It was short-sleeved, which is probably why I like to wear short sleeves now. So he was probably the first one I looked up to on TV.
“He was the first goalkeeper I really watched, and liked the way he played. It was probably the kit as well, a goalie with short sleeves, he stood out and he was a star. I think he had the headband too at that point, and they obviously won on penalties, so he was the first one I remember watching. I watched him win the World Cup, and I thought ‘wow’ but I wouldn’t say I’ve got anything from his game especially. I’d love to take his longevity though!”
Role models such as Jaaskelainen and Buffon are not Aaron’s only source of inspiration however. As a goalkeeper he says he is particularly motivated and driven by a sense of competition.
Goalies naturally work and train together a large amount of the time, but the element of competition is obviously intensified, as there is only one shirt that they are all fighting for.
These personal rivalries are something that all keepers have in common, but Aaron says it exists across the team in the outfield players too.
“I think it’s only more pronounced for us because only one of us plays. It’s still super competitive with the likes of, for instance Reiss Nelson and Gabi Martinelli. That’s a big battle on the training pitch and both players give it their all every single session. But at the end of the day, Reiss could still play as well if Gabi plays.
“So I think it’s just heightened for us goalkeepers – we’re in a different coloured kit, only one of us can play – we stand out. But it goes on everywhere in the team. I think when people talk about the dressing room being good, that’s another part of it because, we have a squad of 20 or 22 and there are two players for each position, so it’s still very personal with each other all over the pitch.”
source: arsenal.com
