Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on Matt Turner but claimed that his performance in the first half against Bodo/Glimt this evening was much better than what happened after the break.
The American joined the Gunners from MLS side New England Revolution in the summer. This is his first season in Europe, and he has had a few shaky moments in an Arsenal shirt already However, he was solid today.
Mikel Arteta says Matt Turner was ‘phenomenal’
Turner picked up another clean sheet against Bodo/Glimt this evening. The 28-year-old had a solid first half, in which his distribution looked so much better than it was last week.
After the break, however, it just seemed like he was rushing things a bit. He pulled off a really good save and controlled the box well, but he just seemed a bit too eager to get things going when instead, he should’ve slowed the game down to make it difficult for the hosts.
However, he’s the biggest reason why Bodo/Glimt didn’t score today and Arteta has hailed that part of his game.
The Spaniard said, as per Arsenal.com: “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.
Our View:
Turner will know that he should’ve controlled the game much better in the second half, but there definitely are a lot of positives he can take from the game this evening.
The American saved the Gunners with a brilliant stop in the second half. His starting position throughout the game was really good as well, and his distribution in the first half was on a different level compared to last week.
Turner has definitely shown good signs of improvement over the last few weeks. Arteta will be hoping that can continue, with three more games still left to play in the group stages of the Europa League.
It will be interesting to see if the Arsenal boss will stick with Turner when the Gunners enter the knockout stage of the competition.