⏱️Added Time: Scouting Neto
A big report on the newest Arsenal goalkeeper. Looking at: his interesting journey, comparisons to Raya and Ramsdale, analytics, tape, play-style, shot-stopping, ball-playing, concerns, and more
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For the first edition, we talk about Arsenal’s newest goalkeeper.
(I intended for these to be shorter and more digestible. You’ll never believe what happened next.)
Neto has had quite the odyssey — especially as an Arsenal opponent.
Recent historians will remember him as the multiple-time recipient of Benjamin White’s shit-housing. Preseason watchers will remember a bemused Jorginho and Jesus moderating a post-match conversation between White and Neto, presiding like aloof judges in a small claims dispute. Of course, Neto was the keeper on the receiving end of the famous Reiss Nelson wondergoal, receiving not just Nelson’s dagger but White’s primal bellow. But I repeat myself.
He also lingers in your fainter memories. Dig deep, and you’ll remember Neto manning the posts in that Europa semi-final against Valencia. Amidst a ridiculous shot-stopping run in which he saved +18.5 post-shot goals over expected in a two-year span — better than any stretch by Alisson or Courtois or Neuer — he was humbled in the two-match tie against Arsenal, allowing seven total goals to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
He never bested Arsenal in his four opportunities. In other circumstances, these results would have been more welcome news for him. As he told Arsenal supporters this week: “I'm one more fan.”
“It came from when I was younger, watching the team,” recalled Neto to Arsenal.com. “Bergkamp, Edu, Gilberto Silva, when they won the league — and Thierry Henry. When I was growing up, my generation was watching them. And I always dreamed to play here. I had the opportunity to train here a few times in the training ground. And I always kept that feeling in my mind. And now I’m realising it. That’s life. It is what it is, no?”
Broaden your perspective, and Neto’s name will continue to appear in one context or another, a footballing Kevin Bacon. He’s worked closely with some legends, and I’m not just talking about the BBQ-endorsed Antoine Semenyo. He’s the kind of player you’d imagine will have a few choice podcast stories to share when his playing days are over.
His own journey started in Araxá, Brazil.
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