David Raya speaks on his mentality
The win against Tottenham on the weekend was a big one for Arsenal, but we did cut it very close there at the end and could have easily left sharing or dropping the points. But a resilient Arsenal squad stepped up and got themselves over the line in what was a do or die match for Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal squad.
In the second half, Arsenal’s Spanish keeper David Raya made a big mistake that nearly cost Arsenal the points and sparked a fight within Tottenham to give everything to get back into the game. In the 64th minute Raya was seen trying to clear the ball but mistimed his kick and sent it straight into the path of Cristian Romero on the edge of the box, Romero pounced at the opportunity and smashed the ball into the back of the net and sparked a fire underneath the Tottenham side.
Luckily our defence and Raya himself made up for their mistakes and managed to stay solid, seeing out the game and stopping some close calls from the Spurs team late on. Raya spoke after the game about his mistake and said this “Mistakes are part of football and you learn from them. I shouldn’t have played that ball, I should have gone a little bit longer. I wanted to control the game a little bit more, but it didn’t happen. It showed how good they are at pressing and the plan was different.”
Mistakes like this can weigh heavy on a keeper’s shoulders, especially for a keeper who’s not even fully joined the club yet, but I think the way he reacted and the players reacted, said a lot. At the final whistle they were all seen embracing Raya and trying to big him up. Yes, if the result ended differently, I’m sure things would be a little different, but luckily they didn’t and although it was a pretty bad mistake, we managed to move past it.
Raya is looking very likely to sign a contract in the summer after this season long loan and Arteta looks to have made his choice clear that Raya is his ideal choice for a keeper. After a year of ups and downs, Raya has been impressive to me. Of course mistakes happen, but he always looks ready and raring to go for the next game and I think that’s important for a top keeper. You always need to find a way to let go of the mistakes and keep your head above the water.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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A very costly one that could have ended Arsenal’s dream this season. Raya should better watch it, his mistakes are becoming too frequent
I’m shocked, nay overwhelmed with amazement that Raya has said this!!
Who would have thought??
Being a top class keeper is not just catching crosses and good distribution, it’s about being consistent in all areas like, for instance, David Seaman or Pat Jennings in my opinion.
And not just that he said it Ken, but that it’s the subject of a whole article😂.
🤔👍😂 Unbelievable, but I still got sucked in!! 😡
Me too😂
Rayas mistake didn’t show how good Spurs pressing were. It was just an idiotic mistake by the goalie. There is no excuses for it.
Not matter what your opinion is…..his still the No 1 goal keeper!
I thought Raya responded quite well after the mistake. His impressive handling of crosses meant that Tottenham couldn’t create chaos in the box. The fact that Raya almost always catches crosses where some keepers would punch the ball limits shot creation opportunities for opponents. This proactive approach and his aggressive positioning means he doesn’t have to make many saves.It has always been said that he doesn’t have to make too many saves because of our solid defense. That’s only partially true. He is also responsible for why he doesn’t have to face many shots. When a keeper stays further up the pitch the way he does to stop attacks and virtually pluck balls out of the sky before they drop to a striker, he is bound to face fewer shots. Mistakes are bound to happen with this approach, but the benefits far outweigh the occasional error.
I watched the game back raya flapped at 2 of Romero’s chances and passed another easy ball to a spuds player lets all be honest he is not good enough
🙄
Who is? If a keeper with 14 clean sheets this season is not good enough.
If that game finished with us losing or drawing, our season is all but finished too. It’s a mistake from Raya that we’re seen before. Our defense capitulated last year because of silly mistakes. I know he is human and In know we should be mindful. However, you won’t see City make the same errors at this stage of the season. Experience and class has a lot to answer for when it comes to seeing the job through. School boy errors are VERY costly!
I don’t know if you watched City vs Forest the other day. City made lots of mistakes in that game. Forest just didn’t have the quality to capitalize. Chris Wood missed the easiest of chances. There was a moment Rodri gave the ball away which could and should have led to a goal. Fact is, City are making more errors than Arsenal in this run-in.The narrative that City are imperious/perfect at this stage is nonsense-they’ve looked vulnerable defensively at times .City have conceded four goals in their last five PL matches,Arsenal have conceded four as well in the last five.Truth is,it’s been a long season and players won’t be as sharp as they were a few months ago. What matters is how the team responds when the errors happen.
Raya’s had a good season and is one of the reasons we’re where we are now, but when a keeper makes a mistake it’s often a disaster, but if a striker has one it gets overlooked. No player has a 100% game.
That’s not entirely true, Jax. Raya has had the best defense on the EPL in front of him. His positioning can be awful some times and his moments of stupidness are costly. He’s prone to them when under pressure. I know he will learn but he will have to learn quickly if he is to get my vote. I still feel we need a “world class” keeper behind our fabulous defense. Raya should be our No. 2.
So, he’s not one of the reasons?
We would have been on the same place with Ramsdale. Excellent defense make an average goalkeeper look good and we have a Phenomenal defense!
False…..your hate for Raya is too much. Thats scapegoating…..like hes the only one prone to mistakes.
He is 28 if we are talking about learning.
I am72 andstill learning, not specifically about football but about all sorts of things. The idea that anyone stops learning at 28 or even well after, is laughable.
To be clear, RAYA is an excellent keeper and makes very few costly mistakes compared with other top keepers.
Is more excellent then Ramsdale???. I think not . There are more costly errors to come from Raya but fingers crossed, not in the next three games.
It makes no difference who was in front, behind, at the side or even above him, he’s still one of the reasons that we’re where we are. That’s the only point I was making.
If our defense is not superb this season, Raya would have been hated by almost every arsenal fan. Raya is too small in size and also short. The likes of Neur, PSG goal keeper etc can narrow the spaces because of their sizes and that makes them look superior. Our defense contributes 75% of Raya’s clean sheets this season.
It was a stupid mistake but after that he rebounded well. He’s been decent this year and other top teams make mistakes.
The main thing is that we won
He only did as instructed, for the best reasons though. If you know, you know. Raya is an excellent goalkeeper i must add.
Using the word excellent towards Raya’s goal keeping performance is never correct. The word excellent goes with perfection and no mistakes and that’s not the case with any goal keeper, not only Raya. You can use the word good, not even very good.
Raya was not under pressure, HE WAS NOT PRESSED, yet somehow made an incredibly stupid decision.
He has 14 clean sheets, but how many of those were down to his incredible shot stopping?
How many were from our top defenders and left Raya very little if anything to do?
I don’t see where Raya is an upgrade and worth the 27 million. How many gaffs has he had this season? He lacks composure as Ramsdale did.
Arteta has made his choice, hopefully it works out for Arsenal.
Joe Hart was good at Man City because of their defense, but was poor at West ham because of their weak defense.
Does that mean Joe Hart was not a good goalie.