David Raya was expected to bring more stability to Arsenal when he replaced Aaron Ramsdale as the Gunners’ first choice goalkeeper. However, the Spanish goalkeeper does not appear to be the solution that Arsenal needs at the moment, and it’s debatable whether he’s an improvement over Ramsdale.
Initially, Raya instilled a great deal of confidence when he first joined the team. Nevertheless, in recent weeks, he has had several subpar performances that suggest he might not be ready to contribute effectively to the team.
In the recent match against Chelsea over the weekend, he conceded a cheap goal due to poor positioning, and his height may have been a contributing factor. Pundit Steve Nicol also observed Raya struggling with high balls in the game against Sevilla.
He told ESPN FC:
“They’re now thinking crosses into the box, we haven’t got Aaron Ramsdale who is 6ft4 and a big imposing goalkeeper, that makes a defender’s job different. When you know your keeper has got that authority in the box then it makes your job slightly different.
“When you have a keeper who is not particularly good in that area, as a defensive unit you might have to change your mindset a bit.
“I think the concern is, and we’re a long way from it, that his inadequacy from these balls in could start seeping through. There are early signs that this could be a problem.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
When a goalkeeper is very tall, it helps and that is an advantage Ramsdale has over Raya.
However, being tall is not enough to make a goalie better than his competitor and Mikel Arteta alone can explain why he prefers Raya in goal.
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The keeper debate will run and run and run until and unless MA, who disappoints me with his gross misjudgement on RAYA over the clerly superior Ramsdale, changes his mind and reinstates our PROPER number one keeper.
Til now I have staunchly supported MA but I CANNOT STAND BY, KEEP SILENT AND PRETEND HE IS RIGHT ABOUT RAYA when we can ALL see he is woeful , nervy, lacks confidence and will cost us any chance of the title unless he is changed very soon. BAD SHOW ARTETA!!
I have tried very hard to be patient with the clearly ineffective Havertz, but a keeper is a VITAL position and only a fool chooses the lesser gifted keeper in place of the better one.
Ramsdale is not better than Raya. I can say they are equals or Raya edges it.
This is not true. According to stats only Emi Martinez has claimed more balls than David Raya since the beginning of last season.
David Raya did not do much on that cross from Sevilla – he just stood there.
I have just seen highlights and first thing that struck me was Raya could have done more.
Great work from our Brazilian attackers.
I think Ramsdale deserves another chance
I think a player pricetag and values are base on their stats i don’t know when player values become their height and athleticism
Raya should be afforded a chance, I think people are quick to put a stain and will see that it is unremovable. Please let us give him some breathable space.