David Raya may have won the Golden Glove but we can’t ignore he made more howlers than Ramsdale

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·6 May 2024

David Raya may have won the Golden Glove but we can’t ignore he made more howlers than Ramsdale

An Adebayo goal on Friday guaranteed that Arsenal’s David Raya will win the Golden Glove this season.

If you’re a goalie who’s kept 15 clean sheets, it seems backwards to critique that player. Yet Aaron Ramsdale’s 14 clean sheets last campaign were not enough to stop him from being dropped.

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David De Gea won the prize 12 months ago not conceding in 17 league matches yet was released and is yet to find employment. That tells me that how many games you keep the ball out of your net isn’t the only state that should be considered. If it was, last campaign’s top 4 based on that criteria would be playing every week, at the very least one would have a place of work.

That’s because Pep Guardiola has set such standards in England that the margin between success and failure is so small. Your keeper making a couple of mistakes the difference between being Champions or not.

That’s why the decision to commit 27 million to Brentford on a position that didn’t need improving confused some Gooners. Ramsdale made errors in the run in this time last year and that was enough for his manager to give up on him.

Arsenal invested 30 million on a 23-year-old with Arteta and Edu (as former players) aware he played in a position where you don’t peak till your past the age of 30. In other words, if your choosing your number 1 to be so young, you are accepting that he’s learning on the job, he’s not the finished article, and your prepared he’s going to make the odd howler. If you then authorise the club to give that youngster an extended contract with a pay rise it seems bizarre to then ask for any more money to be spent on the same role, especially when those funds could be used to improve other areas of the squad.

Our boss is known for being ruthless. Those who have worked for him say he’s not the type of character who feels the need to put an arm found a shoulder and explain his thought process.

Ramsdale and his father maintain that zero reason has been given for the omission or any areas given to improve on. So, the 14 clean sheets were not enough for the Spaniard to ignore other concerns he had.

Harsh – but if that’s his expectation, then he should have the same for everyone.

I have always noticed inconsistencies on how the 42-year-old man manages.

Some talent have contracts ripped up; others get paid over the odds to stay. He judges some for wanting to fight for their place but is content for others that are happy to be paid to sit on the bench.

So, if 14 clean sheets wasn’t enough to save Ramsdale from being frozen out, Raya with 15 clean sheets should be held to the same criteria. Especially considering he’s made more howlers then the man he replaced.

In Europe, he passed the ball for Lens to score, in Porto was beaten from 35 yards.

At his parent club, an ongoing issue was his starting position being too far off his line. That cost us points at Stamford Bridge, Saint James Park and in the North London Derby at the Emirates.

Do we ignore any of that just because of the clean sheets?

That luxury wasn’t afforded to Ramsdale.

The 28-year-old was responsible for two of Luton’s goals, passed the ball to Romero last Sunday and the official saved him from another gaffe this weekend. When we beat Man City in October his kicking was all over the place, at one point kicking the ball at Alvarez, only luck not letting that moment result in a goal.

Is that acceptable just because we won those games?

Is Ramsdale’s identical moment of madness against Southampton any worse then what Raya did at the Lane, just because we got away with it?

At 3-3 against the Saints, Trossard hit the bar. If his shot is a fraction lower would that have excused Ramsdale’s performance?

If Spurs had got it back to 3-3, we would blame Raya for costing us the title. Because they didn’t do, we just pretend it didn’t happen?

I don’t take anything away from Raya’s contributions but do question if all those shut outs are down to him or the fantastic back 4 that has been built, Declan’s Rice ability to win back the ball, and how quickly we win back possession.

When I judge the best keepers in the division, I think back to who has made that save, so good it’s the equivalent of a goal?

Name me a Raya performance where you can say he’s won us points?

To be fair, him having a quiet afternoon is a good thing and testament to our tactics working.

Yet for a Golden Glove winner I have named a lot of times where his decision making has cost us, and I think we should be learning from that.

As part of his loan agreement from Brentford it’s believed we are obliged to pay the agreed transfer fee. So, there is no point debating Raya’s future in North London.

Yet it seems to me we have spent another 30 million to fix something that wasn’t broken.

Has the improvement been that drastic?

For a Golden Glove Winner, he’s made a lot of mistakes.

Dan