Premier League icons Thierry Henry and Alan Sherar have criticized Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya for his performance in the Gunners’ slender victory over newly promoted Luton Town.
Arsenal claimed a narrow 4-3 victory over Lutton Town at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night (December 5), with Declan Rice scoring the winning goal in the seventh minute of injury time. The victory over the Hatters allowed the north Londoners to open up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Alan Shearer Claims Raya Looked Uncomfortable For Luton’s Second Goal
Raya, who has served as Mikel Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper since joining from Brentford in the summer transfer window, endured a night to forget at Luton. He first failed to deal with Alfie Doughty’s corner in the 49th minute, leading to a straightforward header for Elijah Adebayo. Eight minutes later, he conceded again, this time failing to keep out Ross Barkley’s effort, despite it being hit straight at him.
The leading scorer in Premier League history, Shearer was critical of Raya’s inability to deal with Doughty’s cross for Luton’s second goal of the game. He said on Amazon Prime (via Birmingham Mail):
“There’s an obsession with having a footballing goalkeeper nowadays and sometimes the fundamentals are forgotten – shot stopping and coming to collect crosses, and you have seen them punished this evening.
“It’s a huge error here, he never looks comfortable. There is no one blocking him at all so there is no excuse, he can see the ball coming in. He doesn’t take the ball at its highest point. It’s a huge error from the goalkeeper.”
Henry Advises Arsenal Goalkeeper Raya To Take A Page Out Of David De Gea’s Book
Arsenal legend Henry, meanwhile was more disappointed with Luton’s third goal, which went straight through him. The Frenchman said that Raya should have tried to stop the Englishman’s shot with his feet instead of trying to go down.
Henry added:
“Go with the closest part of your body to the ball, which is your foot. (David) De Gea, Nick Pope does it, Peter Schmeichel used to do it – by the time you go down there, how are you going to save that?
“The ball is going to his feet and by the time he goes down here, if you stay, the ball is going to your feet easily. But if you take it away, the ball will go under. It’s an awkward way of stopping it. If he stands his ground like Peter Schmeichel and De Gea used to do, they used to save that with their feet all day every day. It’s easy for me to talk because I was not a goalkeeper, but if you stay, he saves that.”
With Ramsdale hot on his heels, Spanish goalkeeper Raya will have a point to prove when the Gunners take on high-fliers Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday (December 9).
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