David Seaman suggests that Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is facing challenges in adjusting to life at a big club, evident in his somewhat shaky performance since transferring from Brentford.
The decision to bring in Raya to compete with Aaron Ramsdale, who notably excelled last season and even started for England in a recent friendly against Scotland, raised eyebrows within the football community.
Seaman, a legendary figure in Arsenal’s goalkeeping history with 12 trophies won during his 13-year tenure at the club, acknowledges that the present circumstances pose difficulties for both players involved.
Arsenal’s tough goalkeeping situation explained by Seaman
“It’s tough at the moment and it’s tough on Aaron,” Seaman told The Football Gods podcast.
“David’s finding it tough to adapt to playing at a big club because of all the attention that’s on it, and the pressure, and it is another level from what he’s used to a Brentford.”
“I remember when I was at Arsenal and they paid a lot of money for Richard Wright (who joined from Ipswich for £6m in 2001). He came in as my number two and I thought: ‘Whoa, this is serious competition’, but I showed him what I could do”
“But the manager (Arsene Wenger) at the time didn’t say, ‘I’m going to rotate the goalkeepers’, and that’s what Mikel has said. So now we’re looking, watching and thinking, ‘David’s not having the best of times at the moment and he’s making a couple of mistakes, will he get rotated?’ And if that happens then Mikel’s true to his word.”
Seaman goes on to further say that it is difficult for Ramsdale to accept being benched, coming off the back of a season where he was among the top goalkeepers in world football.
“But it is tough because Aaron’s not done a lot wrong. Last year he was goalkeeper of the year as voted by the players. That’s one of the biggest awards that you could ever hope for.”
“Then he started this season really well, played against Scotland and finds himself on the bench. Aaron is only 24. He’s still got a long time to learn his trade but it’s a tough time for him at the moment.”
“All we can do is wait and see and see what happens because Mikel even spoke about rotating them in game, like bringing the goalkeeper off, and I thought ‘Really?”.
David Raya is on an initial loan deal and is expected to join Arsenal permanently for £27million next summer.
Seaman still has a coaching role at Arsenal and added: “I’ve got to be careful because I go in and I see the lads. When I go in and coach, I speak to Aaron, I speak to David. I’ve got to be straight down the middle, so it can get a little bit difficult sometimes.”
