David Raya has insisted that Arsenal fans should get used to his ‘shaky’ style of football, as he is under strict instructions from Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal fans have been growing nervous about Raya’s playing out from the back, which has often caused a lot of gasps. Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez nearly deflected the ball into the net when he closed down Raya during a big clash between both sides just before the international break.
It almost seems rather nervy whenever Raya gets the ball but the Arsenal keeper insists that it is Arteta who has told instructed him to play how he currently does.
David Raya reveals he is only following Arteta’s instructions
Speaking in a recent interview with The Athletic, Raya said: “It’s something I have internalised, but it’s also the coach’s orders. What he doesn’t want is for us to start hitting balls — we have to invite a player (opponent to press) to come out a little bit.”
“I’m the free man, and once a striker or someone jumps me, that leaves a free man on the pitch, and we have to look for superiority. That’s the way the coach tells me to play.”
“The fans aren’t used to us goalkeepers having the ball for a long time and if they (the opponents) don’t press, you have to wait for the moment to pass the ball. It’s a risk that we take, but I take the responsibility that if, one day, there’s a mistake I’ll raise my hand. There’s no way around it.”
“If City is not the best in the world, they are one of the best teams, especially in pressing and in transitions. So we had to play a bit more direct, so to speak. In the first half, we tried to play a bit more from the back with some scares. In the second half, we changed the way we played, to lure them a bit more but with the possibility we had, to look for the back of their defence. With direct balls, we hurt them a lot.”
Raya is still technically not an Arsenal player, since he only joined on loan from Brentford but says he would sign permanently already if he could.
However, Raya revealed that he had a discussion with Arteta before deciding to make the switch to Arsenal, while insisting that he has a brilliant relationship with Ramsdale.
Raya added: “Arteta gives me the confidence to be there, that he wanted to have two top players in each position, and it was up to me to find the time and fight to get the minutes. I don’t want to think beyond that. If there are rotations, as there are in any position, I’m going to help on and off the pitch.”
“The relationship (with Ramsdale)? It’s very good. At the end of the day, we are mates, which is the important thing. We have a very healthy relationship. There are no problems.”
