Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended David Raya after his costly error against Lens.
Goalkeeper David Raya’s poor pass led directly to Lens scoring their first goal against Arsenal on Tuesday evening. The French side ultimately triumphed as 2-1 winners in the Champions League clash, condemning the Gunners to their first defeat of the season so far.
Much has been made of the fact that Raya has usurped Aaron Ramsdale as the north London club’s No. 1. The England man won’t have given up on getting his place in the starting XI back at some point, either.
One of Raya’s strengths is his distribution and the quality of his play with the ball at his feet. However, he came unstuck in this regard against Lens. In the first half, one of his passes was cut out, and the French club swiftly reacted to set up Adrien Thomasson to net an equaliser after Gabriel Jesus had put the Gunners ahead.
Raya mistake comes with the territory
Mikel Arteta will have been disappointed to concede the goal, but he has now spoken up in defence of Raya. Speaking to the official Arsenal website, the manager said, “errors happen in football constantly, every three or four seconds there is an error even from the opponent, and we have to adapt to that.”
When asked if he was disappointed with the 28-year-old shot-stopper because of ball-playing mistake, Arteta simply said “no.”
Arteta was always going to be forgiving of this error. He is asking Raya to play a high risk game. The twice-capped Spain international is entrusted to be brave on the ball and to try to launch attacks from the back. Occasionally, this will backfire, and Arteta must accept that. For the good of Raya’s confidence, the coach needs to remain firmly in his corner.
Raya will almost certainly be named in the starting XI to face Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. He will once again be expected to take risks so he needs to put his error against Lens behind him as soon as possible.
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