Arsenal icon Thierry Henry makes Aaron Ramsdale claim after David Raya nightmare

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Legendary former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has had his say on the David Raya vs Aaron Ramsdale debate. 

David Raya had a nightmare outing between the sticks for Arsenal against Luton Town on Tuesday evening. The Spanish shot-stopper was responsible for two of the three goals that the Gunners conceded at Kenilworth Road. 

The hosts scored twice in the second half and Raya was at fault on both occasions. In the first instance, he was weak in his attempt to claim the ball from a corner. The 28-year-old made the decision to come off his line but flapped at the ball unconvincingly, allowing Elijah Adebayo to nod into the back of the net.

Raya made an even more egregious error for Luton’s third goal. Ross Barkley’s strike was low and awkward, but the Brentford loanee ought to have made a straightforward save with his feet. Instead, he opted to try to dive onto the ball. However, Raya didn’t get his hands down quickly enough and the ball squirmed under his body and over the line.

Thanks to Declan Rice’s late winner, Raya’s mistakes were not ultimately so costly. However, he could have quite easily caused the Gunners to drop points. In what looks set to be a tight title race this season, Arsenal can’t afford for errors like these to undermine them.

Mikel Arteta will have to face interrogation over David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale battle again

Mikel Arteta will be relieved that Raya’s teammates were able to bail him out on this occasion. However, the Spanish coach will now inevitably face further questions about his goalkeeper selection policy. 

After this match, he was asked for his verdict on Raya’s performance. As quoted by the club’s official website he gave a noncommittal reply, saying, “we have to defend better the situations as a team. There are certain things leading to the goals and it’s not about blaming, we have never done it, and we’re not going to do it now. It’s about how the team reacts to that, because it’s going to happen, and I love that response.”

Plenty of Arsenal fans were far more focused in their criticism of Raya after the match, with some even calling for Aaron Ramsdale’s return to the starting XI.

Arteta has been criticised by some for his treatment of Ramsdale, who is a fan favourite at the Emirates Stadium. Many feel that the 25-year-old did little to deserve losing his regular starting berth earlier this season.

However, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry is not entirely convinced by Ramsdale either. Speaking on Amazon Prime Video, the club-record goalscorer said, “I’m going to play the devil’s advocate, I watched the Brentford game. Ramsdale made two mistakes and didn’t get punished. So that was only his luck.”

Ramsdale did indeed play against Brentford recently, as Raya was ineligible to feature against his parent club. The England man was unconvincing and very nervy on that day. It seems that Henry believes that Arteta should stick by his preferred pick, which is clearly Raya, despite this poor showing.