talkSPORT pundit Alan Brazil has now torn into Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya after his performance against Porto.
David Raya could not prevent Arsenal from slumping to a 1-0 defeat in their Champions League clash with Porto on Wednesday evening.
The Gunners looked on track to record a respectable 0-0 draw at the Estadio do Dragao. That would have been a perfectly satisfactory result for Mikel Arteta’s side return to north London with ahead of the second-leg of this round of 16 clash.
Certainly, Arsenal did not play in Portugal as if they were going all out to win at any point. Arsenal failed to register a single shot on target against Porto, and the manner in which Arteta used his substitutes was conservative to say the least.
However, Arsenal ultimately failed to escape with their clean sheet intact. In the 94th minute, Galeno’s long range effort arced around Raya, and nestled into the corner, securing a momentous victory for the hosts with virtually the last kick of the game.
The Brazilian attacker’s effort was undeniably well-placed. However, many Arsenal fans are adamant that Raya ought to have been able to do more to keep it out. It was widely felt that the Spanish shot-stopper’s positioning was at fault, as he was too far off his line to get across and block the curling effort.
Alan Brazil wades into Arsenal goalkeeper debate with David Raya slam
This is not the first time that the 28-year-old has drawn the ire of supporters this season, either. As he struggled to settle into the team following his summer arrival from Brentford, plenty of Arsenal fans pleaded with Arteta to bench Raya in favour of the usurped Aaron Ramsdale.
Alan Brazil has now come down on the same side as these frustrated fans in the Arsenal goalkeeper debate. Speaking on talkSPORT, he said, “I’m sorry, listen, I hate picking on players and I still don’t think he should be in goal, in my own personal opinion. I think it was a waste of money.”
Arsenal have not yet officially paid Brentford the £27 million it will take to make Raya’s switch to the Emirates Stadium permanent, but clearly have every intention to do so. It is likely that this move will be funded by the inevitable departure of Ramsdale in the coming summer transfer window.
The under-fire ‘keeper does have his defenders, though. Arteta clearly has huge faith in the player, whilst journalist Charles Watts has also argued that Raya was not at fault for Porto’s goal.
In any case, there continues to be division at Arsenal over the goalkeeper situation, as there has been for the majority of the season so far.
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