Arteta warned of ‘aggressive’ £27m Arsenal star now being targeted by opponents

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Journalist James McNicholas has questioned the positioning of Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.

Arsenal signed David Raya on a season-long loan deal from Brentford in the recent summer transfer window. The north London club are expected to pay a £27 million fee to make the goalkeeper’s switch to the Emirates Stadium permanent.

Early on this season, Raya usurped Aaron Ramsdale as the first-choice Arsenal shot-stopper. However, things haven’t been entirely plain sailing for the 28-year-old since he became the Gunners’ No. 1.

Raya has had numerous shaky moments, not least against Chelsea when Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross/shot looped over him and landed in the back of the net.

Against Newcastle United on Saturday, Raya was once again caught out by a cross which led to the Magpies’ winning goal.

As the ball arced across the face of his goal, Raya flapped at it, failed to make contact, and went to ground. He was unable to recover his position in time to prevent Anthony Gordon from firing into the back of the net.

One of Raya’s strengths, usually, is in dealing with crosses that come into his penalty area. He positions himself in an advanced position, off his line, to give himself a chance to come out and claim any high balls.

However, the approach does leave him vulnerable to high, deep crosses that he gets caught underneath. Opponents may well see this as an aspect of his game which can be targeted.

Does David Raya need to reassess how he plays for Arsenal?

James McNicholas is certainly concerned that this is the case. Speaking on his On The Whistle video in the wake of the Newcastle defeat, the reporter said, “that aggressive positioning at the near post, it does come with a risk if someone looks over your head…[Mykhailo] Mudryk said it after he scored the fluke goal, ‘oh my coaches said watch his aggressive positioning at the near post’.”

“I do wonder, if you’re an opposition analyst, are you saying ‘don’t aim your crosses at the near post, loop them over him to the far post’…I wonder if it’s something Inaki Cana and Mikel Arteta should look at.”

Mikel Arteta clearly has a great deal of trust in Raya, but if he does not come up with a solution for this flaw in his game then the Spaniard could quickly become a liability between the sticks for Arsenal.

With Raya having already come in for criticism earlier this season, and Ramsdale still waiting in the wings, he needs to quickly start convincing that he is the right man to be first choice for Arsenal.