David Raya admits that he 'shouldn’t have played that ball' against Tottenham

David Raya speaks on his mentality

The win against Tottenham on the weekend was a big one for Arsenal, but we did cut it very close there at the end and could have easily left sharing or dropping the points. But a resilient Arsenal squad stepped up and got themselves over the line in what was a do or die match for Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal squad.

In the second half, Arsenal’s Spanish keeper David Raya made a big mistake that nearly cost Arsenal the points and sparked a fight within Tottenham to give everything to get back into the game. In the 64^th minute Raya was seen trying to clear the ball but mistimed his kick and sent it straight into the path of Cristian Romero on the edge of the box, Romero pounced at the opportunity and smashed the ball into the back of the net and sparked a fire underneath the Tottenham side.

Luckily our defence and Raya himself made up for their mistakes and managed to stay solid, seeing out the game and stopping some close calls from the Spurs team late on. Raya spoke after the game about his mistake and said this “Mistakes are part of football and you learn from them. I shouldn’t have played that ball, I should have gone a little bit longer. I wanted to control the game a little bit more, but it didn’t happen. It showed how good they are at pressing and the plan was different.”

Mistakes like this can weigh heavy on a keeper’s shoulders, especially for a keeper who’s not even fully joined the club yet, but I think the way he reacted and the players reacted, said a lot. At the final whistle they were all seen embracing Raya and trying to big him up. Yes, if the result ended differently, I’m sure things would be a little different, but luckily they didn’t and although it was a pretty bad mistake, we managed to move past it.

Raya is looking very likely to sign a contract in the summer after this season long loan and Arteta looks to have made his choice clear that Raya is his ideal choice for a keeper. After a year of ups and downs, Raya has been impressive to me. Of course mistakes happen, but he always looks ready and raring to go for the next game and I think that’s important for a top keeper. You always need to find a way to let go of the mistakes and keep your head above the water.

What’s your thoughts Gooners?