Bit uncalled for old bean.
To quote Arteta recently:
“What I like about David is the things he does in goal and the things he prevents that sometimes you don’t even see because they don’t happen — because he has anticipated them”
Perhaps watching the games has you confused. Super Mik himself says Raya's key contribution is the unseen modulation of non-events.
Claudius We had really low xGA. A good part of this is how we circulate the ball around the goalkeeper. The players pass to him with enormous comfort. He’s press resistant, able to pass long and short very quickly. It’s the speed and confidence I passing that neutralises opponents. It’s a big upgrade on Ramsdale.
As I stated above: "he is circulating the ball competently". And he is.
And as I also said, "he's got less hard work to do in practice". I don't claim Raya is doing nothing, but one can't say he is suffering any difficult tests in his goal mouth.
Let's compare Ramsdale's 22–23 with Raya's 23–24 using the per-90 stats from here and here.
Saves: 2.5 — 1.5
Save percentage: 69% — 63.5%
Clean sheets: 0.37 — 0.41
Error leading to goal: 0.05 — 0.09
Acted as sweeper: 0.39 — 0.59
High claim: 0.58 — 1.32
Pass accuracy: 63.8% vs 71.8%
Accurate long balls: 3.63 vs 3.68
Long ball accuracy: 29.2% vs 32.4%
I've bolded some numbers where there's a variation of more than 10% or so. Ramsdale was having to make an extra save a match. Raya has come forward considerably more often to mop up loose balls or sedate backpasses behind our ultra-high press. These observations pass the eye test—for those of us watching. 👁️
Consider the claim Raya's prowess receiving and re-circulating the ball has a decisive role in our improved defensive performances. I say it's a distortion, for two reasons. First, the approach and the hard work of the outfield players are the factor producing the change, as every other statistic about our performances confirms. Second, there's marginal measurable difference in the effectiveness of Raya's distribution and Ramsdale's.
During the first half of the season, we (and specifically you and I) had extended discussions comparing Arsenal 23–24 with Arsenal 22–23. We found the biggest measurable change was Arsenal's increased territorial domination and sheer ball-hogging in the opposition third. We now spend more time on the ball or pressing in the part of the field our keeper doesn't influence. We're now finally converting that domination to bags of goals.
Yes, Raya's been as calm and authoritative as a Zen master as he sweeps up behind the carnage in recent times. Of course he has.
For 23–24 Arsenal added talented defensive-minded players to our first team. There has been an overall emphasis on winning the ball back higher and higher up the pitch. We lead the league in that. We have also reduced our use of options in the final third that lead to turnovers. These tactical patterns caused a delta of around 0.5 in our xGA per 90 from the first matches of the season, well before Raya had settled in.
And we've had the good luck to avoid troublesome defensive injuries so far touch wood.
So no, neither I, nor anyone else can say Raya's a bad keeper. After all, how would we prove it? The man's vocation is the unseen modulation of non-events.
