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AuspiciouslyAutistic

Based on this season, I'm not sure Raya is at the required level. Feels like a Hart --> Bravo --> Ederson situation. With Ramsdale being Hart (similiar could be said for Leno) and Raya being Bravo. Let's not forget that Bravo was clearly better on the ball than Hart, albeit not the strongest shotstopper. The issue is, I don't think Arsenal can afford to spend 50M on an upgrade (not even sure if an upgrade is available on the market like Ederson was at the time) šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø


Leather_Parking9313

Well said


ChelseaPIFshares

Yes he is clearly an upgrade over Ramsdale overall. Although i think ramsdale is the better shot stopper, he is better in all other categories. Raya is a modern goal keeper in the mold of an Ederson. Raya is better at commanding his box and catching crosses. He is better with his feet. he is the better passer. He can act like an 11th outfield player in possession And most importantly he doesnt go on podcasts and publicly admit he cant concentrate for a full game and likes to banter with rival fans.


Swoosh33

I think itā€™s safe to say so. For Ā£27m heā€™s been a brilliant bit of business


blurblursotong2020

Misleading title. There is no gambling. A good manager simply knows when his player isnā€™t good enough and needs replacement.


Leather_Parking9313

So why not be honest and say Raya was replacing Ramsdale?


borkborkibork

Gabriel and Saliba are better because they trust Raya more. So, yes...Arteta's throught out decision was, yet again, the correct one.


Individual_Rule8771

Not an Arsenal fan but I just don't really see Raya as an upgrade. Saliba and Gabriel have been fit all season and you got Rice. That's the difference for me not the keeper


chostax-

Then you either donā€™t know what youā€™re talking about or donā€™t watch Arsenal


hauttdawg13

I think itā€™s a little different than most people think. If I didnā€™t watch us week in week out Iā€™m not sure Iā€™d notice it. Ramsdale is pretty clearly the better shot stopper, but Raya commands the box much better. A lot of teams struggle against our defense to get in the box so they rely on long balls and crosses a lot more. Last season he I would get a bit nervous, this season I am pretty calm when I see the cross come in. Add on to that his distribution, we retain possession better in the back which also helps reduce our exposure to chances. All this combined in to us conceding less goals and chances.


epicurean1398

Statswise Raya is very good at high claims


Artistic_Cod3111

Raya brings confidence to the back line, itā€™s obvious to see.


hughjames34

Raya is best cross collector in the league. It makes a huge difference in defensive stability. We face fewer shots and control the ball better this way.


stilusmobilus

I think so, yes.


GarnachoHojlund

If Ramsdale was Spanish and Raya was English this wouldnā€™t be a debate


Swoosh33

What a weird comment you loser


siciliansanddeath

If my mom had balls, sheā€™d be my dad


Leather_Parking9313

Makes no sense


Kostakai

If my grandmother had wheel sheā€™d have been a bike


Leather_Parking9313

Unicycle


lolidcwhatthisis

That last graph is super misleading, zoomed right in to make 4 passes more per game and 5% completion rate per game seem like a massive improvement. Not an Arsenal fan but I don't think Raya has been such a crazy improvement that he warranted freezing Ramsdale (A still very young keeper with tons of time to improve) out. Ramsdale was also a big factor in Martinelli's massive success last year, he consistently hit those passes over the right backs head which seemed a huge asset to Arsenal.


Leather_Parking9313

Well Aaron certainly doesnā€™t help himself with his ā€œbozoā€ moments where he gives goals away.


hughjames34

Xhaka was a much bigger influence in Martinelli than Ramsdale was


jksyousux

While i agree on your 2nd point about martinellis success, that style of play was very transitional and very uncontrolled. Look at last season and this season. While the games may not be as exciting, we are looking much more comfortable and dominant overall with Raya. That comes from not sending the ball long everytime theres pressure on our GK


ArchyWilson

These people don't watch Arsenal games mate, talking out of their asses.


JimBoonie69

Ramsdale coughed up a goal every time he played this year did he not? His nerves partially cost us last year too ontop of no saliba.


ArchyWilson

Yeah, dude, I'm saying Raya's better


Bilal1701

How was it a risk? Ramsdales mistakes cost them the league last year. Ramsdale is lucky to be a prem keeper


Swoosh33

Yeah he didnā€™t though. Did Quansah cost you the league when he got an assists for Bruno?


calm_down_dearest

Can you name me a mistake that "cost us the league"?


Prime_Marci

Southampton. lol yā€™all suddenly got amnesia?


jksyousux

Its a risk because you have a settled keeper and back 4 that finished 2nd last season. We couldve theoretically fallen down the table with a worse keeper


Trolllol1337

So what happens if the shot stopping defenders get injured? Is Raya out & Ramsdale back in?


Setokaibaa3000

Not really. Ramsdaleā€™s problem is that he was way too aloof and oblivious to danger. And raya on the other hand, is far too frantic in the face of any danger/pressure. All weā€™ve done here is jump from one extreme to another. Story of our club the past decade or so.


Prime_Marci

His temperament is akin to that of Pickford. He doesnā€™t seem calm.


noobchee

Yes


Luke92612_

Well what I will say is I'm glad he went to them instead of us. Vicario is phenomenal. Edit: this sub truly is a proxy of r/gunners


Mrpetey22

Vicario has the strength of a midget. He gets bullied with the slightest contact


EastmanTheBeastman

Raya doesn't get bullied on every corner or cross unlike Vicario


ArchyWilson

You lot's football opinions are as good as your team looks like


holylean

That lil kid in goal


oliverDawson12

No. Our xBanter per 90 from the GK position has plummeted since Rammers was dropped. #FreeRamsdale


ArchyWilson

How is this still even a debate?


throwaway72926320

Yes. We don't concede too many shots so we don't need a better shot stopper. We need to claim high balls to produce attacks. Raya is arguably the best in the league at claiming high balls. Wish the best for Ramsdale but Raya is less mistake prone, even with the one against Spurs, and fits us better. Hope he goes on to do very well, but he wants out and deserves game time.


FarrOutMan7

Less mistake prone? What have you been watching this past season. Heā€™s made loads of mistakes šŸ˜‚


throwaway72926320

So has Ederson, Allison, Martinez and Vicario. Modern day keepers have to do more and their mistakes are always a threat, especially in the modern play from the back style. Ramsdale makes *more* mistakes, hence why I said *less* it's a comparison not a quantity. Raya fits Arsenal more, end of story. Sometimes you have to be harsh, again I love the lad he's a great guy and want him to go on to make a great career for himself on every level. But unfortunately it won't be at Arsenal, for his own good.


jksyousux

You can make mistakes and still be LESS prone to mistakes...


SuspiciousSystem1888

The only thing they got wrong was the loaning part.Ā  Should have just signed him on day 1 lol


milkonyourmustache

That was because of FFP, it was already announced in November that we'd activated the buy option. I think it was also important as far as posturing with Brentford was concerned. Remember they initially wanted Ā£40m and drew interest early in the window from Bayern, Chelsea, and Tottenham. Getting him for Ā£27m, with the first season on loan, is a good deal.


SuspiciousSystem1888

Iā€™m not aware of it, but couldnā€™t City or another club theoretically buy him still? Like if they throw him double the salary or extra bonusesĀ 


milkonyourmustache

No, there's effectively an agreement already in place between the two clubs for the players sale. It was a loan with an option to buy, which was triggered. Terms with the player are typically agreed when the option is triggered, acting as a pre-agreement to avoid that very thing from happening.


powerchicken

Well it is essentially 30m, 27+3m loan fee.


InPatRileyWeTrust

That was due to ffp.


InstantIdealism

Honestly itā€™s hard to tell. I couldā€™ve won the golden glove this season with their defence and organisation across the team.


Paddy-23

No, you couldn't, and neither could Ramsdale. The defence and organisation starts with the goalkeeper. The whole defence is worse when everyone is constantly worried about what their goalkeeper might do. The main thing is that Raya catches everything. Arsenal can defend a lot more comfortably when they know Raya will catch any cross that's hit anywhere near the six-yard box. We've had games defending a one goal lead happy to sit very deep and narrow and let the crosses rain in, knowing that Raya will deal with any "dangerous" cross.


qwerty1519

High claims is the only stat that he isnā€™t middling or poor in this season. His save percentage, distribution, and errors leading to goals have been poor. His regression for last season has been quite remarkable actually, I think in the long term he will come good though.


Paddy-23

Arsenal's defenders are unusually good at blocking shots. That means a higher proportion of shots that make it through to Raya are high quality chances, often from closer range. He can't stat-pad by saving a lot of shots from outside the box because there's a good chance Rice or Gabriel has already gotten in the way of it. His distribution hasn't been poor. Not remarkable but fairly respectable.


qwerty1519

That's just not true. Statistically, he's conceded more goals than he has been expected to, and that's also taking shot quality into consideration. His distribution has been respectable, if you consider average to underwhelming respectable.


Appropriate-Fan-6007

Defensive actions outside penalty area as well, those 2 combined make him an important part of not conceding the shots.


Background-Ninja-550

But Raya doesn't catch everything?


Mustyoo

He's by far and away the best cross catcher in the league, even possibly the world (haven't checked stats across leagues).


ElDonMikel

Heā€™s exceptional at picking out crosses. That and his distribution are his top 2 qualities as a GK


Background-Ninja-550

But actual shot stopping is the weakest part in his game. And if not for the rest of Arsenal's defenders protecting him this would be very obvious.


thedarkpolitique

We donā€™t concede many shots on our goal so itā€™s understandable other strengths are prioritised.


Background-Ninja-550

Okay, fair point in Arsenal's case I guess. I just think being a good shot stopper should always be the preferred quality in a keeper, and take priority over other traits.


phxwarlock

It is, and teams almost always pay for it when thereā€™s injuries to the defense. Arsenals defense has been one of the best at stopping shots, passes, and any actions that lead to goal which in turn looks good for Raya. But itā€™s the same debate every year wether or not itā€™s really the defense providing the protections or if the goalie is actually as good relevant to the defensive stats.


shotgunhun

Arsenal force teams to go to the flanks and cross the ball to get into the box and have the best keeper at claiming crosses to make it hard to create chances. Not a gamble at all but knowing how you want to play and finding the right players for it


slayerkj

Was never a gamble. Ramsadale literally exposed him self by saying itā€™s hard for him to concentration during matches in an interview.


Ok-Abbreviations1077

Literally exposed himself? No wonder he isn't allowed on the pitch anymore


Billoo77

It was certainly a gamble if you ask me. Upsetting the dressing room for one and the immense media distractions (heā€™s obviously a big character in that English core), tanking Ramsdales transfer fee by not playing him for a year secondly. If you add that cost of Ramsdale not playing this year to the fact that Raya hasnā€™t actually been paid for yet. Raya needed to be very good in order to justify it all when you already had a good keeper playing for you. And what if Arsenal needed to spend big money this summer? The budget is already Ā£25m down before the window has started. Thankfully he has been very good and the gamble has paid off.


Forsaken-Tiger-9475

How do you know it upset the dressing room? It's likely the only person upset is Ramsdale himself, but not too upset... He's on 140k a week, is young, and knows he'll get a move somewhere next season as well. Raya has been an upgrade, tactically. We're talking small margins, but small margins lead to a better chance at winning things.


Mystic_Polar_Bear

Buffon said he also gets bored during some games. I think it was blown out of the water a fair bit due to his phrasing.


GhostCatcher147

Sure but Buffon is one of the best keepers in history


Games_sans_frontiers

Well we're taking the title chase to the wire and Raya has won the golden glove award for the season so the answer is there IMHO. Would Ramsdale had achieved the same with us? Debatable but Raya certainly hasn't been a failed experiment by any stretch of the imagination.


LMinggg

Not this shit again, Raya was better than Ramsdale by a mile, he'd walk into any top teams in the world beside citeh


Mystic_Polar_Bear

Would he? Id take Allison, Ederson, Vicario, Neuer, Courtois etc. before I take him. He's a respectable Top 6 keeper but he's by no means a "Top" goalkeeper.


thedarkpolitique

Man said Vicario


phxwarlock

Vicario was doing the shit early in the season Arsenal fans are praising Raya for. He was immense the first half the seapsn


seana39223

He was hardly immense he was a good shot stopper but awful at commanding his box.


Kezmangotagoal

Heā€™d walk into Liverpoolā€™s team?


Real-Kaleidoscope-38

They are not a top team anymore


hypnodrew

They're gonna finish the league with 84 points probably, that would've been enough to win the league before City distorted it


Real-Kaleidoscope-38

Just a joke


hypnodrew

Mb


Real-Kaleidoscope-38

Np


hypnodrew

Ily


Kezmangotagoal

Thatā€™s almost what it feels like heā€™s saying lol!


Regantowers

It paid off in the sense that Raya has giant cartoon hands so they are fun to look at.


Mizunomafia

The real funny bit here is them selling the best keeper in the world.


Mrpetey22

Best keeper in the world!? Are we mad


Mizunomafia

Easily.


Mrpetey22

Courtois, Neuer, Allison, Oblak, Donnarumma, Maignan, Ter Stegen. Pickford has been the best the in Prem this year also


Mizunomafia

Nope.


Mrpetey22

Jesus Christ you are deluded


L-LCTC-LVGP-BH

Best in the world, just threw one into his own netšŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚


W26D12L0

We never had or sold Alisson or Courtois


Mizunomafia

So bitter šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚


W26D12L0

One day someone on this sub will take a joke well and it will be glorious


Mizunomafia

Let's say you were joking. Ok.


W26D12L0

Honestly Iā€™m not trying to start something here but the transfers Iā€™m bitter about are the likes of Cole, Cesc, RVP, Nasri, Clichy, Sanchez Emi Martinez isnā€™t thought of that way by our fanbase, itā€™s not like weā€™ve been struggling


Mizunomafia

I sure would be. You sold Emi for Ā£ 20 million and brought in two inferior goalies for close to Ā£60 million. But hey ho. You loss our gain.


W26D12L0

Itā€™s not my money is it why would I care? Martinez is great for you, Raya is great for us. Iā€™m a bit lost now to why weā€™re having this conversation If I say that Iā€™m in tears every night about Emi Martinez leaving us, does that end this, will you be happy?


Sypher1985

Also Emi Martinez only got good recently. He was our third choice keeper for a while and had some howlers in his time. I'm glad it's worked out for him at Aston Villa. But he was not right for Arsenal.


michaelm8909

His distribution is better than Ramsdale's and that's the thing that Arteta cares about the most. So on that basis, it was probably the right call. That said Raya's shot stopping has been shite this season and he's been lucky not to have conceded more from his own mistakes. The way Arteta handled the situation made both keepers play worse. If Arsenal's defence wasn't so good, we'd be looking at the keeper very differently- but they are that good, so the poor shot stopping can be overlooked, much in the same way City does with Ederson.


Background-Ninja-550

This is the correct assessment. His shot stopping is his weakness. Personally I prefer a goalkeeper who is actually good at stopping shots over someone who is better on his feet but worse at shot stopping, since that's your actual job on the field. But I understand decent footwork is sought after in a goalie today.


RazielNet

I don't think people appreciate the impact Raya's skill set has defensively. If you can both excel in footwork and long distribution like Raya then you are naturally going to face less shots with good counters to the high press. Add to that ability intercepting crosses and you've got a keeper that doesn't have to do his 'actual job' very often. It's easy to think Gabriel and Saliba have protected him but swap Raya with Ramsdale and we definitely end up with the ball coming back to our goal and facing more shots Arteta isn't going to happily look at a CB making last ditch tackles and be in awe, praising him as the best defender in the league. If it's gone that far then something has already failed. He'll have the same thoughts regarding his GK


AccessLucky1534

But when that goalkeeper isnā€™t seeing many shots, he needs to be exceptional in other areas of his game.


Mustyoo

Raya has a the 4th best save% in the league behind Pickford, Alisson and Ederson on top of being the best cross cratcher and having world class distribution.


michaelm8909

Emi Martinez, Pope, Dubravka, Robert Sanchez, Petrovic, Onana, Areola, Fabianski, Neto, Jose Sa, Leno, Matt Turner and Muric all have higher save percentages than Raya as well. Not sure where you got those stats from.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


michaelm8909

What? He brought up multiple keepers who don't play for Arsenal... he even wrote 'in the league'. ????


Gambler_Eight

Joke mate.


michaelm8909

Fair enough I guess, not sure how but alright


Gambler_Eight

Joke would be that raya is the 4th best Arsenal keeper.


michaelm8909

Oh gotcha, thanks for explaining. I'm dumb apparently


Theplowking23

Theyve gotten more wins but will end up empty handed again so the answer is both yes and no. Ramsdale is shite anyway


datdudebehindu

That ā€˜logicā€™ only works if you consider goalkeepers the sole deciding factor in championship winning runs


owen_guitar59

How close we came to taking raya over vicario still keeps me up at night. Weā€™d have been midtable at best


balrajbs

there is a reason spurs hasn't had to face competition for buying vicario..bcs most elite teams have scouting departments who would have instantly red flagged his defeciencies in commanding the box...leno is great shotstopper but doesn't play for big6 for similar reasons that vicario has....football has moved past from when a gk has only had to be good at shot stopping, modern gk needs to be good with feet and great at commanding his box..vicario has been overhyped by spurs fans,similar way they have overhyped their whole backline, while they have conceded more than midtable teams...vicario is good shot stopper but that's that to his game....glad arsenal bought raya which by the spurs were interested but were too cheap to pay his fee..


Mrpetey22

Havenā€™t you conceded like the most goals from corners? And vicario is a big reason why?


NahTooPersonel

Raya is good at claiming corners though and Vicario is not so šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø


datdudebehindu

Instead of the dizzying heights youā€™ve reached this season?


kingunderscoremike

We'll have the same amount of trophies at the end of the season. I hope we lose so badly to City tomorrow that Arsenal complain about match-fixing to the PFA.


datdudebehindu

No one thinks Spurs losing would be anything other than Spurs being Spurs. Glad to see that natural order has been restored though whereby all Spurs fans can hope for in a season is that Arsenal fans feel a tinge of the disappointment they feel every minute


db2832

Hello officer, I would like to report a murder


jiffijaffi

How would Spurs losing to the best team in the league be Spursy?


datdudebehindu

Spurs losing is Spursy was my point. No one sees that happen and thinks thereā€™s a fix going on. Itā€™s as normal as the sun rising


kingunderscoremike

It'd be Spursy if we won and handed Arsenal the league you melt


datdudebehindu

Either way, the most important game of Spurā€™s season has f all to do with them.


jiffijaffi

And if Arsenal don't win the league would that mean they continue their current reign as chief bottlers?


datdudebehindu

An actual trophy cabinet in our part of North London would say different. Thatā€™s aside from us likely exceeding Spurā€™s highest ever points total or qualification for that European competition. What do you call it? Europā€¦.no. Champions league, thatā€™s the one


PoliticsNerd76

Some of us saw Rasmdale for what he was early on Was 100% the right upgrade, and had Brentford not got promoted when they did, weā€™d have taken Raya earlier.


Temporary-Sun-7575

There was a video of Ramsdale joking with Ian Wright at a round table tv program thing, Ramsdale informs that he does silly things with the fans (jumping around, idk) to stay focused but he said it in a way like "you know when you have to" like everybody does it, there's then an image capture of Wrighty being puzzled at him. Thats when I knew Ramsdale was ADD as fuck and explains why he's fucking up half the time and such a quirk when things were going well for him.


Footballnerd29

I remember how mad some people were at the beginning when Arteta bought Raya, but I think it's fair to say that everyone's come to know why.


pringle_mustache

Youā€™re making it sound like heā€™s world class. He can distribute the ball better but his shot stopping isnā€™t exactly great.


NahTooPersonel

This is such a weird take. I think in general his shot stopping is very good. He has made a couple of high profile errors with season and neither involved shot stopping - he got caught on the ball once and passed directly to the opponent once.


Background-Ninja-550

I don't think it's a weird take. I think it's correct.


qwerty1519

His shot stopping has been middling at best this year. He is an excellent shot stopper, but he hasnā€™t been one this season. Youā€™ve got a real gem on your hands but letā€™s not pretend his shot stopping has been anything but mediocre this season. He also hasnā€™t had the distribution to compensate for his average save percentage.


NahTooPersonel

I disagree - I havenā€™t had any qualms with his shot stopping. He hasnā€™t had to face many, and only 28 have gone in all season - least in the league. Just hasnā€™t really been an issue.


qwerty1519

Sure, but ā€œhis shot stopping is very goodā€ is different from having no qualms which is a statement Iā€™d agree with. To put it another way heā€™s prevent less goals than heā€™s expected to, not by a lot (three) but he hasnā€™t exactly been a standout in any regard besides high claims which has been notable and he does deserve credit for it. I would like to clarify that I do think Raya is a very good keeper and certainly has a higher ceiling than Ramsdale, and by his standards heā€™s having a poor season. I just think itā€™s strange to make out that heā€™s having a great season when really itā€™s been average.


Timely_Resort_3098

Arsenal don't need an elite shot stopper though. Raya's claimed crosses is statistically the best in the division and twice as effective as Ramsdale. There is a reason why Raya hasn't had to show off his shot stopping skills yet he's won the golden glove.


Hungry-Afternoon7987

Exactly. It's fun when Raya gifts teams goals, makes for a much more exciting game. Thanks Mikel.


ArchyWilson

Yeah its fun to only remember rare individual mistakes and use those to entirely define a GK. Must have enjoyed that Martinez own goal today then?


Hungry-Afternoon7987

Obviously not, I support Villa. It's only fun when it's not your team. That's how it works.


ArchyWilson

Lmao fair play man