Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nMatchwinner Kai Havertz spoke to TNT Sports after the game and was full of praise for his stopper. \u201cHe\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Havertz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he is still underestimated in the world of football, but for me, in the last two seasons, the best keeper in the world. He’s outstanding, he’s saved us so many times, and we’re very glad to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is indeed unbelievable. That was his seventh Champions League clean sheet this season, and according to Opta, he has stopped 90% of the shots on target he has faced in Europe, with 27 out of 30, the leading figure for any goalkeeper still in the tournament.<\/p>\n
In the Premier League, Raya has kept 15 clean sheets, which puts him four ahead of his closest rivals, Manchester City\u2019s Gianluigi Donnarumma. With so many huge matches remaining in the final two competitions, a big question is emerging.<\/p>\n
Could David Raya become the second-ever goalkeeper to win the Premier League Player of the Season? The award has been running since 1995, when Alan Shearer was handed the individual accolade while at Blackburn Rovers.<\/p>\n
Peter Schmeichel would be awarded the trophy the following season, having won both the Premier League and the FA Cup double with Manchester United. He kept 18 clean sheets in the league and shut out Liverpool in the cup final.<\/p>\n
Since then, the award has been dominated by outfield players, with a shift in focus to the attacking or defensive output required in seasons to chase the biggest honours. However, Arsenal have been grinding out results across all competitions and have needed their Spanish keeper to remain strong between the sticks to provide a foundation for success.<\/p>\n
It is not just about making saves either. Arteta has waxed lyrical about the evolution of the role, making reference to his own number one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s the evolution of the game, I think, in every role,\u201d he said. \u201cThe keeper, obviously, in the last few years has changed and evolved rapidly, and the amount of things that he has to do, it’s a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut many positions have very similar situations and demands right now, and the players have to adapt to that. And when you have, apart from the qualities of David, the courage, the will to do certain things, that’s when you can reach another level.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the distribution element and the confidence that a keeper can give his teammates. He effectively becomes the eleventh outfield player so often and can help both start attacks and release pressure from his colleagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am the last line of defence and the first line of attack,\u201d Raya said when speaking the evening before the clash with Sporting CP. \u201cSo I try to apply what the boss wants me to do with the ball and without the ball, trying to find those advantages to carry the ball to the other goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo basically, what we try to do is from the back we try to score, and that’s the way we play, and I feel very, very confident to play this way, and I really, really enjoy it. I feel like I’ve been enjoying this football since I came here and taking that responsibility to help the team to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Arsenal are to win the league or perhaps the Champions League, there is little doubt Raya will be up there alongside Declan Rice and Gabriel Magalhaes as contenders for player of the season. However, if he remains as influential as he was in Lisbon, he might go on to grab the award all for himself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
David Raya has propelled himself into the conversation for player of the season as he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}