Mikel Arteta has been warned that David Raya will cost Arsenal the title if he sticks by the embattled Spaniard.
Raya has endured a nervy few weeks and was at fault for Chelsea's second goal in the Gunners' draw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The Blues had broken down the left flank, with Mykhaylo Mudryk floating a ball in the direction of Raheem Sterling.
But rather than reach the England international, the ball instead sailed over Raya and into the net. Though Arsenal were able to pull the game back for a draw, a win for Tottenham on Monday night would see Arteta's side fall two points behind their fierce rivals.
Raya has now conceded six goals in the seven games he has played since replacing Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal's first-choice keeper. And veteran presenter Richards Keys has already seen enough to call for the Spaniard to be dropped.
Keys is known as being a frequent critic of Arteta's management at the Gunners and has again taken aim at the move to replace Ramsdale. He tweeted: "David Raya will end up costing Arsenal the title this season. There is no way he’s an upgrade on Ramsdale."
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That assessment is one that Manchester United legend Gary Neville would appear to agree with. The pundit has insisted that the experiment of having both Raya and Ramsdale in the squad is not working out.
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Richard Keys and Gary Neville have insisted that David Raya is not working out at Arsenal (DANIEL HAMBURY/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)"David Raya started his Arsenal career well but then he had a poor Champions League game [against Lens] followed by that first half against Manchester City. Now, this game. It's getting hot for him. He's got that look on his face like, 'help'," Neville told Sky Sports..
"It's the toughest position to play and certainly when you're at one of the biggest clubs in the league, you're under the most amount of scrutiny - particularly if you're a goalkeeper. Mikel Arteta has created that, let's be clear with the Ramsdale and Raya situation.
"It's unusual but he says it can work. I've never believed it could, and I believe we're seeing in front of our eyes the challenges that exists because now, there is going to be pressure. Raya has now started to make mistakes."
Neville has also cautioned Arteta that he will soon have a "problem" on his hands if Ramsdale gets restless with his current place in the team. And he reiterated that Arteta's plan for having two first-choice standard keepers on the books will not work out.
"If a goalkeeper makes a mistake, that's the goalkeeper's problem. The issue is that there is a very good goalkeeper on the bench that hadn't done anything wrong. Now it looks as though David Raya is No 1," he told the Gary Neville Podcast.
"The problem is he's started to now look nervy and is making mistakes. I do feel there's a problem brewing here where Ramsdale is going to start knocking on the door saying, 'get me back in' and if [Arteta] doesn't, he's going to ask to leave.
"So even though it looks like there's competition for places in the goalkeeping positon, it won't last long this. I don't think it can work, and I'm not seeing anything that is telling me it can work. It puts more pressure on the one that's in because he knows the other guy is waiting in the wings."
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