1 year ago
221 Gary Neville has been raving about Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker while examining the flaws in David Raya’s game after his latest outing for Arsenal.
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports commentator and pundit was assessing a tense game at Stamford Bridge.
It was a match dominated by the two men playing in between the sticks at either end.
Both David Raya and Robert Sanchez were signed by their respective clubs to compete for the number one spot this summer.
With Kepa Arrizabalaga moving on late in the window, Sanchez was all of a sudden drafted straight into the starting line-up after losing his place in the team at Brighton last season.
Raya had to be patient to break into Arsenal’s team and Aaron Ramsdale didn’t do an awful lot wrong before being dropped to the bench.
However, both Raya and Sanchez made errors that gifted the opposition team a goal.
Arsenal’s new goalkeeper – who could join the club on a permanent deal for £30m next summer – was caught out by a Mykhaylo Mudryk cross that drifted over his head.
Declan Rice then latched onto a poor pass from Sanchez to accurately fire into the back of the empty net.
Neville has admitted that the likes of Alisson Becker are clear of David Raya because they can do the fundamentals of goalkeeping better.
Raya might have been signed because he’s better in possession than Ramsdale, but he also needs to make sure he keeps the ball out of the net too.
Neville rates Alisson over Raya
Speaking about the goalkeepers in yesterday’s match, Neville said: “I mean he [David Raya] had a couple of problems with his feet but it was his positioning on that goal that was the problem.
“He was out of position, he didn’t reset himself. There was one in the first half that I don’t think he reset himself for as well if I remember rightly.
“To me, honestly, what would I say is the most important characteristic of a goalkeeper is that they dominate their area and dominate their box and they look huge in the goal.
“When there’s a cross coming they catch it and come out and dominate it or punch it miles away, to me that’s what I want as a defender from a goalkeeper.
“Now I accept today they also have to be good with their feet and they’re not mutually exclusive.
“I still think the shot-stopping bit and the dominating of your area is crucial to create that composure and lack of anxiety in the ground.
“And that’s what Ederson and Alisson do, they’re world-class Ederson and Alisson.”
Raya suffers another positioning error vs Chelsea
Many will agree with Neville that Alisson is a superior goalkeeper than Raya even before his error yesterday.
It’s not the first time the 28-year-old has been caught out by taking too aggressive a position in front of goal.
In the Championship play-off final between Fulham and Brentford, Raya was caught out by a Joe Bryan free-kick struck from 45 yards away.
Raya’s distribution was criticised yesterday and Cole Palmer nearly made his pay for that sloppiness.
All eyes will be on Arsenal’s team selection against Sevilla in midweek to see if Arteta will act on his promise of potentially rotating his goalkeepers.
The post ‘World-class’: Gary Neville admits 31-year-old Liverpool man is levels above £30m Arsenal player appeared first on TBR Football.
