Legendary Arsenal shot-stopper David Seaman believes David Raya is struggling to keep up with the demands of playing for a top Premier League club. The Spaniard's arrival at Arsenal in the summer was met with a mixed response from fans. Aaron Ramsdale was named in the PFA's Premier League Team of the Year last season and aside from a few shaky moments towards the back end of the campaign, he didn't do a lot wrong.
Yet the Englishman hasn't made a single appearance for the Gunners since the north Londoner's EFL Cup tie against Brentford on September 27. This comes after Arteta insisted that he would be rotating both goalkeepers during the season.
However, the Gunners boss has stuck with Raya even though he has dropped several mistakes as of late, most notably against Chelsea. Seaman thinks the pressure is starting to get to the 28-year-old as he continues to struggle to adapt to Arsenal's style of play with Ramsdale breathing down his neck.
"It's tough at the moment and it's tough on Aaron," Seaman told The Football Gods podcast. "David's finding it tough to adapt to playing at a big club because of all the attention that's on it, and the pressure, and it is another level from what he's used to a Brentford.
Raya has had a couple of howlers recently
David Raya has looked very shaky in the Arsenal net
"I remember when I was at Arsenal and they paid a lot of money for Richard Wright (who joined from Ipswich for £6m in 2001). He came in as my number two and I thought: 'Whoa, this is serious competition', but I showed him what I could do.
"But the manager (Arsene Wenger) at the time didn't say, 'I'm going to rotate the goalkeepers', and that's what Mikel has said. So now we're looking, watching and thinking, 'David's not having the best of times at the moment and he's making a couple of mistakes, will he get rotated?' And if that happens then Mikel's true to his word."But it is tough because Aaron's not done a lot wrong. Last year he was goalkeeper of the year as voted by the players. That's one of the biggest awards that you could ever hope for.
"Then he started this season really well, played against Scotland and finds himself on the bench. Aaron is only 24. He's still got a long time to learn his trade but it's a tough time for him at the moment. All we can do is wait and see and see what happens because Mikel even spoke about rotating them in the game, like bringing the goalkeeper off, and I thought 'Really?'."
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