Jamie Carragher says Gary Neville was wrong about £30m Arsenal player on Sunday

Add as preferred source on Google

Jamie Carragher has suggested that he disagreed with Gary Neville after the pundit claimed that David Raya looked to be all over the place for Arsenal in their win over Manchester City at the weekend.

Carragher was speaking on Stick to Football after the Gunners went into the international break off the back of a stunning victory at the Emirates.

David Raya kept a clean sheet in the game, with the performances of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes helping restrict City to barely any chances. Nevertheless, it proved to be an eventful occasion for the £30 million Spaniard.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Gary Neville noted Raya looked to be all over the place in the early stages. He gave possession away with a couple of his kicks. And he was extremely lucky that Julian Alvarez did not block the ball into the Arsenal net after closing Raya down before he made a clearance.

Jamie Carragher disagrees with what Gary Neville said about David Raya

Raya improved as the game went on. But it did seem to frustrate supporters when he took an age to release the ball.

Jamie Carragher however, believes that Neville was wrong to suggest that Raya was overawed by the occasion. Instead, he may have been too relaxed.

“Do you think he looked nervy? I was watching, I was listening to your commentary. I thought it was almost the opposite. He was almost too cool,” he told Stick to Football.

“There was no doubt when you could watch him with the ball, at times when he had time on it – a lot of teams are doing this now, and I think Brighton almost started with it, trying to entice teams – I don’t think he was nervous. I think he was almost waiting, inviting the pressure. And then sometimes waiting too long.”

Mikel Arteta may be delighted with goalkeeper’s display if Carragher is correct

Obviously, if Carragher is correct, then Mikel Arteta will have been delighted with Raya’s performance. That suggests that he was carrying out the instructions from his manager.

That may disappoint the Arsenal fans who wish to see Aaron Ramsdale come back into the team. Ramsdale did not appear to do a lot wrong before being dropped. And many may have hoped that Raya’s errors against City may cost him his place.

Perhaps it still could. But Arteta has spoken about swapping his goalkeepers during a game. So if Arteta was seeing what Neville saw on Sunday, he may have been tempted to make that change.