David Raya has opened up about the transformative meeting at Arsenal's training ground that helped him turn his fortunes around.
The Spanish goalkeeper has earned back-to-back Premier League Golden Glove awards with the Gunners in the last two seasons, but had a rocky start following his loan move from Brentford in the summer of 2023. Mikel Arteta's choice to favour Raya over England star Aaron Ramsdale was met with criticism early in the 2023/24 campaign due to a series of major errors.
The 29-year-old confessed to reaching a low point after committing two glaring mistakes during Arsenal's 4-3 win against Luton in December 2023. Raya has now revealed to ex-Manchester United and Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster how a crucial discussion with goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana that same night proved pivotal.
Speaking on the Fozcast podcast, Raya said: "It was a turning point against Luton. That game was one of the worst games I ever played and that's where I hit rock bottom. From there, the only way was up with changing my habits and trying to change my mindset.
"From that game, I said, 'Listen, this is not me.' I think there's been a massive change from there. I met with the goalie coach after the game at the training round and we were there for two hours, talking about things that we could change.
"He helped me a lot in that situation and just believed in me. I worked with him, worked with the sports psychologist and relied on my missus and my family to try to help me as much as possible. That's when I started feeling better."
David Raya
Raya was at fault for two of Luton's goals in the Gunners' 4-3 win over Luton (Image: Mark Leech)
Raya made his move to Arsenal permanent last summer after turning his form around, while Ramsdale was transferred to Southampton. The Gunners confirmed last month that Raya is set to inherit the No.1 jersey next season after deciding to switch from his old number of 22.
The change puts him alongside Arsenal keepers like David Seaman, Jens Lehmann, Manuel Almunia, Wojciech Szczesny, Petr Cech, Bernd Leno and Ramsdale. Looking back on his initial period at the club, Raya spoke about how the pressure he faced led to him playing too nervously.
"I wasn't myself 100 per cent," he said. "Maybe I was backing off a little bit and you cannot do that. You will make more mistakes if you are backing off a little bit."
Mikel Arteta and David Raya at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
Mikel Arteta has been rewarded for putting his faith in Raya (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
"Maybe it was in the back of my head last year with all the thoughts that were behind the goalie situation. There could've been a lot of factors like the loan thing and maybe not having that [permanent] contract."
Arsenal have been consistent under Arteta, finishing as runners-up in the Premier League for three consecutive seasons. But Raya acknowledged the players' frustration at falling short by five points to Manchester City last year.
He said: "I think it hurt more last season because of everything that we'd done, all the points that we got and the run that we went on. After the [mid-season] Dubai trip, we lost one game, we drew another one and we won the rest. But not fulfilling that title, and being so close and not getting it, that hurt a little bit more."
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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