Ex-Spurs man claims Arsenal won’t win the Premier League with ‘massive problem’ in the XI
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara thinks David Raya is a “massive problem” for Arsenal and their chances of winning the Premier League title.
The Gunners went five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Tuesday night with their nearest rivals set to play their game in hand over the next two days.
Declan Rice scored a late header from a Martin Odegaard cross to give Arsenal all three points in a 4-3 victory over Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
Arsenal led the Premier League for the majority of last season before being overtaken by a relentless Manchester City side towards the end of the campaign.
And O’Hara can see the same thing happening this season unless they find another “upgrade” on Aaron Ramsdale with new signing David Raya proving to be a “massive problem” for Mikel Arteta.
“I don’t believe Arsenal can win the league with that goalkeeper. If you look at the best teams that win the league every year, mostly Manchester City or Liverpool, they have the best keepers,” O’Hara said on talkSPORT.
“Cech, Van der Sar, Schmeichel, Alisson, Ederson. For me Arsenal can’t win the league with David Raya in goal and that’s where I think they’ve got it wrong.
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“If you’re going to upgrade from Ramsdale you’ve got to upgrade properly. David Raya is not that guy and he will end up costing them.
“Declan Rice stepped up tonight, Havertz scores as well. Big moment for them in the 96th minute. Brilliant and Arsenal fans will be buzzing but in the grand scheme of it David Raya is a problem for them. A massive problem.”
When Arteta was asked to reflect on Raya’s performance in their win over Luton, the Arsenal boss replied: “We have to defend better the situations as a team.
“There are certain things leading to the goals and it’s not about blaming, we have never done it, and we’re not going to do it now. It’s about how the team reacts to that, because it’s going to happen, and I love that response.
“I think we can defend the goals much better, that’s for sure.”
Rice, who scored his third Premier League goal of the season, thinks their “never-say-die” attitude can lead Arsenal to the Premier League title this term.
“I think last year they were eight points clear and obviously lost the title,” Rice said after the match.
“This year there definitely seems to be a different feel around the place in terms of being stern, being steady, being composed in big moments.
“Luton Town caused us a massive threat and it looked like we were going to drop points. But this season, it’s that never-say-die attitude that we’ve got that we keep pushing, keep fighting to the end and I think that’s our fifth goal in added time.
“I think we should start scoring some a bit earlier! But to score in added time, it shows what we are made of and we will never stop believing.”
