David Raya, Arsenal goalkeeper, expressed the “Golden Glove” award as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season, satisfied him with his individual level and remarkable development compared to the last season, noting at the same time that the team still needs to learn from some difficult lessons.
Arsenal played his last match in the Premier League on Sunday evening, by beating Southampton 2-1, as Raya was unable to maintain the cleanliness of his net, to share the Golden Glove Award with Nutingham Forest Matts Selv.
In his statements to the BBC (BBC), Raya said: “I am very happy with my season on the individual level. I raised my level compared to last year, and I felt more stable in this wonderful club. I just try to do my work and help the team as much as possible.”
On the team’s performance in the match against Southampton, he added: “Getting the three points was the most important. I think the performance was not the best. It was clear that we were exhausted and lacking a bit of somewhat, but we went beyond the matter, and this is the most important.”
Raya touched on his evaluation of the season as a whole, saying: “We are fully aware that there are moments during the season in which we received goals that we should not have received, and we put points that we were supposed to decide. This is part of football, and we must learn from it. Sometimes we have to improve the management of the matches until the end of it.”
As for Sels, who lost his team against Chelsea 0-1 to lose the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League, he confirmed in statements to the “Shkai Sports” network: “It is a great achievement, and I am very happy, but not only for me, but for the entire team. This reflects that we have presented a wonderful season, where we stayed almost throughout the season in the qualifying positions of the Champions League.”
He added: “Unfortunately, we were not able to resolve the qualification today, but we have to feel proud of the season that we have presented. We included playing in Europe, and this is great for the club.”
On his experience since joining the team, the Belgian goalkeeper explained: “When I came last year, the conditions were difficult. Reaching this type of achievement cannot happen without collective work. It is similar to what happens when the attacker scores many goals – success always as a result of the entire team’s effort.”
