David Raya

[Trix]

I’m as pessimistic as the next spurs fan but I doubt we’d get as close as agreeing (or nearly agreeing) personal terms if we didn’t get some indication from Brentford than a fee could be agreed

History would suggest this is not necessarily the case. Whilst in principle you are correct and it's how most teams operate, we often do this in the hope it puts pressure on the selling club to reduce the fee.

 

[FrankSpencer]

History would suggest this is not necessarily the case. Whilst in principle you are correct and it's how most teams operate, we often do this in the hope it puts pressure on the selling club to reduce the fee.

I believe the common term in the past for this is ‘you’ve been Levy’d’!

 

[Annekcma]

True but something tells me our keeper may get pressed more than Joe Hart in the Scottish league when playing for Celtic.

Of course. Which is why it is a good thing that Raya is significantly better with the ball than Joe Hart.

 

[muel]

Watching Raya against us at the Lane really put into perspective for me the value of a modern style keeper. I had forgotten what it was like to have someone who actually impacted the game from that position after years of risk mitigation safe Goal Keeping.

His short passing/distribution needs work but his long passing and shot stopping are superb and miles ahead of what we have currently.

 

[Sandro30]

I do like Pythagoras in boots, and I find his vids interesting, but even he said the stats for keepers can be very misleading, because the metrics just aren't there for keepers.

Since he only watches 5 games at most per player reviewed, his views can be floored.

Look in the comments section, a few Brentford fans saying he's amazing on the ball, his short passing is top notch, and his reflex saves are unbelievable. Basically refuting the videos claims.

PiB looks at everything from a Man Utd POV though, so I find his commentary is based on that. If he doesn't think a player is better than what United have / what United want, he isn't good.

 

[spursfan77]

Pretty good stats for Raya



He'd improve us pretty quickly.

 

[Real_madyidd]

Pretty good stats for Raya



He'd improve us pretty quickly.

True. It's got to be a priority signing.

 

[fecka]

Pretty good stats for Raya



He'd improve us pretty quickly.

Didn't he have fairly atrocious short-passing stats last season though?
I think I read that he had a 45% passing percentage or something for short passes. I'll see if I can find it

 

[jpascavitz]

I'd say for the amount of money Lloris saved us from investing in any new GKs over the last 10 years, 30-40m isn't a huge issue for Raya. Sure, see if the price can come down at all, but will be valuable to get him in the door as early as possible. You can easily see him staying around another 8-10 years if he keeps his performance high or even keeps improving. Hitting the prime GK years.

Would love to see us double down and be looking at the likes of other young GKs. I know he had a rough first season but Bazunu and Verbruggen are two GKs I love at only aged 21 and 20. If an opportunity arises would love for us to see if a deal is possible and they can stay out on loan to continue getting development time. When Forster's time is up then we'd have two GKs battling it out, how it should be.

 

[Tucker]

I wonder if there’s something the two clubs could offer each other beyond a simple swap deal. Brentford don’t have an academy, might be beneficial to both clubs to work out some sort of tie in where they get first refusal of youngsters going out on loan etc.

 

[spurs-r-us]

where they get first refusal of youngsters going out on loan etc.

Why would they want this though? They finished a point behind us this season, and have a sustainable recruitment model.

 

[spursfan77]

Didn't he have fairly atrocious short-passing stats last season though?
I think I read that he had a 45% passing percentage or something for short passes. I'll see if I can find it

It’s more that Brentford never passed short. It was always twatted long to Toney (him and Toney had one of the highest pass combinations in the league between them) or long out to their fullbacks in high wide positions. So his stats are massively effected by that.

 

[WorthATry]

Didn't he have fairly atrocious short-passing stats last season though?
I think I read that he had a 45% passing percentage or something for short passes. I'll see if I can find it

According to fbref he had a 97% short passing completion rate last year. The previous season it was over 99%.

 

[fecka]

According to fbref he had a 97% short passing completion rate last year. The previous season it was over 99%.

Sounds a lot more plausible. Couldn't find it myself. Cheers

 

[archiewasking]

According to fbref he had a 97% short passing completion rate last year. The previous season it was over 99%.

That's worrying. Do we really want another keeper on the decline?

 

[Timberwolf]

It’s more that Brentford never passed short. It was always twatted long to Toney (him and Toney had one of the highest pass combinations in the league between them) or long out to their fullbacks in high wide positions. So his stats are massively effected by that.

Yeah looking at the stats there are loads of games last season where Raya literally made 1-5 short passes in the entire game.

 

[Roberts84]

They wouldn’t take Spence or Sessegnon as they’d likely prefer to give time to Hickey and Henry. Winks and Rodon have no business being anywhere near their 11 tbh

I thought they tried to sign Spence in January

 

[Tucker]

Why would they want this though? They finished a point behind us this season, and have a sustainable recruitment model.

I keep seeing this kind of post about Brentford, Villa and Brighton, as if suddenly due to one bad season for us, and one good season for them that they are somehow now on par with us as a football club.

All three teams had exceptional seasons. But that won’t last forever. Villa might manage to stay in the top 8 long term due to their size and financial backing, but even that’s a big ask.

Brighton and Brentford are two championship (possible smaller) sized clubs that are punching well above their weight. It won’t be sustainable, certainly not when the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, and even Everton get their acts together. Not to mention West Ham, and maybe even Forest establish themselves.

Time and again we’ve seen these kind of smaller clubs get promoted, do really well, almost establish themselves as mid table or maybe even lower tier Europe sides. Bolton, Wigan, Stoke, Swansea, Fulham and Burnley all had really good cracks at it, being very well run and punching above their weight. But they can’t sustain it, not long term, and not when faced with bigger clubs with bigger revenue streams competing with them.

Brentford are comparatively minnows when compared to most other premier league sides, even many championship clubs are better supported with a bigger possibility of revenue streams should they manage to get promoted.

So to answer your question of why a tiny club like Brentford would want to have a long term link up with a Premier League giant’s academy, you really should be asking, why wouldn’t they?

 

[spursfan77]

Yeah looking at the stats there are loads of games last season where Raya literally made 1-5 short passes in the entire game.

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Here is him playing for Spain. Looks capable here although the opposition aren’t pressing that aggressively.

 

[Timberwolf]

Here is him playing for Spain. Looks capable here although the opposition aren’t pressing that aggressively.

Well if he normally plays anything like that he's already 5 times more composed than Lloris would be in those situations.