Jamie Carragher slaughtered Arsenal’s David Raya by insisting goalkeepers should be BANNED from making risky passes to midfielders after his blunder led to a costly mistake against Newcastle.
Arsenal’s dreams of reaching Wembley were dashed as they suffered a 4-0 aggregate thrashing in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, with Mikel Arteta’s team failing to make an impact at St James’ Park. Despite carrying a 2-0 advantage into the second leg, Newcastle fans may have worried about the Gunners overturning their lead.
However, the Magpies asserted their dominance early on, taking the lead in the first half thanks to Jacob Murphy, who capitalised on excellent play by Alexander Isak. Even with the lead, Newcastle continued to press for another goal, while Arsenal’s defence appeared increasingly anxious, a fact highlighted when Raya made a critical error leading to the second goal.
Attempting to play out from the back, Raya played a high-risk pass to Declan Rice, who was immediately pressured by Newcastle’s high press. Rice then lost the ball to Fabian Schar’s tenacious challenge, leaving Anthony Gordon with an easy finish.
Post-match, Carragher took to Twitter to slate Raya’s choice, stating: “Keepers need to be banned from playing those passes into midfield players.” Gary Neville also took aim at other Arsenal players, especially centre-backs Gabriel and William Saliba, who were left “on toast” by Swedish powerhouse Isak’s masterclass.
Neville was on commentary duties and he said: “It’s all about Isak. He is messing the Arsenal centre-backs about. Look at him against Saliba, he (Saliba) thinks he has got in front and he pops it round the corner. What a strike it is, and a piece of good fortune because the pass isn’t into him and it then falls to Murphy. But he has Gabriel and Saliba on toast.”