Manager David Raya has called on Arsenal to play without fear as they aim for their first Premier League title in 22 years and their first silver medal since 2020.
The Gunners are fighting on all four fronts and Mikel Arteta’s side still have a chance of completing an unprecedented quadruple.
After winning the FA Cup in 2020 and reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time, the focus returns to the Premier League as Arsenal travel to Molineux to face Wolves on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports, with a chance to extend their advantage at the top of the table over title rivals Manchester City to seven points.
Wednesday, February 18th 7:30pm
Kickoff at 8pm
And Raya believes he and his teammates need to enjoy the journey ahead, which will have many twists and turns.
“Confidence and fun are the most important things in this sport,” Raya told Sky Sports.
“The most important thing to be a soccer player is to have confidence. You have to have confidence and you have to enjoy it. If you don’t, you’re not being yourself. You can’t help the team.”
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Mikel Arteta gave his post-match thoughts on Arsenal’s 1-1 draw away at Brentford, insisting his team are still pushing and feels they are in control of their bid for the title.
“If you play without fear, you can’t play football. You can’t enjoy the moment, you can’t enjoy being on the grass.
“So confidence will be key for us. Everyone needs to have the confidence to know what they’re doing and the important thing is to enjoy the process.”
“Everything is open,” he added when asked about his approach to the season.
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David Raya’s poor throw to Matthias Jensen immediately put pressure on the Arsenal goal with a header from Brentford striker Igor Thiago, but the Spaniard was able to recover with a brilliant save.
“We can’t think too much. We just have to focus on ourselves and work every day, every training session and every match. That’s the most important thing.”
“If you think too far ahead, you’ll lose sight. So live in the moment.”
“Team cohesion may be the key.”
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Sky Sports News’ Dave Reid looks back at how Arsenal have performed in past Premier League fixtures under Mikel Arteta
Raya has been at Arsenal since the summer of 2023 and has been part of the core of the side that finished second in the Premier League for the past two seasons.
The 30-year-old, who played for Blackburn and Brentford before moving to north London, praised the togetherness of Arsenal’s team and believes the culture Arteta and his staff have created in the dressing room could play a key role in getting them over the line at the end of the season.
“The whole team is united,” he said. “We are literally friends and teammates.
“This makes everything in life so much easier for everyone, not just football, but outside. You can go with whoever you want to go to do things other than football. I think that’s a really important thing that we have in our dressing room.”
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Free to watch: Premier League highlights from Brentford vs Arsenal
“I’ve been lucky to have a really, really good dressing room. The dressing room at Blackburn was great and it was the same at Brentford, but I think it’s different here, especially with so many different nationalities and the way they interact with each other. It’s not like a group or anything like that.
“Obviously, I talk to people who speak Spanish more often, but it’s special to be able to get along with everyone and spend time like this. I think it’s a credit to the manager and credit to the staff that we’ve created a culture at this club where everyone gets along, not just the players but the staff as well.”
Asked if team cohesion will be crucial to finishing the season on a positive note, Raya added: “That’s important. How great it would be to achieve our goals together and make this a historic season. That would be unbelievable.”
“That’s why we play football, that’s why we play at Arsenal. So everyone comes here to win trophies, to create something special and make the fans and the club happy. That’s what’s really important to us.”
Raya praises Arsenal’s depth
Raya believes Arsenal’s unity could be a key factor heading into the season
Arsenal last played in the FA Cup at the Emirates with a 4-0 victory over League One side Wigan.
Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus all found the net, while Eberechi Eze, who has been criticized for his form so far this season and was subdued at half-time against Arsenal and Brentford in the Premier League, assisted Arsenal’s first two goals against Wigan.
Raya, who was not in the Gunners’ squad for the FA Cup match, will be hoping his side can replicate that free attacking form against Wolves.
Raya believes confidence will be key to Arsenal’s silver medal win this season
“For players who haven’t played that much or players who have come back from injury like Bukayo (Saka), we had that much time (against Wigan) and the way we played showed that no matter who it was, we were here to win.
“It gives us more motivation and more confidence for everyone, especially the players who haven’t played as much.
“It’s to everyone’s credit, like the coach said, to be able to get game time and be ready when we’re called upon, it’s unbelievable for the players who weren’t playing and performing at that level yesterday.
“Hopefully we can repeat what we did at Wolves (against Wigan),” added the Spain international. “I know it will be a difficult task.
“We have to learn from that game because they made it very difficult for us at the Emirates. But I think we are a different team now than we were then. So hopefully we can do the right thing and get the three points, but we know how difficult it is.”
Watch Wolves v Arsenal live on Sky Sports on Wednesdays from 7:30pm. Kickoff at 8pm.
