Arsenal's historic Premier League title triumph: Inside the influence of David Raya

“Forwards win you games, defenders win you championships.”Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous line once again rang true as Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for an English league title. While much of the spotlight naturally fell on attacking stars like Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, Arsenal’s triumph was built as much on defensive discipline as attacking flair. And at the heart of that defensive solidity stood David Raya.Goalkeepers often do their relentless work without attracting the same level of attention as goal scorers. The shotstopper has kept 19 clean sheets in 37 appearances this season, equalling the club record set by the legendary David Seaman in the 93-94 and 98-99 seasons. And he can move ahead of the Englishmen on top if he can manage another clean sheet against Crystal Palace in their last game.Raya has also been greatly benefited from the Arsenal's defensive style and discipline - the fundamental style of Mikel Arteta’s style of play. With the no-nonsense centre-back pairing of Willam Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes being instrumental in countering the opposition attacks, the newly crowned champions have conceded only 26 goals all season long.Interestingly , the Spanish custodian has averaged only 1.6 saves per game in this season - the fewest in the entire Premier League. Which is the indication of how good a defensive side Arteta’s side have been and they proved their consistency of holding their gameplan throughout the season.For context, Raya didn’t make a single save in their crucial 1-0 win against Burnley on Monday. But with little to do in a defensively-solid game, Raya himself said that it made it even harder to stay focused and deliver his best to keep the clean sheets.This also resonated with Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side and the influence Petr Cech had on their victorious campaign in 2005/06. The legendary Czech keeper, also a former Arsenal player, still holds the league’s all-time record for clean sheets in a season (24 in 35 appearances) in 2004/05.Arsenal have won eight games by a scoreline of 1-0 and in 14 games they have won by a single goal difference out of the 25 wins. And here is the decisive impact of Raya, as he kept the team alive in those games by making some critical saves and delivering his best in winning those games.In the crucial month of May, where Arsenal faltered in the last three seasons and came second every time, Raya provided a staggering performance and kept four consecutive clean sheets in this season’s league.Raya has been absolutely great in the last three seasons and was deservedly crowned Golden Gloves winner. With three consecutive best goalkeeping awards, Raya is on the way to becoming a legendary figure in Arsenal’s club history and could be even more influential in the coming years.In one respect, Raya is unlucky. Bilbao’s keeper Unai Simon has long been the number one for the Spanish national team, and Raya has played only 12 matches for Spain in his national career. But with all due respect, it will be interesting to see how long Luis De La Fuente, the Spanish head coach, can keep the new EPL champions on the bench during the Football World Cup.