David Raya Reveals Thomas Frank's Message After 2020 Wembley Defeat
· Yahoo Sports
David Raya has revealed that Thomas Frank told him to play even higher up the pitch after his costly mistake in Brentford's Championship play-off final defeat to Fulham in 2020.
The Bees were beaten 2-1 after extra time at Wembley, with Joe Bryan catching Raya out from a free-kick almost 40 yards from goal. The goalkeeper had anticipated a cross into the penalty area and moved away from his near post, leaving him unable to recover when Bryan went directly for goal.
Visit freshyourfeel.com for more information.
Frank's response was to encourage him to keep doing it.
Speaking on the Beyond the Box podcast, Raya recalled what happened immediately after the final whistle.
"Right at the end of the game, he came to me and he goes, 'Next season I want you even higher.'"
Brentford had narrowly missed automatic promotion after losing their final two Championship matches against Stoke City and Barnsley. They recovered to beat Swansea City in the play-off semi-finals, but their hopes of reaching the Premier League ended against their West London rivals.
Raya had been one of the Championship's outstanding goalkeepers during his first season at Brentford, keeping 16 clean sheets and sharing the Golden Glove award with Millwall's Bartosz Bialkowski.
The Spaniard joined from Blackburn Rovers the previous summer, working with Iñaki Caña to develop a more aggressive approach to goalkeeping. Caña encouraged him to take up higher starting positions, attack crosses and deal with balls played behind the defence rather than waiting to make saves.
That approach had served the Bees well throughout the campaign, but during the play-off final, Raya admitted that his eagerness to attack Bryan's anticipated delivery had proved costly at Wembley.
"It hurt. It hurt because I was doing the same thing the whole season," Raya recalled, before explaining that the mistake had taught him to be more conscious of protecting his goal while continuing to attack crosses.
Despite the mistake being caused by the approach, Frank had no plans to change how Raya set up. The now 31-year-old explained that his manager believed his aggressive positioning had prevented numerous goals during the season, helping Brentford reach Wembley in the first place.
The former Brentford goalkeeper also spoke warmly about Frank's wider influence at the club, crediting him with establishing standards that continued long after their time together.
"He set a culture at Brentford which is incredible," Raya said, adding that players who had worked under Frank would recognise the demands he placed on the squad.
Brentford had little time to recover from their disappointment, with the delayed 2019/20 campaign ending in August and the following season beginning just over a month later.
They were soon competing for promotion again, eventually returning to Wembley in May 2021 and beating Swansea 2-0 through goals from Ivan Toney and Emiliano Marcondes.
Raya remained Brentford's first-choice goalkeeper for their opening two Premier League seasons, while Frank continued managing the club until his departure for Tottenham in 2025. The Spaniard joined Arsenal in August 2023, having made 161 Premier League appearances for the Bees.