Gavin Bazunu G Standard Liege (loan from Southampton) b.2002

[Eirambler]

Wrexham are an interesting story to follow, but they're a League 1 team playing in the National League at this point with all the football league players they've brought in, including quite a few Irish lads. I think they'll go up this year and could well go up next year again from League 2.

I actually hope Notts County make it out of that division through the playoffs if they don't go up automatically because they're having an outstanding season but are getting screwed by all the money being thrown at Wrexham.

[elatedscum]

Thomas O’Connor can play, so I’d take Wrexham moving up quickly, so they can sell him to a championship club in 18 months. Total madness he went down there but he’s only 23, so he has an outside chance of some kind of future for Ireland if everything goes right over the next 3 years

[Stuttgart88]

Watch them Marsch up the table now.
Quality puns aside, maybe it'll work out well. I always think a manager needs to be the right man, at the right club and at the right time to be a success. Leeds were very close to going down well through last season too I think (or was it the previous season?). He does seem to be a bit of a blame-deflecting **** though. Two quick wins and they're in a different position.

And continuing my virtual goalkeeper scorecard thing, I think we'd all be asking questions about PSG's keeper last night (was it Donnarumma?) if any of our lads let in Coman's shot. Not a howler but definitely "could have saved" category.

[EAFC_rdfl]

Donnarumma yes, kind of wondered did his height go against him a bit. He could probably have saved with his foot, but instead tried to get down and it was too close to him to get his arms right

[joey B]

Quality puns aside, maybe it'll work out well. I always think a manager needs to be the right man, at the right club and at the right time to be a success. Leeds were very close to going down well through last season too I think (or was it the previous season?). He does seem to be a bit of a blame-deflecting **** though. Two quick wins and they're in a different position.

And continuing my virtual goalkeeper scorecard thing, I think we'd all be asking questions about PSG's keeper last night (was it Donnarumma?) if any of our lads let in Coman's shot. Not a howler but definitely "could have saved" category.

Pickford on Monday night was worse than anything I’ve seen for a while,no idea what he was thinking…

[pineapple stu]

Burnley subbed their keeper off at half-time last night - he'd also had a complete brain-fart for Watford's opener about 15 minutes earlier. Not sure if the two were connected - though I'm sure they'll claim he had a knock of course.

[sbgawa]

Quality puns aside, maybe it'll work out well. I always think a manager needs to be the right man, at the right club and at the right time to be a success. Leeds were very close to going down well through last season too I think (or was it the previous season?). He does seem to be a bit of a blame-deflecting **** though. Two quick wins and they're in a different position.

And continuing my virtual goalkeeper scorecard thing, I think we'd all be asking questions about PSG's keeper last night (was it Donnarumma?) if any of our lads let in Coman's shot. Not a howler but definitely "could have saved" category.


I've just finished reading "The Gaffer" a book written by Neil Warnock about his time as a Football Manager (although he has recently comeout of retirement to manage Huddersfield) your point about right man right club right time is really shown in the book.
Its worth a read , had more respect for him as a Manager having read it. Although i suppose given he wrote it he does come out well :)

[Stuttgart88]

Pickford on Monday night was worse than anything I’ve seen for a while,no idea what he was thinking…I only saw it once on a small screen. It looked to me like he hadn't even noticed Salah and was preparing to face the guy to Salah's right.

[Stuttgart88]

Burnley subbed their keeper off at half-time last night - he'd also had a complete brain-fart for Watford's opener about 15 minutes earlier. Not sure if the two were connected - though I'm sure they'll claim he had a knock of course.
Very unusual. I saw his mistake alright.

[joey B]

Jesse Marsch wont be taking the job now,talks broke down over contract length.....

[pineapple stu]

Unusual one given he doesn't tend to see out his first year...

[pineapple stu]

Southampton 20 minutes away from a win in Stamford Bridge.

Football's a funny old game!

[seanfhear]

Southampton 20 minutes away from a win in Stamford Bridge.

Football's a funny old game!Especially as I had Chelsea down for a 2-0 win ! ! !

[pineapple stu]

Fair dues to you for finding the funny in that! :p

[Asterix]

Really good game from him, some decent saves and was great dealing with every cross that came near him.

[tommy_c12000]

Good game throughout indeed, very solid. Our clear number 1 at the current time. The likes of Kelleher, Travers etc can battle it out for the number 2 spot

[Razors left peg]

Glad hes recovered from the disappointment of being dropped in recent cup game.

[SkStu]

Glad hes recovered from the disappointment of being dropped in recent cup game.

Dog with a bone :D

[Razors left peg]

Dog with a bone :D

I'm a very petty man at heart ;)

[Stuttgart88]

I hope it was the right kind of clean sheet!

[ontheotherhand]

I hope it was the right kind of clean sheet!

Watched a bit. He looked good and Southampton generally defended well. Defenders threw themselves on the line to block shots. At one stage he was beaten point blank by Sterling but a defender covered for him on the line. Did well under crosses and made one excellent save towards the end of the game in addition to a few more standard ones. Fairly even game overall in the parts I say but given how Southampton have looked that's encouraging.

Hopefully this is a sign of him getting to the pace of the level. Good timing if so. If he strings a few more performances like that together he'd be the clear #1 again for me.

[ifk101]

Nothing different in Saturday's performance to what he has being doing to date. He's doing fine without being outstanding. Hopefully the Chelsea game is indicative of greater stability in front of him going forward, which would give him the chance to grow, but that remains to be seen. Big game against Leeds next.

[SkStu]

I was watching Watford v West Brom yesterday and Brom had a 21 year old keeper, Griffiths, who was making his second or third start for them having spent the first half of the season with Portsmouth in L1. They commented beforehand on the big step up in quality from L1 to the Championship, the adjustments required and how he had struggled a bit in his previous games. It made me think about how it has been a much larger step for Bazunu as a 20 year old and how, all things considered, he has coped with it pretty admirably in a team that has struggled. There is a reason he is name checked around the world as the top young prospect in his position.

[ifk101]

Yes. If you factor in his age, the team he is playing in, and this being his first PL season – he is doing fine, (if not outstanding). There were a couple of incidents following the WC break that you could question. Otherwise, he hasn’t made any glaring and obvious mistakes – god knows everything has been nitpicked here. Southampton are judging him daily in training, and that’s now three different decision makers this season that have had no hesitation in starting Bazunu. Even Nathan Jones knew better than dropping him (ok, there was that one cup game ....) If Southampton gets their team steady and organised hence forth, and force the opposition to work to get shots on goal, I think you’ll start seeing him grow and take another step in his progress by consistently making saves he is not expected to make.

[tommy_c12000]

Another soft goal let in by Bazunu, Bednarek just stood in front of him like a statue instead of clearing it and blocked his view, but should have saved that

[Demesne Lad]

Rubén Sellés takes the flak, but I think Bazunu will be learning at a more leisurely pace next season -- in the Championship.

www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23347225.selles-launches-defence-bazunu-error-leeds-relegation-meet/

[joey B]

Just seen the goal from Saturday and he definitely should do better but Bednarek is shocking for it,instead of being big and going to try and block it he turns side on nearly to get out of the way 6 yards from goal,pathetic defending really…..

[Stuttgart88]

Saw it too. I was expecting worse from what I read about it. Soft rather than terrible.

[texidub]

Was looking on some local Southampton forum and geezus the posters seem to be directing a lot of ire at Bazunu, saying he's not up to the task etc. (Not just him, but still.) Over emotional and poor judgment on their part albeit - understandable given results. I think he has the character to get through all that and I think he has great qualities already and potential for much more. I'd give him the Latvia game to test the waters and see if he's looking more confident with a better team around him. If he passes, he's in for France.

[Razors left peg]

Was looking on some local Southampton forum and geezus the posters seem to be directing a lot of ire at Bazunu, saying he's not up to the task etc. (Not just him, but still.) Over emotional and poor judgment on their part albeit - understandable given results. I think he has the character to get through all that and I think he has great qualities already and potential for much more. I'd give him the Latvia game to test the waters and see if he's looking more confident with a better team around him. If he passes, he's in for France.

To me there is no other option than to play him against France, hes our best goalkeeper and is actually playing games. Hes getting a bit of stick at times because hes learning on the job to a degree on the most high profile stage in the world. Hes still be very good at times, and at other times shows that he is inexperienced.

Theres one very easy way he could have avoided all this criticism... hide on the bench at a bigger club and not play games. Kelleher doesnt make any mistakes at all by having that outlook and so he avoids any criticism, its genius really.

Incidentally, Bazunu is in for a great night tonight, wont get any stick at all because hes "dropped" for the cup game.

[EAFC_rdfl]

Aye dropped again!

[Colbert Report]

Huge win for Southampton over Leicester, but Bazunu made a huge mistake deep into second half injury time and Leicester almost equalized.

[tommy_c12000]

Made two big mistakes, his judgement and shot stopping has been highly questionable this season. But a clean sheet all the same, we will take a lucky Bazunu over anything else we have currently (which is minimal)

[seanfhear]

Made two big mistakes, his judgement and shot stopping has been highly questionable this season. But a clean sheet all the same, we will take a lucky Bazunu over anything else we have currently (which is minimal)
Napoleon = = I like Lucky Generals.

[Stuttgart88]

Definitely the wrong kind of clean sheet!

I can't decide what the mistake for the injury time chance was though. Was the mistake that he came for it or was the mistake that he missed it? Had he stayed put would the Leicester guy have had a free header?

It was a bit like Tadic vs Travers in Belgrade. Super crosses, messing with the keeper's head.

Maddison had an earlier inswinger that would have been a real test for him too but a CB took charge.

[osarusan]

If a keeper commits and comes out like that for a cross and doesn't get there, it's a mistake.

[Eirambler]

It might have been a mistake that saved a goal, weirdly. If he stayed glued to his line like Travers tends to, Maddison probably just nods it past him. There's no fault attributed to Bazunu in that case but Southampton drop the points. By coming out he probably did enough to put Maddison off and stopped the goal. Doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake all the same - the general rule is that if you come you have to get something on it, otherwise it's classed as a "flap".

[ifk101]

It was a bad mistake (and equally bad miss). Looks like he called for it, as the CB in front of him didn’t challenge for the ball, and he didn’t get there. Has to do better in that situation if he is calling for the ball.

[third policeman]

Made two big mistakes, his judgement and shot stopping has been highly questionable this season. But a clean sheet all the same, we will take a lucky Bazunu over anything else we have currently (which is minimal)

Yeah, obviously. It's not like we have another keeper who, although not playing every week, has turned in highly impressive performances for club and country and is one of the highest rated young keepers in the PL. I'm not anti-Bazunu, but the argument that he's an automatic starter, even when in questionable form, just because he's playing, is deeply illogical and a little biased. If we applied that criteria consistently, we'd be putting out some rather eccentric selections.

[ifk101]

Kelleher has played 4 games in the PL. In total. The most convincing argument for a player's inclusion in the team is playing time. If Kenny has serious concerns about Bazunu's form, he'd have to give Max O'Leary fair consideration before turning to Kelleher.

[SkStu]

Yeah, obviously. It's not like we have another keeper who, although not playing every week, has turned in highly impressive performances for club and country and is one of the highest rated young keepers in the PL. I'm not anti-Bazunu, but the argument that he's an automatic starter, even when in questionable form, just because he's playing, is deeply illogical and a little biased. If we applied that criteria consistently, we'd be putting out some rather eccentric selections.

Is 20 year old Bazunu not one of the highest rated young keepers in the PL who has turned in highly impressive performances for club and country and is playing every week?

[Stuttgart88]

Yeah, obviously. It's not like we have another keeper who, although not playing every week, has turned in highly impressive performances for club and country and is one of the highest rated young keepers in the PL. I'm not anti-Bazunu, but the argument that he's an automatic starter, even when in questionable form, just because he's playing, is deeply illogical and a little biased. If we applied that criteria consistently, we'd be putting out some rather eccentric selections.

But when it counted in an almost like for like situation Kelleher stayed rooted and a dangerous Ukrainian free went straight into the middle of his goal.

Right now I don't really trust either in well-delivered crosses.

[pineapple stu]

Is 20 year old Bazunu not one of the highest rated young keepers in the PL who has turned in highly impressive performances for club and country and is playing every week?
I'd question the "highly impressive performances" bit there.

There was an interesting post on the Bazunu thread on the Southampton forum (https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/topic/59401-gavin-bazunu/page/21/) at the weekend -


The best way to judge keepers statistically is post-shot expected goals, as it actually takes into account the level of the shot being taken. If a player scores from 40 yards from a shot of 0.01 xG, it doesn't reflect properly on the fact that a keeper has a far larger chance than 0.01 of saving it. Bazunu has a PSxG of -11.1, which means statistically he's conceded 41 goals where the expectation is just 25.9 [I'll add - that should be 29.9 I think - it excludes own goals but not sure you can remove them from one and but the other] The most interesting thing about that to me is the fact that 25.9 is actually the 6th lowest in the league, behind just Newcastle, City, Arsenal, Brighton and United. 5 times who are a million miles further up the league than we are. This indicates that we haven't been terrible defensively this season, we've just been drastically let down by a goalkeepers underperformance. For comparison to the rest of the league, the next worst is Leeds (Meslier) at -5.8.

It's actually statistically the worst season by a goalkeeper in Premier League history. Bazunu has also made 54 saves in the league, with only Arsenal, Brighton and City's keepers making less. This has him at a 55% save rate, meaning he's now almost conceding a goal for any save he has to make. We have had 92 shots on target against us, which again is within the top 5 of the league. The argument here could be that our defenders are constantly leaving him in situations where he's not able to make the saves, but that's why the PSxG number above disproves that point.

I don't know where the comparable stat on every other PL season comes from so I'll put out that disclaimer straight away. But we've seen how many soft goals they've let in this season.

Neither keeper is an ideal option right now. Kelleher needs a move and that's been said over and again. But to say our alternatives in nets are "minimal" isn't true and to suggest minutes played is the only way of picking a team isn't true either (Firmino or Che Adams for example?)

[Eirambler]

To be fair to Bazunu, most of the goals he has conceded are ones he wouldn't be expected to save. Maybe the stats don't reflect that but I'd be taking stats like XG and expected saves with a massive pinch of salt anyway, they're not really factual stats that you can prove to be true like goals, assists, shots and saves.

Not that's he hasn't had a few clangers as well, but I've seen far worse keepers in the Premier League than him, there are worse ones right now, such as Danny Ward who is absolutely awful.

[Kingdom]

To be fair to Bazunu, most of the goals he has conceded are ones he wouldn't be expected to save. Maybe the stats don't reflect that but I'd be taking stats like XG and expected saves with a massive pinch of salt anyway, they're not really factual stats that you can prove to be true like goals, assists, shots and saves.

Not that's he hasn't had a few clangers as well, but I've seen far worse keepers in the Premier League than him, there are worse ones right now, such as Danny Ward who is absolutely awful.

Any fan that quotes XG stats, or PTSD stats (or any acronym you want to choose yourself) in analysis of a players performance is an absolute ****tard in my eyes.
It's a bluffers tool that cannot be qualified when qualification is absolutely required and no amount of statistics will convince me otherwise.

[SkStu]

I'd question the "highly impressive performances" bit there.

There was an interesting post on the Bazunu thread on the Southampton forum (https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/topic/59401-gavin-bazunu/page/21/) at the weekend -



I don't know where the comparable stat on every other PL season comes from so I'll put out that disclaimer straight away. But we've seen how many soft goals they've let in this season.

Neither keeper is an ideal option right now. Kelleher needs a move and that's been said over and again. But to say our alternatives in nets are "minimal" isn't true and to suggest minutes played is the only way of picking a team isn't true either (Firmino or Che Adams for example?)

Yeah, thats fair - was biting the lip for sure quoting that part but, in playing it out a bit, he won 2 player of the season awards at Portsmouth and has won save of the month in the PL in his debut season (not a huge deal granted). I'll take the stats above at face value but Southampton have been so soft in the centre in the majority of games this season, irrespective of what the poster above states. It has been visible in most games I have watched of theirs this season. Bazunu is definitely having a hard time adjusting and it is a really difficult fishbowl environment to be making such a step up but he is more or less holding his own and he is holding his spot.

The bottom line with Kelleher is we just don't know. We don't have a reasonable sample - of any kind - to compare it to. We can't even look at a couple of seasons in L1... I agree that neither keeper is an ideal option at the moment and, in full disclosure, I wouldn't be overly worried if Kelleher had to step in for us. But when you weigh it all up, and consider that the Irish jersey is Bazunu's to lose, the default answer is also the most logical one.

[ifk101]

But we've seen how many soft goals they've let in this season.

Conceded two goals at home to a L2 team when Bazunu was "dropped". The soft goals are more a team issue rather than specific to one player, no?

[pineapple stu]

Conceded two goals at home to a L2 team when Bazunu was "dropped". The soft goals are more a team issue rather than specific to one player, no?
What, you mean the two penalties? Are penalties soft goals for a keeper to concede now? Weird.


Yeah, thats fair - was biting the lip for sure quoting that part but, in playing it out a bit, he won 2 player of the season awards at Portsmouth and has won save of the month in the PL in his debut season (not a huge deal granted).
Well he was only one year at Portsmouth so he'd have had a hard time winning two Player of the Season awards!

And making one top-drawer save doesn't offset the many weak goals let in (and then the two howlers against Leicester are on top of that). In fact, that's the point of a broad statistical approach - to even things out and remove bias. And there's definitely green-tinted glasses at play here.


Any fan that quotes XG stats, or PTSD stats (or any acronym you want to choose yourself) in analysis of a players performance is an absolute ****tard in my eyes.
It's a bluffers tool that cannot be qualified when qualification is absolutely required and no amount of statistics will convince me otherwise.
I mean, it's clear you've made your mind up on that - and arguably it's more indicative rather than 100% factual, for sure - but any counter-argument that includes the bit in bold is the argument of an absolute ****tard. Sorry.

[SkStu]

He won the player’s player and club player of the season awards. I did also point out that the save award is not a big deal by and of itself.

The argument is re Kelleher v Bazunu and that is still where your argument for CK is weak.

[pineapple stu]

Ah, ok - two awards in the one year. Teensy bit cheating (do you add in the Dublin Pompey Supporters' Club award, if God forbid there actually is one :)), but can see where you're coming from.

But my argument is that -


Neither keeper is an ideal option right now. Kelleher needs a move and that's been said over and again. But to say our alternatives in nets are "minimal" isn't true and to suggest minutes played is the only way of picking a team isn't true either (Firmino or Che Adams for example?)
I don't think that's weak?