You'd wonder what plaudits Hart would get for the same thing. Hart's playing very well in fairness but a few weeks ago he made a routine save from a poor finish against Torres and followed up with a good block and you'd swear the media had just seen the Second Coming. It was just a double save the likes of which most EPL keepers would make.
but the likes of which most english keepers would not.Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
just watched the highlights on BBC, according to them Given kept West Brom out until they finally did score. The backline were all under 23 years of age, two were making their debut, lacked leadership and left him very exposed.
One of the saves from Bednar was truely exceptional. With City out of the League Cup, he's probably going to find his first team opportunities extremely limited between now and January
Highlights of the City - West Brom game: http://mcfc.co.uk/Video/Match-highli...-City-extended
Shay Given is a class keeper, however i do not agree that Hart is in the team just because he is English. I think Given would do well to move as i would like him to be playing first team football for Ireland. I don't think he will get a move to Arsenal or Utd because i think if those managers rated him they would have picked him up earlier. If he wants to play Champions league football i think he will have to go to the continent.
He played well enough, but nothing remarkable I thought. He pushed a few efforts back into play - you get away with it sometimes but not always.
Anyone see West Brom's second goal at Arsenal today? Wenger simply must buy a new 'keeper in January. I hope Shay Given gets his move.
Arsene's too cheap to splash out on a goalkeeper. He'll spend the money on strikers and attacking players but he doesn't think defenders or goalkeepers are important.
I'll keep an eye out for it later on.
I suppose the re-signing of Sol Campbell goes some way in supporting that idea, but Wenger forked out a fair bit for Vermaelen, didn't he? He also gave a substantial fee for Richard Wright. Maybe he doesn't have a good eye for 'keepers?
He splashed out a bit on Koscielny too, but it's nothing compared to what Liverpool, Chelsea and United have spent. Wright was a big one - may have coloured his attitude towards goalkeepers since. I mean he clearly has an eye for a bargain - Lehmann was 1m as he was out of favour at Dortmund, and Almunia was third choice at whatever Spanish club he came from - but his transfer history at the back is littered with cheap buys that haven't worked out and cheap buys that have worked out.
I would say the chances of Shay joining Arsenal are slim to none. Wenger will almost certainly buy/loan another keeper (possibly 2) and neither will be Shay for a variety of reasons. Shay will have to look elsewhere for a move unfortunately.
Main probable reason is City would not agree to that loan move and can Arsenal wait for the next transfer period?
It is astonishing though for a manager like Wenger to have that huge blind spot these past seasons.
It is just about the first most important position to fill in a top team, to have a top goalkeeper. You just spend what is needed to get a good keeper, then set the budget for the rest.
I get the feeling sometimes that Wenger for such an intelligent man throws a kind of hissy fit when told by all and sundry that he needs to get a goalkeeper in (and a couple of defenders as well). And so he goes and does the opposite and sticks with what he has. He usually has a couple of players lined up (and 50% of the time they are very good payers) and perhaps he feels he can stay in touch until the next transfer window. But surely he knows himself that he needs to win something soon and he won't with Almunia in goal.
He'll probably go for Schwarzer, although was there talk of a medical problem?
Wenger's advisors have got to take a share of the blame I reckon. Bob Wilson consulted him in the past.
Wilson was interviewed by the Beeb a few years ago, and said that he was always pushing Wenger to invest in a good keeper, but Wenger kept rejecting his advice. If someone like Wilson can't make him see sense, there's obviously a blind spot in Wenger's approach.
Wenger has a blind spot when it comes to goal keepers unfortunately so does his goalkeepers.
And apparently Fabinski is going to start for them in the CL this week, after the howlers he made in the competition last year.
I think its likely that Arsenal will eventually get Schwarzer in Jan. The main obstacle for Shay to move to Arsenal is Mancini and City, they wont let him move there without a big fee and definitely not on loan.
I'd disagree with this. I think the main obstacle for Shay moving to Arsenal would be the fact that Arsene Wenger doesn't rate him. He came out and said he wasn't interested in signing Shay when he was leaving Newcastle citing that they weren't looking for a keeper when they clearly were, and he has come out again saying that he's not interested in signing Shay from Manchester City citing Shay's high wages and then admitting in the same breath that he doesn't know how much City's keepers earn.
I think Shay is an amazing keeper, and is worth maybe 10 points a season, but I really can't see him ever moving to Arsenal while Wenger is there.
Would'nt put too much weight on Wengers opinions about goalkeepers when you see what he has picked for Arsenal in recent years ! ! !
On Rossiya 2 (the renamed sports channel) 3 times they mentioned (during the Ireland match) that Shay Given is being sought by a Moscow club in January. This was mentioned twice, by Dasaev (spit to the side) on Friday night, though it was in the contaxt of: he's a better keeper than we see tonight, one of the best in England, and his club don't want him. By deduction I think it will be either Dynamo or Spartak, Dynamo haven't a decent keeper, while the first choice for Spartak is moving at the end of the year. Would be a great move as the Russians idolise their keepers. Watch this space!
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