QuoteNot sure you have to defend them? He's a 20 year old playing in the EPL for the first time. A bit of a struggle was inevitable. Sure he had the same at Rochdale and then bounced back.
It's hard to defend his performances at the moment to be honest.
Not sure you have to defend them? He's a 20 year old playing in the EPL for the first time. A bit of a struggle was inevitable. Sure he had the same at Rochdale and then bounced back.
And you're playing for a side that was tipped as a possible relegation candidate.Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
There’s no doubt he has the potential and raw ability to be a top international keeper. But it’s a position where confidence can make or break a career. Maybe it was expecting too much for him to suddenly blossom as a PL keeper. I can see why he wanted to grab the opportunity, but it looks like he still has some learning to do and he’s maybe not in the ideal place to develop and fulfil his obvious potential. Would he have been better staying at City, establishing himself as number 2. learning from Eddison and getting games behind a decent defence in a winning team?
There's no guarantee at all that he'd have been City's number 2 though
At worst he'd have got a Championship loan though, where he wouldn't be in the spotlight as much. Unfortunately, while it seemed a really good move for him at the time to go to Southampton, it hasn't worked out that way so far.
He probably would.
I think what he has now is ok though. It's a learning curve. He's always had these blunders in him though - we've seen too many for Ireland, but they've happened at previous clubs too. He really needs to get them out of his system sooner rather than later.
If JR is trying to defend him by saying he's playing for a poor side though, I don't agree with that. He's part of that side, and as Stutts has said, he's played some games where a good keeper keeps you in it, and he hasn't done that.
I think it's ok to say he's been poor this season. Time is on his side
I think it's ok to saying he is doing fine, recent wobbles aside - (although I haven't seen every minute he has played this season). He was a L1 keeper this time last season, and now he is a £12 million PL regular. At 20 years old, time is on his side - what difficulties he is facing now is part of the learning curve.
He's also had great games this season. He won't peak for a decade or more. Long way to go yet.
I go back on forth on whether Southampton was a good move though. I don't think it helps a young keeper if his defence isn't reliable. I'm not and never was a keeper at any proper level but if your defence is giving chances from irregular angles it can't help your decision making. Do you come out because your defender is liable to make an error? The partnership and trust is important I'd think. And he doesn't seem to have much of either. Of course that's two way but he started the season better and has regressed. He's not making saves he usually would. A good, experienced centre half ahead of him might have helped him adjust to the step up but Southampton seem to be going for a younger set up.
Interesting situation for Kenny now but he could play Kelleher and not upset Bazunu too much I think. He knows himself he isn't anywhere close to the finished article. Would like to see Kelleher in against France so he can face more shots and we can see more of him. Maybe put gave in against Latvia for a confidence boost if things haven't turned around for him by then. Although we could face as many against them to be fair.....
Has he? (Genuine question)
Edit - whoscored give him an average rating of 6.51 for the season, better only than Sanchez at Brighton (6.50) and Travers (6.28). He's only got three games above 7.00, and the best is 7.52.
Henderson - of Forest, one of two sides to have conceded more than Southampton - has an average rating of 6.53, but has 6 games above 7.00, of three were above 8.00. That sounds more like a keeper about whom you could say he has had some great games this season.
I'm curious why you think this doesn't apply the other way around?
Look at the penalty incident against Fulham. I don't know exactly what happened, but you could view it as a defender pointing at the keeper to stay back (maybe so he can head the ball back), but the keeper comes anyway. Now the defender is trying to track the ball and also work out where the keeper is so he can head it back to him (and not, say, into the net). Result - slight distraction, he lets the ball bounce, and the attacker is in.
I'm not saying that's what happened, but it's certainly a possibility which I don't think you're considering in automatically backing the keeper rather than the defenders.
Last edited by pineapple stu; 02/01/2023 at 6:19 PM.
Got a lot of praise for the win against Chelsea iirc. I haven't watched a lot to be fair though stu. LoI comes first. Going by Southampton fans reactions, highlight vids and reports mainly. Their fans seem to have turned on him a bit lately but were impressed early on. I think we might see ropey periods like this for a few seasons.
No I take your point there Stu. Im just saying it probably isn't the best situation for a keeper learning his trade. If they are all inexperienced you're going to have confusion like the Fulham scenario. That's not exonerating Bazunu, it's just saying he might have been better off stepping up a level with a a settled defence ahead of him. Hes going to make mistakes as he learns. Like I said, he's nowhere close to the finished article. I'd still probably prefer him to be learning at EPL level but I said a few pages back that maybe a more gradual rise up the leagues would have been better. I suppose we will know in a few years.
We should rename foot.ie to Irish football thesaurus. Where words, terms and phrases are replaced and mean something else. For example " error prone" becomes "learning curve". There are many more down through the years
There's some real good marketeers on this forum
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Or "realism" with "pessimism"?
If he was a striker or midfielder we'd all be expecting a few dips in form or, if you'd rather say he's been poor all year, that it would take a while to get up to the level required. He's been thrown right in unlike other positions who might be gradually introduced.
Worst case scenario he can go back and be player of the year at league 1 level and we still have Kelleher and Travers who are both on their own learning curves of course.
Let's see how the next season or three go.
his goalkeeping numbers have nose dived in recent weeks, hopefully he can improve.
Looking at the penalty incident, you could also view it as Bazunu seeing the pointing and maintaining his position to catch the header back. Missing where in the highlights "the keeper comes anyway". What do you mean here - maybe you have a different camera angle than the highlights or were at the game? But from the highlights camera angle, the defender sees Bazunu's positioning, starts pointing to indicate he is heading the ball back (is there any other interpretation?), and Bazunu keeps his position to receive the header back.
The defender allows the ball to bounce to make the header back easier for himself, but panic sets in when he glances to his right and sees an attacker on rushing. The defender signals again at this point he is heading the ball back to Bazunu (is there any other interpretation?). But the important point here is that this shows without doubt he knows where Bazunu is positioned, a positioning that has not changed from the initial pointing, but the defender makes a complete hash of it all.
I'm saying that's what happened.
Nice to know the poster who thinks Buffon would ship as many goals in the LSL as a regular LSL keeper knows it all about goalkeeping now.
It may well be what happened, for sure. But my point in using that example was to indicate a way the keeper could cause uncertainty in the defence, which otoh seemed to be suggesting was a one-way street going the other way
Did you save many on the beach this summer?
Ah lads, the penalty incident was a complete hash by the centre back. I think it might even have come off his shoulder.
I posted in the Kelleher thread about how confidence and trust affects a keeper and yes it goes both ways but it looks to me like Southampton are lacking a leader in the back 4 which would be a big help.
Just watched it back there. Yeah that one's not on Bazunu at all for me. Not only does the centre half point to where he's going to put it (or if it isn't a point he is telling Bazunu to stay because he has the ball covered), he then loses sight of the ball completely in his panic as the attacker closes in. He could still have headed it back (or cleared it wide) as the attacker goes past him trying to read the pass back but it ends up hitting him while he is looking elsewhere and bouncing into no mans land between all three of them. He then charges into Bazunu's attempt to clear it while also fouling the attacker. It could have the Benny Hill theme behind it.
21 leagues and 25 cups.
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